Dynamics of Idealism: Volunteers for Civil Rights, 1965-1982

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Image for Dynamics of Idealism:  Volunteers for Civil Rights, 1965-1982
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These materials were collected for a study on the attitudes, backgrounds, goals, and experiences of volunteers participating in a 1965 Southern Christian Leadership Conference voter registration effort. Resources include questionnaires submitted prior to and following the project, as well as a follow-up survey conducted in 1982.

Participants were queried about why they volunteered, what they expected, their attitudes regarding race and politics, images they held of the South, expectations they had regarding the African American community, personal memories and effects of their participation, and subsequent attitudes regarding civil rights, violence, and social change. These resources offer insight into the Civil Rights Movement and some sociological aspects of American reformers.

C-SPAN American Political Archive

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Logo, C-SPAN.org
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This website, which draws from C-Span Radio, is a useful resource for researching or teaching 20th-century American political history. It assembles audio recordings from such sources as the National Archives, presidential libraries, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Library of Congress. It "presents interviews, debates, oral histories, news conferences, and speeches with past presidents, legislators, and other important figures in American politics." Selecting "Past APA programs available online" provides the full list of 29 archived programs. Program subjects include persons such as W.E.B. DuBois; Indira Gandhi; Eleanor Roosevelt; NASA astronauts; Presidents Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Dwight Eisenhower, and Gerald Ford; and Civil Rights leaders A. Philip Randolph, Malcolm X, and Thurgood Marshall. They also include thematic topics such as the Reagan presidency, women in journalism, ex-slave narratives, Iraq war stories, Congressional leaders, the voices of World War II, and American POWs. Many of the topics feature multiple programs.

All programs are recordings of the original C-SPAN Radio program and must be listened to as originally broadcast. Playback of the programs requires media player software to be installed (free downloads can be accessed from the site).

The above recordings appear to no longer be available on the C-Span website. The history section, http://www.c-span.org/History/, suggested as an alternative offers full video programming, often discussions of historical topics. However, the page appears to feature recent video, with over 2,000 "recent events" which cannot be sorted or searched. Video search does not offer an option to select material on historical topics, so searching will pull from the entire C-Span website. As a result, the site offers a great deal of undoubtedly useful material which is nearly impossible to access. Unpublishing.

Portrait of Medgar Evers

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Smithsonian curators examine a photograph of civil rights activist Medgar Evers (1925-1963), looking at what it says about the tension between racial groups at the time and the call for social change an accumulation of such media objects can communicate.

John Hope Franklin: The Historian and the African American Experience

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Distinguished historian and lifelong civil rights activist Professor John Hope Franklin joins archivist Allen Weinstein and Dr. Lonnie Bunch, director of the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture, to discuss his careers as educator, scholar, and activist.

To watch this interview, scroll to "John Hope Franklin," and select "Watch the Video."

History of Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday

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Congressman Conyers leads a discussion of the legislative history of efforts to establish a federal holiday in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the continuing significance of the Reverend Dr. King's life. The Congressional Black Caucus and its co-founder Rep. Conyers were leaders in that effort. After their presentations, the panelists responds to audience members' questions.

In November 1983, President Ronald Reagan signed into law legislation declaring the third Monday in January as the Martin Luther King, Jr. Federal Holiday, to celebrate the birthday and life of the slain civil rights leader. It had been 15 years since Dr. King's assassination.

Close Reading for Vocabulary, Context, and Tone

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This student think-aloud shows a high school student reading a New York Times article about the Scopes Trial and working to make sense of its meaning. During this 74-second video, she identifies words she is unfamiliar with and draws on outside information in order to analyze the tone of the document. As a result of this close reading, she is able to better understand not only the meaning of the document, but also the viewpoint of its author—a big city reporter visiting a small town in Tennessee. A commentary on the think-aloud is also available and you can find the document the student reads here.

Historical Thinking Matters

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Photo, Scopes Trial, Historical Thinking Matters
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Four guided investigations designed to teach students how to read primary sources and construct historical narratives lie at the heart of this website. Topics are: the Spanish-American War, the Scopes Trial, Social Security, and Rosa Parks. Each topic includes a short introductory video, a timeline of events, a central question, and extension activities. For example, the Rosa Parks investigation poses the question: "Why did the boycott of Montgomery's buses succeed?"

After completing a simple login, students read annotated documents—including letters written by the boycott organizers, a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. and an interview with a woman working in Montgomery—and answer guiding questions, and draw on their responses to answer the question. The website also includes a useful introduction to the idea of historical thinking.

Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse

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Photo, California Systemic Prison Cases, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
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Especially since the 1950s, civil rights litigation has done much to influence government institutions. This website presents at least partial information on 2,243 injunctive civil rights cases (those seeking policy change and not money). These cases are divided by category. "Jail Conditions" and "Prison Conditions" contain the most cases, with roughly 550 each. "Immigration" and "Juvenile Institutions" also include more than 150 each. Other categories include: "Mental Health Institutions," "Mental Retardation Institutions," "Child Welfare," "Nursing Home Cases," "Policing Cases," "Public Housing," "Equal Employment," and "School Desegregation," among others.

A good place to begin is the "Featured Cases" section on the website's homepage, which highlights cases from the collection that are being litigated currently and/or that are particularly relevant to current events. Cases are fully searchable by name, type, issue, district, circuit, state, causes of action, attorney organization, and people involved in the case. In addition, links to 141 case studies written by law students, professors, journalists, and policy advocates provide in-depth information on a specific case or issue, such as the Urban Institute's "Baseline Assessment of Public Housing Desegregation Cases." New material is added regularly.