Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
-Martin Luther King Jr.
Jackdaws and Primary Source Folders
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The primary resources from the Library of Congress are a great look into the NAACP and their role in the Civil Rights movement. Teachers could use this as an exploratory activity for their students after introducing the topics in class.
The Jim Crow Era Jack Daw is a great resource to use because it helps explain the laws that segregated the south since the late 1890s. The "separate but equal" ideology of the time can be seen through African American newspaper articles, letters from the NAACP to first lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and voter registration forms from the 1950s. Students will get a chance to analyze primary accounts of these injustices as opposed to just hearing about them in a lecture.
The Black Voting Rights: The Fight for Equality Jack Daw includes a lot of political cartoons that were prevalent at the time of the 15th amendment going up into the early 1900s. These, as well as posters created by the NAACP urging African Americans not to be afraid to fight for their right to vote, are great tools to use in the classroom. Students interpret things differently and if given the chance to work with these materials individual or in small groups, and then come together to discuss them, they could gain a great understanding of the material and history of the time.
The Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Jack Daw is a great resource for the classroom, similar to reasons given for the previous Jack Daws. This folder can help students understand why Rosa Parks stood up for her rights the way she did, and how that impacted the whole movement to take on a bus boycott. After reading through the primary sources in this folder, students should be able to gain a new understanding on something they have been taught about or have heard mentioned for many years.