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Researching Personal Stories of Liberation From the Civil Rights Movement
You will research men and women, both famous and relatively unknown, who joined a movement with the goal of changing their lives and the lives of people in their community. Through their actions and words, they are examples of ordinary people becoming part of our nation’s history.
Step 1: Choose an individual from the following list. Use the name and the connected events and organizations as starting places for your research.
| Individual |
Starting Places for Research |
| A. Philip Randolph |
Keywords and dates—Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (union); march on Washington, 1963
Web site
A. Phillip Randolph Museum
www.aphiliprandolphmuseum.com* |
| Diane Nash |
Keywords and dates—Student sit-ins, 1961
Web site
Interview with Diane Nash
http://word.cs.earlham.edu/issues/XII/012398/comm731173a.html* |
| John Lewis |
Keywords and dates—Student sit-ins, 1961; march on Washington, 1963; Selma, Alabama, 1965; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
Web site
SNCC, 1960-1966
www.ibiblio.org/sncc/lewis.html* |
| James Farmer |
Keywords and dates—Congress of Racial Equality (CORE); student sit-ins, 1961
Web site
James Farmer
www.cets.sfasu.edu/Harrison/Farmer/farmhome.htm* |
| Fred Shuttlesworth |
Keywords and dates—Birmingham, Alabama, 1963; Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR)
Web site
Fred Shuttlesworth
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAshutterworth.htm* |
| Bayard Rustin |
Keywords and dates—March on Washington, 1963
Web site
Bayard Rustin
www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USArustin.htm* |
| Fannie Lou Hamer |
Keywords and dates—Voting rights; Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, 1964; SNCC
Web site
An Oral History with Fannie Lou Hamer
www.lib.usm.edu/%7Espcol/crda/oh/hamer.htm* |
| Robert Moses |
Keywords and dates—Mississippi Freedom Summer, 1964; SNCC
Web site
Robert Moses
www.ibiblio.org/sncc/moses.html* |
| Bob Zellner |
Keywords and dates—Freedom Riders; SNCC,
Web site
Interview with Bob Zellner
www.americanradioworks.org/features/oh_freedom/interview_zellner.html* |
| Ella Baker |
Keywords and dates—SCLC; SNCC
Web site
Ella J. Baker—Biography
www.ncsu.edu/chass/mds/ellabio.html* |
Step 2: Research the individual your group selected and provide the following information:
- Brief biography
- Description about how the individual was involved in the civil rights movement—places, times, organizations, and actions
- Depiction of how the individual might have answered the question, What changes would you like to make in your life and in the lives of people in your community? (use the information gathered by the group to support this response)
- Description of the challenges the individual faced and how the individual worked to overcome the challenges—what actions did the individual take and why?
Use both primary and secondary sources in your research. Include at least two Internet sites and at least two books or magazines in your research.
—Evidence (quotes from speeches, articles, images, and so forth) that you can use to learn more about the individual your group is researching.
Secondary source—Information provided by historians and journalists about a specific individual or event.
Step 3: Record your research findings and use the MLA format to cite the resources. Include Web sites, books, magazines, and so on. Briefly state what information was provided by each source. Use the research chart to help you.
Step 4: Use your research to develop a thought-provoking, historically accurate, and engaging presentation for the class. Use the following guidelines as you plan your presentation:
- The presentation must be 3–5 minutes in length.
- You must turn in a written script that addresses the research components listed in Step 2 before the presentation.
- Your presentation may take the form of any one of the following:
- Short skit that illustrates a crucial moment in the work and life of the individual you are researching
- Speech by the individual that focuses on what the individual wanted to accomplish and why.
- Interview with questions and answers from the audience.
- News report that includes interviews with different members of the community in which the individual was trying to make changes.
- Panel discussion in which panel members discuss and debate the individual’s significance and how successful the individual was in improving the lives of people in the community. Panel members might themselves play the roles of people who joined the particular movement in the relevant place and time, or play the roles of historians looking back at and evaluating the success of the movement.
Adapted with permission from There Was a Certain Type of Fire That No Water Could Put Out… Personal Stories of Liberation from the civil rights movement developed by Maliika Herd-Chambers and Stan Pesick.
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