Laws & Citizen Rights Archives

We as Freemen: Plessy v. Ferguson

Book — Non-fiction. By Keith Medley. 2012. 256 pages.
This book documents the untold history of the organizing leading up the Plessy v. Ferguson case.

Plessy v. Ferguson: The Organizing History of the Case

Article. By Keith W. Medley.
The role of the Comité des Citoyens and The Crusader newspaper in the Plessy v. Ferguson case.

The Sky’s the Limit: People v. Newton, The REAL Trial of the 20th Century?

Book — Non-fiction. By Lise Pearlman. 2012. 800 pages.
Brings to life 20th century court cases and protests that played a major role in U.S. history.

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America

Film. Directed by Eduardo López & Peter Getzels. 2012. 90 minutes.
Documentary that examines the direct connection between the long history of U.S. intervention in Latin America and the immigration crisis we face today.

The Knotted Line

Website. Interactive timeline that connects moments in history related to the prison industrial complex.

What Rights Do We Have?

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Norm Diamond. 7 pages.
This lesson teaches some of the nuts and bolts of labor unions and then moves beyond to ask students to consider what rights they have at work, and to recognize that “rights” depend in large part on what people have fought for and won.

Teaching Activity by Norm Diamond

Sun City – A Teaching Guide

Teaching Guide. By Bill Bigelow. 6 pages.
Lessons to accompany the 1985 video "Sun City" that promoted the cultural boycott of South Africa initiated by Little Steven van Zandt of Bruce Springsteen’s E St. Band.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

A People’s History of Muslims in the United States

Article. By Alison Kysia. 2014. If We Knew Our History Series. Although the dominant media—including our schools’ curriculum—perpetuate stereotypes, history shows Muslims in the Americas have fought for social justice since the 15th century.

Teaching Activity by Alison Kysia

Japanese American Evacuation and Resettlement Online Archive

Digital collection. Firsthand accounts and primary sources of the incarceration of Japanese Americans during WWII.

Claudette Colvin (photo) | Zinn Education Project

March 2, 1955: Claudette Colvin Refuses to Give Up Her Bus Seat

At age 15, Claudette Colvin refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman in Montgomery, Alabama.

Freedom Summer

Film. Written, produced, and directed by Stanley Nelson. 2014. 120 minutes.
Documentary about 1964 Freedom Summer in Mississippi.

Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt

Book — Non-fiction. By Hasan Kwame Jeffries. 2010. 372 pages.
History of the role that activists in Lowndes County played in spurring Black activists nationwide to fight for civil and human rights in new and more radical ways.

On the Road to Voting Rights: Freedom Day in Selma, 1963

Article. By Howard Zinn. Excerpt from Chapter 5 of You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train.
Howard Zinn’s first-hand account of Selma’s Freedom Day in 1963.

Stealing Home: Eminent Domain, Urban Renewal, and the Loss of Community

Teaching Activity. By Linda Christensen. Rethinking Schools. 9 pages.
Teaching about patterns of displacement and wealth inequality through the history of Palo Verde, La Loma, and Bishop communities and the building of Dodger Stadium.

Teaching Activity by Linda Christensen

The FBI’s War on Black America

Film. By Deb Ellis and Denis Mueller. 1990. 47 minutes.
Documentary of people targeted by the FBI's Counter Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO) in the 1960s and 70s.

The Voting Rights Act: Ten Things You Should Know

Article. By Emilye Crosby and Judy Richardson. 2015.
Key points in the history of the 1965 Voting Rights Act missing from most textbooks.

Teaching Activity by Emilye Crosby

Dec. 18, 1944: U.S. Supreme Court Rules Against Fred Korematsu; Declares Denial of Civil Liberties Legal

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Korematsu v. United States that the denial of civil liberties based on race and national origin was legal.

A People’s History of the Supreme Court: The Men and Women Whose Cases and Decisions Have Shaped Our Constitution

Book — Non-fiction. By Peter Irons. Foreword by Howard Zinn. 2006. 588 pages.
A detailed and critical history of the Supreme Court.

Sylvia Woods: “You Have to Fight for Freedom”

Film clip. Voices of a People’s History.
Dramatic reading of an excerpt from an interview of Sylvia Woods (1919) by Alana Arenas.

Reconstructing the South: A Role Play

Lesson. By Bill Bigelow. 17 pages.
This role play engages students in thinking about what freedpeople needed in order to achieve — and sustain — real freedom following the Civil War. It's followed by a chapter from the book Freedom's Unfinished Revolution.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

The Reconstruction Era and the Fragility of Democracy

Teaching Guide. By Facing History and Ourselves. 2015.
A collection of lessons, videos, and primary sources to teach about Reconstruction.

Paul Cuffee portrait by Chester Harding.

Feb. 10, 1780: Paul Cuffee and Other Free Blacks Petition for the Right to Vote

Paul Cuffee and other free Blacks petitioned the Massachusetts government to give African and Native Americans the right to vote.

A Short History of Reconstruction, Updated Edition

Book — Non-fiction. By Eric Foner. 2015. 352 pages.
A people's history view of the Reconstruction era.

Fred Korematsu Speaks Up

Book — Non-fiction. By Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi. Illustrated by Yutaka Houlette. 2017. 112 pages.
Story of Fred Koretmatsu, jailed for resisting internment by the U.S. government during WWII. He took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court twice.

Papers: Stories by Undocumented Youth

Book — Non-fiction. Edited by José Manuel, Cesar Pineda, Anne Galisky, and Rebecca Shine. Illustrated by Julio Salgado. 2012. 84 pages.
Undocumented youth from around the world tell their stories with simplicity and intimacy in this student-friendly collection.

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