Jim Crow History Resources
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History Essays: (Many more essays and lesson plans are in development, if you would like to contribute for pay, Join Us.)
All essays and lesson plans are available to print as Adobe PDF files. If you don't have the FREE Adobe Acrobat Reader, click here. From Terror to Triumph: Historical Overview
This historical overview is actually a group of five themed essays focusing on creating, surviving, resisting, escaping, and transcending Jim Crow oppression and discrimination. These themes divide the history of the Jim Crow era, and offer teachers an organizational framework for understanding and teaching the subject. Each of these themes is explored further in the In Depth link. These essays, and others in the Teacher Resources section, provide a wealth of information about the changes and continuity in the tortured history of African Americans as they experienced segregation and discrimination from the Reconstruction Era to the 1950s.
- Creating Jim Crow
Beginning with an explanation of the origin of the term Jim Crow, this essay focuses on the time period beginning with the post Reconstruction period through the late 1890s and the legalization of segregation.
• In-Depth Essay - Surviving Jim Crow
This essay focuses on the ways in which African Americans made accommodations, both personal and on a nationwide scale, within a system that discounted them.
• In-Depth Essay - Resisting Jim Crow
This section offers a multi-perspective look at the ways in which African Americans resisted the confines of the system.
• In-Depth Essay
- Escaping Jim Crow
The Kansas Exodus and Great Migration offered the hope of equality to thousands of African Americans fleeing the South. The themed content of this essay encompasses that migration through to the desegregation of the military in the 1940s as the beginning of the end of legal segregation. - Transition from Segregation to Civil Rights
This essay creates the link from Jim Crow, through the Civil Rights Movement, to our race relations today.
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow Passing For White in Jim Crow America
Students learn about the nuances of racism in this essay that explains the term "passing."
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
- Passing For White: First Account Narratives
People who have passed and some who are still passing as white talk about their lives.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
Among the scores of people lynched, the name Emmett Till rings familiar to those who know the Bob Dylan lyrics. Read an account of what happened to this young man in Mississippi in 1955.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
African Americans in 'The White City:' The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893
This essay discusses African Americans' lack of participation in the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 in Chicago. Several lesson plans accompany this essay and its companion essay, "African Americans in 'The World of Tomorrow': 1939."
Target grade levels: Middle and High School
For use with:
- Essay:
- Lesson Plans:
The essay focuses on the continued struggles and triumphs of African Americans at the New York City World Fair of 1939. Several lesson plans accompany this essay and its companion essay, "African Americans in 'The White City:' The World's Columbian Exposition of 1893."
Target grade levels: Middle and High School
For use with:
- Essay:
- Lesson Plans:
This student-researched and written essay on the first school in the South to desegregate following Brown v. Board of Ed. serves as an insightful example of what students can learn about Jim Crow from their own school and community's history. An accompanying lesson plan and first account narratives are also included.
Target grade levels: High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
Childhood Experiences Color Routes to Civil Rights Activism--
Booker Taliaferro Washington and William Edward Burghardt Du Bois: Different Beginnings/Different Ways
This essay explores the two philosophically opposed men by looking back at their very different upbringings. Teachers will find this valuable before examining the Black Colleges map in the geography section because so many of the colleges aligned themselves with the philosophies of one of these two great men.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896) and Program Two: Fighting Back (1896-1917)
The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie Robinson's 1946 Spring Training in Jim Crow Florida
Intended for use with the Jackie Robinson Lesson Plan below, this essay looks at Jackie Robinson's rude awakening to the Jim Crow South upon his arrival in Daytona Beach, Florida. Focusing on the part of Robinson's life before he made the big leagues, this essay also focuses on the qualities and making of a hero.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: Sports and Jim Crow America Map, Jackie Robinson Lesson Plan
Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson: Interview Essay
A companion essay to the Jackie Robinson lesson plan, this essay focuses on the discussion between Dodger owner-manager Branch Rickey and Jackie Robinson prior to Robinson's signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball club.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Urban Race Riots in the Jim Crow Era
A companion essay to the Jim Crow Violence map addressing the race riots of America's past ... from the root causes to the outcomes and their effect on the nation. Lesson activity suggestions are included.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: Jim Crow Violence map
Jim Crow and Sports
Supplements the Jim Crow Sports Map, which documents many "firsts" made by African-American athletes in a variety of sports. Students can use this essay as a starting point for their own research into local sports heroes.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: Sports and Jim Crow America map; Jackie Robinson essay and lesson plan
