Congress of Racial Equality conducts march in memory of Negro youngsters killed in Birmingham bombings

Primary Source Learning: Civil Rights

Citizen U multidisciplinary civics lessons Civil Rights and Civic Action Dolores Huerta Building Coalitions to Affect Change Collaborating to Affect Change Inspiring Civic Responsibility Selma & Voting Rights: Standing Up for Equality Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer More lessons Baseball, Race Relations and Jackie Robinson…

Civil rights march on Wash DC

Primary Source Spotlight: Civil Rights

Civil rights primary source collections Collection Spotlight: Civil Rights History Project Presidential Spotlight: Lyndon B. Johnson Primary Source Spotlight: NAACP Primary Source Spotlight: Voting Rights Act of 1965 Selma Marches March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Freedom story map Civil rights books, reports & other texts Select civil rights primary sources Civil Rights: Before,…

Vietnam memorial soldiers

Primary Source Spotlight: Vietnam War

Vietnam Veteran collections Personal Snapshots: Picturing the Vietnam War Select Vietnam veteran digitized collections Vietnam War: Looking Back Part 1 Vietnam War: Looking Back Part 2 Vietnam War: Looking Back Part 3 Vietnam War: Looking Back Part 4 All Vietnam veteran digitized oral history collections (some contain additional items such letters, photos, etc.) Vietnam War images…

Martin Luther King, Jr., three-quarter-length portrait, standing, facing front, at a press conference

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Martin Luther King, Jr. – Why We Can’t . . .

The last word in the sign next to Martin Luther King, Jr. is mostly covered by a microphone. List the word that you think is on the sign and why you think that. The words on the sign were the title of a book King published the year before the photograph was taken. Investigate the sources…

March on Washington, August 28, 1963. U.S. News and World Report Photograph Collection, Prints and Photographs Division.

Learning from the Source: I Have a Dream Image Sequencing

On August 28, 1963 a march organized by supporters of stronger civil rights legislation drew more than 250,000 people to Washington, D.C. Encouraged and inspired, Martin Luther King, Jr. strayed from the short speech he had prepared and delivered instead his famous extemporaneous I Have a Dream speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Primary…

Today in History: Mahalia Jackson

Today in History: Mahalia Jackson

Today in History–October 26–the Library of Congress features Mahalia Jackson, born on this day in 1911. The “Queen of Gospel Song” performed at national venues and sang for four presidents in addition to singing “I’ve Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned” just before Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 march on Washington. If…