Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Excerpts from “Andrew G. Imutan 1965-1974,” Essays by UFW Volunteers Collection
Andrew Imutan recounts the proceedings of a 1965 Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee meeting that led to the Delano grape workers strike.
"I Knew I Had to Give Him the Talk"
Mamie Till-Mobley shares an account of "the talk" she had with her son Emmett Till shortly before he journeyed from Chicago to Mississippi in 1955.
Segregation and Precipitating Events
This excerpt from an FBI investigation of the murder of Emmett Till describes some of the Southern norms that were created to enforce white supremacy.
Mississippi Miscegenation Laws
This document lists in chronological order the evolution of Mississippi miscegenation laws between 1865 and 1942.
The Brown Decision
This document gives students the immediate historical context of the Till murder by summarizing the segregationist reaction to the Brown decision and the emergence of White Citizens’ Councils in Mississippi.
Quotes from the Mississippi Constitutional Convention 1890
This source includes quotes from delegates at the 1890 Mississippi Constitutional Convention asserting the desire to create a government to uphold white supremacy.
A Latina Mother Responds to Conditions at School
Historian Tatiana Cruz describes what a Latina mother saw when she visited her daughter’s school in Boston in the 1970s.
Forgetting Isn't Healing
Jouranlist Sonari Glinton connects Elie Wiesel’s teachings on bearing witness to his own experiences as a Black man in the United States.
How Social Media Users Help and Harm
A CNN article explores the strengths and weaknesses of, and interplay between, professional news and amateur social media.
Officer Kills Ferguson Teen
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch article summarizes what was known in the first 24 hours after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Mo.
Police Press Conference in Ferguson
Read a transcript of the press conference that took place ten days after Michael Brown’s death and several days after responsibility for security in Ferguson was transferred from local police to the Missouri State Highway Patrol.