Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves was a highly respected and wildly successful peace officer in Indian Territory for over thirty years, starting when he was first commissioned by federal Judge Isaac Parker in 1875. His life saw the enormous transformations that swept through the country during the Civil War, the days of the “wild west” in the federal territories, and the final settling of the frontier. The exploits of Deputy Marshal Reeves as he fought and captured hundreds of outlaws made him famous in his own time. This lesson tells the story of Reeves, his world, and his relentless pursuit of justice. 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 provides an overview of the life and work of African American economist Glenn Cartman Loury, one of America’s most provocative thinkers on issues related to race, poverty, and social policy. A technical economist by training, Loury is usually identified as a Black conservative, though his worldview has undergone a series of transformations since he first emerged as an outspoken Reaganite in the 1980s. Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Loury rose through the ranks of elite academia to become the first Black tenured professor of economics at Harvard in 1982, doing groundbreaking work on “social capital.”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. 

Until about 1966, the Civil Rights Movement led by Dr. King and the other national Black organizations focused on ending segregation, changing racist attitudes, advancing equality under the law, and securing the vote. Because of the system of Jim Crow laws, the Movement’s attention was largely on the South. Protests also highlighted economic inequalities and jobs and demanded government responses to effect change. In the “long hot summer” of 1967, over 20 uprisings and disorders took place in cities across the country. This prompted President Johnson to appoint a study commission led by former Illinois Governor Otto Kerner to examine these uprisings and make recommendations. Additional rioting occurred in 1968 in reaction to the assassination of Dr. King. The 1968 Kerner Commission report is a detailed, thoughtful, and clear-eyed analysis of these urban disorders with a comprehensive and bold set of recommendations for addressing systemic racism and its economic and social consequences.

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.   

From its colonial beginnings, the US has had a highly diverse society, originating from around the globe.  Changing immigrant populations have continually challenged the country and fed intense debate & political efforts to restrict arrivals. Use the links to explore immigration impacts, migrants’ experiences, American nativism & changing laws.