Lesson Plan World War I, African American Soldiers, and America’s War for Democracy 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this lesson plan.
Essay "The Merits of This Fearful Conflict": Douglass on the Causes of the Civil War David W. Blight In the spring of 1871, Frederick Douglass was worried. Six years after Robert E. Lee had surrendered to Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox, Grant was now President of the United States, the Union of northern and southern states was...
Video: Read Along "A Ride to Remember: A Civil Rights Story" A Ride to Remember tells how a community came together—both Black and White—to make a change. When Sharon Langley was born in the early 1960s, many amusement parks were segregated, and African American families were not allowed entry...
Interactive African American Voting Rights Government and Civics African American Voting Rights from The Gilder Lehrman Institute on Vimeo .
Spotlight on: Primary Source Recruiting posters for African American soldiers, 1918 Government and Civics These two World War I recruiting posters aim to encourage African Americans to enlist. In the first poster, “Colored Man Is No Slacker,” a black soldier takes his leave against a background of African American patriotism, self...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Why Black men fought in World War I, 1919 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 During World War I, approximately 370,000 black men in the US military served in segregated regiments and were often relegated to support duties such as digging trenches, transporting supplies, cleaning latrines, and burying the dead....
Classroom Resources Historical Context: American Slavery and Abolition through Hollywood 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Throughout the twentieth century, many influential Hollywood films, such as Birth of a Nation , Gone with the Wind , Glory , and Amistad , have helped shape the way Americans have thought about slavery and its legacy. Birth of a...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Nominating an African American for vice president, 1880 Government and Civics Born a slave in 1841, Blanche Kelso Bruce was the first African American to be elected to a full term in the US Senate. During his term as a senator from Mississippi (1875–1881), he advocated the rights of African Americans and other...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Disfranchisement of African American voters in Virginia, 1901 Government and Civics In February 1901, the Virginia General Assembly authorized a constitutional convention to draft election reforms. The convention, supported vehemently by Democrats, aimed to disfranchise African Americans without violating the...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Campaigning for the African American vote in Georgia, 1894 Economics, Government and Civics In the gubernatorial and local elections of 1894, the Democrats and the newly formed People’s Party or Populist Party vied for black votes in Georgia. Neither the Democrats nor the Populists called for racial equality in their...
Video: Book Breaks Dylan C. Penningroth - "Before the Movement: The Hidden History of Black Civil Rights" Government and Civics Dylan C. Penningroth is Alexander F. & May T. Morrison Professor of American History & Citizenship at the University of California, Berkeley. Order Before the Movement at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate...
Video: Book Breaks Chad Williams - "The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War" Literature Chad Williams is the Samuel J. and Augusta Spector Professor of History and African and African American Studies at Brandeis University. Order The Wounded World at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from...
Interactive Timeline: Fulfilling America's Founding Principles: African American History Government and Civics
Interactive The History of Race Relations in America: African American Experiences, 1492-Present Government and Civics
Video: Book Breaks Brandon Byrd - "The Black Republic: African Americans and the Fate of Haiti" Order The Black Republic at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase through the link provided. Thank you for supporting our programs!
Video: Book Breaks R. Isabela Morales - "Happy Dreams of Liberty: An American Family in Slavery and Freedom" Economics, Geography R. Isabela Morales is a historian who currently serves as the editor of the Princeton & Slavery Project at Princeton University. Order Happy Dreams of Liberty at the Gilder Lehrman Book Shop We receive an affiliate commission...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: David Blight Discusses Frederick Douglass Documents Government and Civics, Religion and Philosophy 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On February 3, 2022, our curators were joined by Dr. David Blight to discuss his favorite Frederick Douglass documents in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Click here to download the slides from the presentation. Featured Documents...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: Lynching and Anti-Lynching Materials 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On April 6, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Terry Anne Scott (Director, Institute for Common Power). Dr. Scott used primary sources to discuss the history of anti-lynching activism and the dreadful events that gave rise to it,...
Video: Inside The Vault Inside the Vault: Twentieth-Century Voting Rights Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ On August 3, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Barbara Perry, Gerald L. Baliles Professor and director of Presidential Studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, to discuss materials related to twentieth-century...
Essay "Hidden Practices": Frederick Douglass on Segregation and Black Achievement, 1887 Edward L. Ayers Government and Civics 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Frederick Douglass recalled his feelings when slavery came to an end, after so much work and so many sacrifices. "I felt that I had reached the end of the noblest and best part of my life," he admitted. But Douglass hardly...