ISALC:
ESL 411: College Prep. Reading/Writing - Spring 1998
Diversity and Civil Rights in the U.S.
The purpose of this activity is give you basic background information about the role of African Americans in early U.S. history, beginning in the 1700's and continuing through the 1960's. Once you have a basic understanding of this historical period, you will be able to participate much more fully when the class focuses on the speeches, writings, people and events which comprise the U.S. Civil Rights Movement during its most active years, the period of the 1950's and 1960's.
1. Where is the Museum located? Why?
2. The purpose of the museum is to . . . (you may copy the answer)
3. True or False? When the Museum opened in 1991, less than 33% of Americans had first-hand memories of the Civil Rights Movement.
4. How big is the Museum?
NOTE: There is no index. Click the "Continue" and "Back" buttons at the bottom of the Musuem pages to move through the Museum. Do *not* click on the "Index" button because it will take you out of the Museum.
1. Unremitting Struggle - (all students) - African Americans have fought for education, employment, respect and freedom for over 400 years. Their means of protest have included ______________, ____________, ___________ and _____________.
2. Voices of Struggle (all students) (early to mid 1800's) - Choose one of the following. (Nat Turner, Sarah C. Roberts v. City of Boston, Dred Scott, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison, John Brown) Write the main idea in 3-4 sentences. Do your best to paraphrase.
3. The Civil War (1861-1865) - Were blacks allowed to fight for the Confederacy (South)?
How many blacks fought for the Union (North) in the Army and Navy combined?
4. Freedom At Last - When did President Lincoln free the slaves?
5. Civil Rights Acts (1866-1875) (Note: These appear to give blacks full rights, but the laws were never effective. Blacks did not receive these rights until almost 100 years later). Which of the Civil Rights Acts supposedly guaranteed blacks the right to use public accommodations such as hotels, theaters and public transportation?
6. Migration (end of Civil War until early 20th century) - True or False? The thousands of blacks who migrated from the South to the North were welcomed and treated well by the Northern whites.
7. Jim Crow Laws (passed beginning in 1877) - What were Jim Crow laws? Did the U.S. Supreme Court case of Plessy v Ferguson uphold (approve-remained valid) or overturn (disapprove-the laws became invalid) Jim Crow laws?
8. Education - List 5 disadvantages in education for blacks beginning during slavery and continuing until the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.
9. Booker T. Washington (1865-1915) - Write the words spoken by Booker T. Washington which were interpreted by many whites to mean that he supported segregation (forcing whites and black to remain separated).
10. Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) - True or False? Like Rosa Parks (over 50 years later) who would refuse to give up her seat on public transportation to a white person, Ida Wells refused to give up her seat in a "whites only" section of a railroad car.
11. W.E.B. BuBois (1868-1963) This Harvard educated supporter of integration invited a group of black intellectuals to meet and discuss how to combat racism. Where was the meeting held? Why was it held in that location?
12. Philanthropies - Some white philanthropists helped African Americans in the South around the beginning of the 20th century. Define philanthropist (use your dictionary) and give one example.
13. The Vote - What caused the number of black voters in Louisiana to drop from 130,000 to 5,000 by 1900?
14. Race Riots - True or False? Most of the race riots in the early 1900's were in the South.
15. The NAACP - What does this abbreviation stand for? When was this organization formed?
16. The National Urban League - When was it formed? Who was it designed to help?
17. World War I (1914-1918) - Who was the President during World War I? How many black men served in the armed forces in World War I? True or False? The racial attitudes of whites toward blacks improved after World War I.
18. Elanore Roosevelt (1884-1962) - Franklin D. Roosevelt served longer than any other U.S. President (over 14 years--during the Great Depression of the 1930's and for much of WWII during the early 1940's). Elanore was the spouse of President Roosevelt and was an important American historical figure in her own right. Why did she resign from the Daughters of the American Revolution (a very respected patriotic group of the time)?
19. Brown v. Board of Education (1954) - True or False? This U.S. Supreme Court decision said that the doctrine of "separate but equal" was against the Constitution of the U.S.
Brown II (1955) - True or False? The U.S. Supreme Court set a time limit of 3 years after the Brown decision for all public schools to integrate (mix blacks andwhites together).
20. Resistance - Name three organizations which were formed by whites to resist integration of the schools after Brown v. Board of Education made segregation in public schools illegal.
21. Little Rock and Showdown (The Little Rock Nine) (1957) - In 100 words or less (*your own words*), explain what happened in Little Rock.
22. Bus Exhibit and Montgomery (1955) - In this interactive exhibit, what can the "patrons" (visitors to the Museum) do?
23. Sit-Ins (1950's-1960's) - Thousands of young people joined the Civil Rights Movement for the first time. They proved to be ideal (perfect) for the job because. . .
24. Freedom Rides (early 1960's) - Whites and blacks rode together on public transportation as allowed under federal law. Based on the photo, what do you think happened to these buses and the people in them?
25. Freedom Summer - What was the major objective of Freedom Summer?
26. Birmingham, Selma, The March on Washington, Chicago and Memphis - Draw lines between the correct word or phrase and the city it describes.
|
Birmingham |
Garbage workers went on strike in this city. MLK came here to support the strike in 1968. |
|
Chicago |
Eugene "Bull" Conner was hated here and was the focus of marches, protests, boycotts and sit-ins. |
|
Selma |
In 1963, immense crowds gathered in the nation's capital. It was here that MLK delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. |
|
The March on Washington |
In 1965, blacks crossed a bridge here in what civil rights leader, Roy Wilkins called, the "last great parade." |
|
Memphis |
After 1965, the Civil Rights Movement came here to fight poverty and hunger. |
27. Rooms 307 and 307 - What happened on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee at the Lorraine Motel outside of Rooms 306 and 307?
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Updated: 11/27/00