HIST3170: United States - History of the 1960s: Selected Topics: The Civil Rights Movement

"This resource features a collection of The Black Panther newspaper published between 1968 and 1973. Together, the newspapers provide an unusually vivid example of the kinds of rhetoric used by the Black Panther Party in its 'revolutionary' challenges to federal and state lawmakers and its call to African Americans around the country to stand up for their civil rights. While the words and images in these historical documents may bring up strong feelings in teachers and students alike, they are a first-hand representation of the thoughts and feelings of an important group of activists in U.S. history. Far from complete, the collection is still substantial and readers may browse all 20 digital issues of the newspaper to find articles, images, and advertisements that will best facilitate particular lessons and assignments." [Internet Scout Project]

"Jack Rabin was a faculty member at a number of institutions during his long academic career, and he was intimately involved with certain aspects of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. During time spent in Alabama he worked with the organizers of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. He also accumulated a tremendous collection of photos and interviews related to this event and others. This online collection from the Pennsylvania State University Libraries brings together many of these documents. Visitors can get started here by watching a historic interview with Stokely Carmichael or watching an excerpt from the Selma March in 1965. Also, visitors are encouraged to search the collection, read a biography of Rabin, and peruse the finding aid." [Internet Scout Project]

"Even for those who are quite knowledgeable about the history of the civil rights movement, the name Rob Williams may not be quite as familiar as others associated with this era of American history. This fine site, designed to accompany a recent Independent Lens documentary, will allow visitors to learn about his activities within this turbulent period. Williams is perhaps best-remembered for his efforts to encourage African-Americans to arm themselves against violent racists and his controversial radio show 'Radio Free Dixie,' which was broadcast from Havana. First-time visitors may wish to view the documentary’s trailer, and then they should definitely take a look at the section dedicated to Radio Free Dixie. Here they may listen to music and speeches from those influential and ground-breaking broadcasts. As with the rest of the Independent Lens sites, visitors can also learn about the filmmakers of the documentary, and offer their own feedback on the program." [Internet Scout Project]

"This unique digital collection compiles featured materials from an exhibit at the Otto G. Richter Library at the University of Miami. This collection tells 'a story of struggle, community challenges, and hope for Black Miami in the 20th century.' These featured items have been drawn from four separate collections, including those from Professor Michael L. Carlebach (a photography professor at Miami) and civil rights and community leader Bob Simms. Visitors can scroll through the four collections here to view selected images of community meetings, protests, celebrations and so on. The site also contains Biographical Notes and a very extensive bibliography of sources." [Internet Scout Project]

"While it might be difficult to locate the exact 'nerve center' of the American civil rights movement, Atlanta might be one of the top contenders, both due to the fact that it was the home of many grassroots civil rights organizations and the many noted protests and actions that took place during that time. Developed by the Atlanta Regional Council for Higher Education (ARCHE), this site pays homage to Atlanta’s role in the movement by offering a timeline of key events in the struggle, along with a searchable inventory of special collections, which contains materials from ARCHE’s member institutions, such as the Atlanta History Center. The first stop for visitors should be the timeline of events that occurred in Atlanta from 1940 to 1970. Along with well-written explanatory essays, each section contains information about various primary and secondary resources used to craft each essay. Scholars and others will also appreciate the search engine on the site, which effectively looks across all of the member institution’s special collections by name, keyword, or phrase." [Internet Scout Project]

"The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute takes its visitors on a journey moving from the nation's segregation era to the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. The Institute's historic galleries capture the spirit and courage of countless individuals who dared to confront the 'bigotry and racial discrimination of American society.' This site provides a range of exhibitions (both permanent and traveling) that will peak the interest of anyone interested in learning more about American history and historical art form during the 1950s and 1960s. The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is more than an online museum; it is a place that promotes research and provides education and discussion regarding civil and human rights issues in America and around the world." [Internet Scout Project]

"Located at Stanford University, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project is producing what will almost certainly become the definitive collection of the great civil rights leader's writings. When completed, the fourteen-volume The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. will serve as an indispensable reference tool for historians of the civil rights movement. In the meantime, teachers and students can make use of the resources offered at this site. These include a number of full-text primary documents (including the 'I Have a Dream' speech and the 'I've Been To The Mountaintop' sermon), a general biography, a chronology of King's life, a recommended reading section, and scholarly articles produced by Project staff members (under construction). The Project plans to continually add new documents to the site as they are digitized. Free registration is required to view the papers, and registered users may choose to be informed about future site updates and related events." [Internet Scout Project]

"Maintained by the McCain Library and Archives at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), this Website features 'an Internet-accessible, fully searchable database of digitized versions of rare and unique library and archival resources on race relations in Mississippi.' Currently, the site contains over 100 transcripts of oral history, each one supplemented by a brief biography of the interviewee, a list of topics discussed, information about the circumstances of the interview, and best of all for researchers, a find function for searching each transcript for particular terms. Eventually, the Website plans to offer no less than 125 oral history transcripts that emphasize 'local sources with truly national significance.' In addition, plans are in the works to include photographs and distributed civil rights literature from the time. Given Mississippi's pivotal role in the Civil Rights movement, this site will surely be of great use to researchers of the Civil Rights era. The project is presented in cooperation with the USM Center for Oral History." [Internet Scout Project]