Popular Art and Racism: Embedding Racial Stereotypes in the American Mindset -- Jim Crow and Popular Culture
Virtually every type of popular art medium in the past embraced the negative stereotype associated with African Americans. This essay looks at Jim Crow through an examination of popular culture's various ways of portraying African Americans from the earliest minstrel shows to motion pictures. For a sampling of Jim Crow images in pop culture, go to the Distorted Mirror Collection in the Image Gallery.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: Image Gallery Distorted Mirror Collection
Jim Crow Legislation Overview
This essay summarizes the more than 400 state laws, constitutional amendments, and city ordinances that legalized segregation and discrimination in the United States between 1865 and 1967.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: Jim Crow and the Supreme Court Map
The Black Press and Jim Crow, 1875-1955
This overview essay covers the beginnings of the Black press in America, its struggles to survive, and its evolution over time.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: Historical Overview: Resisting Jim Crow and Jim Crow Press Map
The Paris Exposition of 1900 and W.E.B. Du Bois
An essay on W.E.B. Du Bois's trip from New York City to Paris in 1900 for the Paris Exposition Universalle. Du Bois traveled with several boxes of photographs, captions, maps, and educational materials to display in the "Negro Section" of the American exhibit. So impressive were the images, that the Exhibition judges awarded Du Bois a gold medal as the Exhibit's principal compiler.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Two: Fighting Back (1896-1917) and the Paris Exposition Collection in the Image Gallery
Racial Etiquette: The Racial Customs and Rules of Racial Behavior in Jim Crow America
This overview essay gives students insight into the social customs and interactions between the races under Jim Crow.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.
Using Images for Historical Purposes
For use with the growing Image Gallery, teachers can use this essay to introduce students to the factors for consideration when viewing a photograph to glean historical information.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow and the Image Gallery.
History Lesson Plans: Teachers contribute their best lessons on the events that they think are the most important in the Jim Crow years. The lessons also link themselves to one or more of the four episodes of The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.
The Brown v. Board of Education Cases: An Education Unit on the Cases Comprising the Landmark 1954 School Desegregation Decision
Students analyze the legal history of segregation in this 7-section unit, focusing on documents from five early court cases that comprised the landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision in 1954.
Target grade levels: High School or College Undergraduate Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
Where did it All Begin?
This lesson should be used with the Jim Crow and the Supreme Court map. Students select from the cases on the map as a starting point for researching these major decisions in regard to segregation and civil rights.
Target grade levels: Middle School or High School Levels
For use with:
- Jim Crow and the Supreme Court Map
- Brown v. Board of Ed. Teaching unit
- Signs of Segregation Collection in the Image Gallery
- PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
This lesson is a template you can use to have students research the background of their own high schools and communities in the Jim Crow era. Students from Clinton High School, the first southern school to desegregate following Brown v. Board of Ed., provide an example of finished products of their research.
Target grade levels: High School Levels and the jimcrowhistory.org Web site
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four:Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
Exhibiting at a World's Fair
In this complementary lesson to the essays on the 1893 Columbian Exposition and the 1939 New York World's Fair, students research the difficulties faced by African Americans in these World Fairs. They then design their own exhibit. This lesson serves as a link to the beginnings of the Jim Crow era.
Target grade levels: Upper Elementary through High School
For use with:
- PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow:
- Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
- Program Three: Don't Shout Too Soon (1918-1940)
- Essays:
Students research the difficulties African Americans faced when protesting their exclusion from the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
Target grade levels: Upper Elementary through High School
For use with:
- PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow:
- Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
- Essays:
This lesson examines the stereotypes of African Americans during the Jim Crow era and today. This is a companion lesson to the essays, "African Americans in 'The White City'" and "African Americans in 'The World of Tomorrow.'"
Target grade levels: Upper Elementary through High School
For use with:
- PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow:
- Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
- Program Three: Don't Shout Too Soon (1918-1940)
- Essays:
Students study primary and secondary sources to discover the role African Americans played in the arts at the 1939 New York World's Fair and the historic context of those art forms. A companion lesson to the essay, "African Americans in the 'World of Tomorrow,'" this lesson focuses on the music of William Grant Still and the sculpture of Augusta Savage.
