Resistance to Jim Crow in Virginia
References:
Books & Media
Chafe, William H., Raymond Gavins, Robert Korstad, et. al. Remembering Jim Crow. New York: The New Press, 2001.
This book is a companion volume to audio discs in which African Americans recount the struggles they faced living during the Jim Crow era.
Foner, Eric and John A. Garraty, editors. The Reader’s Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 1995.
This is a comprehensive resource of events and people in American history, listed alphabetically. Topics used include: Black Codes, page 108; Plessy v Ferguson, pages 844-845; Reconstruction, pages 917-924; and Segregation, pages 976-978.
Gevinson, Alan, Kelly Schrum, and Roy Rosenzweig. History Matters, A Student Guide to U.S. History Online. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2005.
This is a wonderful guide to a great number of dependable online resources. It also includes hints on navigating the net and a glossary of common Internet terms.
Oates, Stephen B. and Charles J Enrico, editiors. Portrait of America Volume I: To 1877 and Volume II: From 1865. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co. 2003.
The articles in these books help put the civil rights struggle in order in both a chronological and comprehensive fashion, giving valuable background information to the Jim Crow era. Chapters consulted include: Chapter 29: “Beautiful Cruel Year of Transition in the Black Struggle” by Vincent Harding (volume I), Chapter 30: “The Checkered History of the Great Fourteenth Amendment” by Eric Foner (volume I), and
Chapter 11: “African Americans and the Quest for Civil Rights” by Sean Dennis Cashman (volume II).
Smith, Stephen, Producer of the American Radio Works Project in collaboration with the Behind the Veil Project. Remembering Jim Crow, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University, 2001.
These two audio discs present the experiences of African Americans who lived during the era of Jim Crow. This mini-unit will use two sound recordings recounting experiences under Jim Crow from “Remembering Jim Crow” in collaboration with the Behind the Veil Project. One will be used to model evaluation of a sound recording and the other will be used for student evaluation. Oral history, with a roundtable discussion of local people who lived during the eras of Jim Crow and Massive Resistance.
Websites
http://www.archives.gov/
The National Archives (NARA) provides a wealth of information on American history. On reaching the homepage, select “educators and students” from the right-hand side. This will take you to a “homepage” for educators. Search this selection only for Jim Crow.
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/worksheets
NARA worksheets available on written documents, sound recordings, images, etc.
http://www.historymatters.gmu.edu
This site offers primary documents, a guide to interpreting the evidence they hold, and links to many other valid resources. Key word: Jim Crow.
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/scripts/jimcrow/press.cgi?state=Virginia
This site provides much information on the Jim Crow era, and categorizes various venues, in this case, the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/index.html
This site offers many insights and resources with guides to using them in the classroom. Go to “teachers” and on that “homepage” search Jim Crow.
http://www.jschoolmuseum.org
This museum is in the original Josephine School that was built by and for African Americans. The site gives contact information only. The award-winning museum traces the local history of the black community in Clarke County Virginia.
http://www.lva.lib.va.us/whoweare/exhibits/mitchell/
This Library of Virginia site offers information on Virginia history and is easy to navigate. Although this address leads you to an exhibit on John Mitchell, Jr. and The Richmond Planet, there is much more information here regarding civil rights, including two articles with illustrations from The Richmond Planet. One article deals with boycotting the city’s trolley cars, and the other is a front page article/advertisement about the Planet. The front page will be used to model use of a primary source and the article will be evaluated by the students. Both can be accessed at this website.
http://www.pbs.org/jimcrow/
This is an excellent site for an interactive look at the world of Jim Crow. There are suggested lessons and studies. Check it out before you have your class explore it, as there are some strong images and language. Adapt this to your students’ levels of understanding. A portion of a literacy test from Alabama, 1965 may be accessed at this website as part of an interactive activity, “Trying to vote, then and now” will be used as a hook in one of the lessons.
http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace
This site will give teachers some solid background information regarding geography, race, and the impact they have on history and political clout.