"Designed and sponsored by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library of Congress, the Voices of Civil Rights website is an effort to create an online archive of stories about the civil rights movement (both historical and contemporary), essays, interviews, project updates, and special reports. There is a wide breadth of material available, most of which is organized into one of five sections. One notable section is the Stories area, where visitors can read (and in some cases, listen to) a wide array of personal stories about America's civil rights past. Another fine section is the one devoted to the contemporary civil rights movement and its historical legacy. Here visitors can listen to interviews about the promise of equal education with Wade Henderson, the executive director of the LCCR, and new activist voices within the fields of anti-hate crime campaigns and environmental justice." [Internet Scout Project]

"The Wisconsin Historical Society has one of the nation’s richest collections of items documenting the Civil Rights movement, particularly as they relate to the 1964 Freedom Summer Project. Visitors to the site can look over the Historical Essay to get started, as it contains a short summary of the importance of these events, then move on to Browse Related Topics. Here, visitors will find links to specific civil rights movements in Milwaukee and Madison. The Teacher Resources section is another great find and includes a helpful PowerPoint, educational plans, quizzes, and discussion questions. With over 30,000 items, including posters, radio announcements, oral histories, and more, it’s an incredible way to view primary documents and relive this important moment in American history." [Internet Scout Project]

"On May 12, 2009, the U.S. Congress authorized a national initiative by passing the Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009. This law directs the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture to conduct a survey of existing oral history collections with reference to the Civil Rights Movement. This site brings together a range of interviews conducted since then and participants include lawyers, judges, doctors, farmers, journalists, professors, and others. The materials are divided into two areas: Collections Items and Articles and Essays. In the Articles and Essays area, visitors can look over two thoughtful essays, including 'The March on Washington,' which offers some thoughtful historical perspective on the events of August 28, 1963. The Collections Items area includes over 50 interviews with leaders including Courtland Cox, Joseph Echols Lowery, and Pete Seeger." [Internet Scout Project]

"The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries has a digital collection of primary source material that documents Milwaukee's civil rights history. This website contains audio, video, photographs, and documents, and can be searched by those formats or by collection. Visitors unfamiliar with the Milwaukee area, as well as those interested in a timeline of the civil rights struggle there, should click on the links 'Map' and 'Timeline.' The map traces the route of an open housing march that took place in August of 1967, in addition to showing where most African-Americans lived at the time, the North Side. The timeline begins in 1954, when Brown v. Board of Education was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, and ends in 1976 when a federal judge ordered the Milwaukee public schools to be desegregated. Visitors shouldn't miss listening to one or two of the 'More Than One Struggle Oral History Project' entries, which has MP3s of audiocassette recordings of Milwaukee residents who were involved in the civil rights movement." [Internet Scout Project]

"With its diverse ethnic groups and civic-minded citizens, the city of Seattle has been a beacon for people seeking an open-minded urban experience for decades. The story of Seattle’s past is a complex one, and this well-thought out website explores some of the complex struggles for civil rights in the area over the past one hundred years. Based at the University of Washington, the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project has worked to document the stories of civil rights activists in the area, and also present reports on segregation in Seattle and the various newspapers that have represented the city’s communities of color. Visitors to the site can listen to some of these activists talk about their lives and read some of their Research Reports, which include 'The Chicano Movement in Washington State, 1967-2006' and 'The 1920 Anti-Japanese Crusade and Congressional Hearings.'" [Internet Scout Project]

"Partner organizations including The New Georgia Encyclopedia, the Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection at the University of Georgia, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services have joined forces to create the very impressive Civil Rights Digital Library (CRDL). The intent of the CRDL is to promote an 'enhanced understanding of the Movement by helping users discover primary sources and other educational materials from libraries, archives, museums, public broadcasters, and others on a national scale.' Visitors can browse through the materials by place, people, events, or topics, such as 'Community Organizing,' 'White Resistance,' 'Economic Justice,' and 'Voting Rights.' Also, visitors can browse the materials by contributing institutions or media type. Available material includes oral histories, archival footage, and still photographs." [Internet Scout Project]

"The Mississippi Freedom Summer Project website, from Miami University of Ohio, documents the history of 1964's 'Freedom Summer,' which was when volunteers gathered at the former Western College for Women in order to be trained to register African-American voters in Mississippi. Three volunteers were subsequently murdered in Mississippi, and 'these events called attention to racial inequality and served as a catalyst for change.' The collection was created by a grant from the Ohio Humanities Council, the Miami University Libraries, and a generous grant from Catherine Ross-Loveland, a 1952 graduate of the Western College for Women. The materials here include over 765 documents related to the Freedom Summer, including reports from the FBI about those involved with the activities around this form of civil rights activism and articles from the Ohio press about the civil rights movement in the South during that time. There are also 27 videos here from conversations and tours held on campus in 2004 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Freedom Summer. The videos include walking tours of the Western College for Women and panel discussions about faith and activism. Overall, it's a tremendous collection and one that merits several visits." [Internet Scout Project]