Target grade levels: Upper Elementary through High School
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: Program Three: Don't Shout Too Soon (1918-1940), and the Essay "African Americans in 'The World of Tomorrow'"
Jim Crow on the National Level: The Right to Flight
In this student-centered lesson, students learn through Internet and library research about the difficult path carved by the African-American military men during World War II.
Target grade levels: High School and College Undergraduate Programs
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Four: Terror and Triumph (1940-1954)
W.E.B. Du Bois and the Paris Exposition
Students will study primary and secondary sources to discover how W.E.B. Du Bois portrayed African Americans at the 1900 Paris Exposition. They then will create a similar exhibit using their classroom as the example.
Target grade levels: High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Two: Fighting Back (1896-1917)
Jim Crow Image Gallery: Paris Exposition Universelle Collection
Women and Jim Crow
Using the Women and Jim Crow map as a starting point for research, students learn about the social climate in which these women lived, and how it affected their outlooks on life.
Target grade levels: High School Levels
For use with: Jim Crow and Women Map
Oral History
Learning About History Through First Account Narratives: Students interview and document the stories of people who lived through and remember the Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with:
- Jimcrowhistory.org Narratives
- PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Students extract the information in the Historical Overview to create a play for peers. Ideal for African-American History Month, this lesson makes the information in the overview accessible to middle and high school students alike.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with:
- "From Terror to Triumph: Historical Overview"
- Jimcrowhistory.org Sources
- PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Students first examine, then create their own Jim Crow related cartoons to help them understand the power of political satire in shaping popular opinion.
Target grade levels: Middle School or High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.
The Unconquerable Doing the Impossible: Jackie Robinson's 1946 Spring Training in Jim Crow Florida
This lesson, complete with an overview essay of baseball great Jackie Robinson's Jim Crow experience as a rookie on the Dodger Farm team in Florida, focuses on his struggles and his victories, as well as his relationship with Dodger owner-manager Branch Rickey.
Target grade levels: Middle and High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Image Gallery Lesson
Introduce your students to Jim Crow through the use of the unique images in the Jim Crow image gallery. An introductory essay on "Using Images for Historical Purposes" is included.
Target grade levels: Middle School or High School Levels
For use with: The Jim Crow Image Gallery
Historical Overview Gallery Walk Lesson
Using the Historical Overview themed essay, students learn about the Jim Crow era. The culminating project is a synthesis of the information learned into a visual presentation.
Target grade levels: Middle School or High School Levels
For use with: From Terror to Triumph: Historical Overview essay and PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow
Issues of Post Civil War America Talk Show
Students research, then become the African-American leaders of post-Civil War America. In a talk show format, students will address the different reactions and recommendations of these leaders living under Jim Crow.
Target grade levels: 8-12
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit: Using Music to Send a Message
Students examine the lyrics in this song about the lynchings of African Americans, using it as a springboard to research the Jim Crow period. Students also explore how this and other politically charged songs impact public understanding of social issues.
Target grade levels: 8-12
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program Two: Fighting Back (1896-1917)
Reconstruction to Plessy v. Ferguson Newscast
Students use the first film in the Jim Crow series, Promises Betrayed (1865-1896) as a springboard for a research assignment into the period. In this collaborative unit, the culminating activity is a newscast in which the students report on what they learned about the freedoms and injustices of the beginning of the Jim Crow era.
Target grade levels: Advanced Middle School or High School Levels
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education: Looking At Primary Source Documents
Students examine the majority and minority opinions of both Supreme Court decisions. Using their research on Washington and Du Bois, students will also correlate the philosophies with of those men with the decisions.
Target grade levels: 9-12
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
Presidential Advisory Committee to Andrew Johnson
Students take on roles and serve as advisors to President Johnson during the tumultuous times following the Civil War. This lesson is a pre-viewing activity for The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.
Target grade levels: 9-12
For use with: PBS series, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, Program One: Promises Betrayed (1865-1896)
History Resources Jim Crow Teacher Resources
The teacher resources section contains a wide range of materials to help you teach Jim Crow. You'll find a growing Image Gallery, our Gateway to some of the best Jim Crow source material on the internet, first account narratives of people who lived through the Jim Crow years, the Jim Crow encyclopedia, and the newly added National Park Services Gateway.
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