Civil rights for Black Americans was not on the national agenda in the 1930s. Segregation and  subordination of Black Americans were firmly rooted throughout American society and in all parts of the country. The Great Depression and later the emerging war crisis in Europe dominated national attention. Southerners in Congress opposed changes to help Black Americans, including anti-lynching bills, and amended New Deal legislation to deny Black Americans the benefits and programs being offered to white citizens.   This module examines the leadership of three very different Americans—First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, world-renowned contralto Marian Anderson, and labor leader A. Philip Randolph. They each shared strong inner voices, an ability to imagine a world beyond the bounds allowed by the politics and society of their day, and a willingness to take risks for controversial civil rights advances in which they believed—all at a time when segregation and Black American deprivation were central aspects of American society in every part of the country.   

A century before the Civil Rights movement, this small town on Lake Michigan had racially integrated schools, churches, government, and civic organizations. Settled by Black and White pioneers in the mid-1800s, Covert Township worked across racial and ethnic lines at a time when doing so was widely rejected if not outright illegal. Learn the story of this remarkable community, told against the backdrop of Reconstruction’s overthrow in the South and worsening racial conflict in the North.When much of America was tearing itself apart and squandering the moral victories of the Civil War, this community nestled in the west Michigan wilderness came together — not as a utopian social experiment, but as ordinary people who relied on one another to solve the problems of ordinary life on the frontier, and whose legacy endures today in Covert and beyond. This little-known American story offers an example our country needs now more than ever.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

On March 5, 1770, five men were shot dead by British soldiers on King Street in Boston. This event became known as the Boston Massacre, and helped kindle the fire of the American revolution. The first man to fall in this event was Crispus Attucks, a sailor and escaped slave of mixed African and American Indian ancestry. Patriot activists held up Attucks as a martyr for the cause of liberty, and generations of Americans followed suit; almost a century later, abolitionists made Attucks into a symbol of Black civic identity. But who was he, really? This lesson, the first of two on Crispus Attucks, tries to establish the facts about his life from the scant remaining evidence. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

On March 6, 1857, the Supreme Court of the United States issued its infamous Dred Scott decision, which fundamentally denied the legitimacy of Black American citizenship. The coincidence of the date, one day after the anniversary of the Boston Massacre, caught the attention of William Cooper Nell, a free man of color, historian, and influential abolitionist. On March 5, 1858, antislavery activists celebrated Crispus Attucks Day at Faneuil Hall, where Attucks’s body had awaited burial in 1770. Such efforts to commemorate Attucks helped shape the field of African American history. This lesson examines the ways historians, civil rights activists, and cultural institutions renewed the memory of an otherwise enigmatic figure.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Does Democracy Matter in My Life?- Own It! Handbook is the guide book for a transformative after-school, trauma-informed enrichment program. It provides five  lessons & activities about essential elements of American democracy since the 1780s. Own It! also nurtures academic skills, personal growth and leadership. It uses history to connect our past to our future, as part of the Own Your History® (OYH) Collection. But Own It! is not “school” and it differs from traditional approaches to history.  Own It! helps students learn more about themselves, as well as their community and the country. Own It! enhances students’ engagement in being creative, making things happen, and  achieving goals. Its mission is to help them step up and enrich their lives, especially by understanding that they live in history. 

In this history lesson, students learn about the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of Elijah McCoy, a prolific inventor who held 57 patents, mostly on designs related to locomotives. Born in Canada and educated in Scotland, he spent most of his professional life in and around Detroit, Michigan, working in the railroad industry while also continuing to produce new inventions. The son of escaped slaves, McCoy overcame early discrimination to become an internationally respected authority in his field. By the time of his death, McCoy was widely celebrated by his contemporaries as a leader and model for Black America in the first generation after Emancipation. This lesson asks students to consider how McCoy’s life experiences led him create such important innovations and ask why his inventions were so highly valued by manufacturers and consumers. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

During World War II, thousands of Black Americans joined the Navy, ready to serve their country. But deep-seated prejudice prevented Black sailors from rising in the ranks, and never in its history had the Navy commissioned Black officers. This is the story of the men who broke that barrier and became the first class of African American officers in the United States Navy, overcoming skepticism and hostility at every turn. Their skill, resilience, and character propelled them to great success in postwar life, and paved the way for today’s diverse armed forces.  The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

These lessons are part of the Reform to Equal Rights K-12 Disability History Curriculum from Emerging America, part of the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Consortium.

