Online activities and background information from the Library of Congress to help students learn more about civil rights.
American Treasures: A Colored Women in a White World: Mary Church Terrell (Exhibition) Terrell's 1940 autobiography – A Colored Woman in the White World – details her remarkable life.
American Treasures: With All Deliberate Speed (Exhibition) Read Felix Frankfurter's annotated draft decree regarding the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Topeka landmark case.
Harriet Tubman (Presentation) Learn about this famous African American activist.
It's No Laughing Matter: Analyzing Political Cartoons (Online Activity) Cartoonists use a collection of tools to help them get their point across. Use this interactive activity to take apart real-world cartoons as you learn how to spot the methods behind the message. The cartoons featured in this activity relate to the civil rights theme.
John Hope Franklin (Presentation) Read highlights about the life and accomplishments of this conemporary African American scholar.
Jump Back in Time: January 15, 1929 (America's Library) Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King Jr. was born.
Jump Back in Time: October 16, 1859 (America's Library) John Brown took Harper's Ferry hostage.
Juneteenth Celebration (America's Library) On June 3, 1979 Texas became the first state to proclaim Emancipation Day (Juneteenth) an official state holiday.
Meet Amazing Americans: Frederick Douglass (America's Library) Read the life story of this famous black abolitionist.
Meet Amazing Americans: Harriet Tubman (America's Library) Read the life story of the runaway slave who became known as the "Moses of her people."
Meet Amazing Americans: Langston Hughes (America's Library) Learn about Langston Hughes -- an important writer and thinker of the Harlem Renaissance.
Meet Amazing Americans: W.E.B. DuBois (America's Library) Read the life story of this African-American activist and founding member of the NAACP.
Notes, William O. Douglas to Earl Warren, 11 May 1954; Harold H. Burton to Warren, 17 May 1954; and Felix Frankfurter to Warren, 17 May 1954, concerning Chief Justice Warren's decision in Brown v. Board of Education (Document) These notes to Earl Warren from three of his colleagues express their sense of gratitude, delight, and relief that the chief had led the brethren to a unanimous decision in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case.
She Sat Down For What She Believed (Wise Guide) On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus and sparked a 381-day bus boycott that led to a 1956 Supreme Court decision banning segregation on public transportation.
They Blazed a Trail in the Air: The Tuskegee Airmen (Wise Guide) Read about this group of African American fighter pilots in World War II.
Today in History (August 2) James Baldwin was born (Today in History) James Baldwin, novelist, essayist, playwright and civil rights activist, was born on August 2, 1924 in Harlem, New York.
Today in History (December 1) Rosa Parks was arrested (Today in History) On this date in 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for disobeying an Alabama law requiring black passengers to relinquish seats to white passengers when the bus was full.
Today in History (July 28) Fourteenth Amendment (Today in History) On July 28, 1868, former slaves became citizens when the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified.
Today in History (May 18) Plessy v. Ferguson (Today in History) On May 18, 1896, the Supreme Court ruled separate-but-equal facilities constitutional on intrastate railroads. For fifty years, the Plessy v. Ferguson decision upheld the principle of racial segregation.
Today in History (October 2) Thurgood Marshall (Today in History) On October 2, 1967 President Lyndon Johnson appointed Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American Supreme Court justice.
Today in History (September 23) Mary Church Terrell was born (Today in History) Mary Church Terrell, educator, political activist and first president of the National Association of Colored Women, was born on September 23, 1893 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Uncle Tom's Cabin for Children (Document) Browse the pages of this 1908 edition of Harriet Beecher Stowe's classic adapted especially adapted for children.