An introduction to disability helps establish safe and respectful study of a difficult topic. Students examine eugenics policy, including forced sterilization and examine how values change. Primary sources include challenges to eugenics from the 1930s as well as 21st century efforts to come to terms with its impacts. The grades 4-5 lesson 2 on immigration policy can provides primary sources and guiding questions that can provide solid support to expand this unit. Unit resources support optional research projects.

Grades 6-12 - Intro Lesson: Introduction to Disability History
Grades 9-12 - Lesson 1: The Dehumanizing Effects of Eugenics

Reform to Equal Rights uses 250+ primary sources. Most are in the public domain. Many others come from public online collections. For the rest, Emerging America secured permission so that teachers can use all these sources in creative ways. https://www.emergingamerica.org/disability-history-curriculum.
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On the eve of WWII, Black American athletes like Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe put the lie to Nazi ideas of racial superiority on Hitler’s home turf. This lesson tells the full story of the so-called “Nazi Olympics,” where athletes from nations that in only a few short years would be at war competed with honor—even as controversy brewed behind the scenes, including on the U.S.A. team. Students will examine the athletic competitions themselves, the achievements of American athletes, and the political controversies that loomed over the games, which resulted in two American Jewish athletes, Sam Stoller and Marty Glickman, being denied their chance to compete. Main presentation text by 1776 Unites scholar and Olympic historian Stephen L. Harris.  The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Want to know more about the life and work of NASA’s “hidden figure,” whose calculations helped send men to the moon? This lesson tells the story of Katherine Johnson (1918-2020), the space program trailblazer who broke down racial and gender barriers in her remarkable 101 years of life. Born a math prodigy in segregated West Virginia, her father regularly drove Katherine 120 miles to the nearest school that would educate Black students past the 8th grade. Her extraordinary talents landed her a job as a “human computer” in the early days of NASA, where she would spend an illustrious 33-year career as a research mathematician. Johnson’s work on the Mercury and Apollo projects, along with her many other research projects and technical papers, earned her the Medal of Freedom in 2015.  The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Laurence Clifton Jones (1882 – 1975) was born into an affluent Midwestern Black family and graduated from the University of Iowa in 1907. The enterprising young scholar had opportunities to start a career in business, higher education, or even musical performance. Instead, he traveled to the Deep South and founded a school to educate the children and grandchildren of slaves in Mississippi. In this lesson, discover the inspiring vision that led Jones to a life of service, and meet the community members, students, teachers, and supporters who helped him build The Piney Woods School. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Marcus Garvey (1887-1940) was one of the most brilliant, charismatic, and controversial Black leaders of the early 20th century, and a principal figure in the Pan-African movement. This lesson looks at his rise to power, from his early life in Jamaica, where he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A.); through his migration to the United States and the rapid expansion of the U.N.I.A. from its headquarters in Harlem; up to the triumphant first international U.N.I.A. convention in 1920, which produced the influential “Declaration of the Rights of the Negro Peoples of the World.” The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

This lesson looks at Marcus Garvey’s fall from grace in the 1920s, his battles with enemies in the U.S. government and the mainstream civil rights movement, his troubled marriages to Amy Jacques and Amy Ashwood (each important activists in their own right), and his final years in exile in Jamaica and England. The materials also examine some of Garvey’s key later writings and speeches, including his stirring 1925 letter from prison in Atlanta. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Paul Cuffe was a sea captain, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who lived through the birth and early life of the United States. As a young man, he helped smuggle goods past the British blockade during the Revolutionary War; by the early 1800s, he was perhaps the wealthiest Black man in the young republic, renowned and respected for his business sense and moral character and the first free man of color to visit The White House. An ardent abolitionist, Cuffe used his wealth to build one of the first integrated schools in America and to power his ambitious — and controversial — plans to build a new Black republic in West Africa.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Oklahoma was a haven for Black Americans seeking freedom and economic opportunity. The Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa, with its bustling business district known as the “Black Wall Street,” was the nation’s most affluent Black community, a central hub of entrepreneurship and activism. But by June 1, 1921, Greenwood lay in ruins, victim to a massive wave of violence and looting committed by a mob of their White neighbors, in what is now known as the Tulsa Race Massacre. Against all odds, the survivors fought to rebuild their lives and livelihoods, even as powerful forces tried to bury Greenwood forever. This incredible story of dignity in the face of devastation shows the depths of human cruelty — and the heights of human resilience.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.