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DocsTeach from the National Archives
Access thousands of primary sources and an ever-expanding collection of document-based activities spanning the course of American history created by the National Archives and teachers around the world. Discover the activities, such as Analyzing a Letter from Jackie Robinson: "Fair Play and Justice" , The Impact of Bloody Sunday in Selma , We Shall Overcome: March on Washington , and Examining Where Rosa Parks Sat .
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Image credit: Photograph of a Young Woman at the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. with a Banner, U.S. Information Agency. Press and Publications Service. ca. 1953-ca. 1978. (Library of Congress)
Selected Resources For Teachers
The Library of Congress 13Hide All
- Civil War Images: Depictions of African Americans in the War Effort
- Frederick Douglass: Online Resources
- The Harlem Renaissance
- Idea Book for Educators (in cooperation with the History Channel and Newman's Own Foundation) (PDF,21.5Mb)
- Rosa Parks: Freedom Fighter virtual student workshop
- Slavery Resource Guide
- 12 Years a Slave: Primary Sources on the Kidnapping of Free African Americans
- African American History and Primary Sources
- Booker T. Washington and the Atlanta Compromise
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964: Making Our Nation Whole
- Experiencing History from Behind the Scenes: Martha Morris and George Washington
- Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln: The Writer and Abolitionist Remembers the President in Library of Congress Primary Sources
- Looking Behind the March on Washington: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the Civil Rights Movement, and Labor in Primary Sources
Blog Posts:
National Archives 26Hide All
- African American Soldiers and Civil Rights During WWI
- Analyzing a Letter to Congress About Bloody Sunday
- Analyzing Jackie Robinson's White House Letter
- Analyzing a Letter from Jackie Robinson: "Fair Play and Justice"
- Analyzing a Photograph of Jackie Robinson
- Black Soldiers in the Civil War
- The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Comparing Civil War Recruitment Posters
- Confronting Work Place Discrimination on the World War II Home Front
- The Emancipation Proclamation Commemorative Coloring Book
- Examining Rosa Parks's Arrest Record
- Examining Where Rosa Parks Sat
- From Dred Scott to the Civil Rights Act of 1875: Eighteen Years of Change
- How Effective were the Efforts of the Freedmen's Bureau?
- The Impact of Bloody Sunday in Selma
- Integration of the U.S. Armed Forces
- Letter to President Abraham Lincoln from Annie Davis
- Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Fight for Civil Rights
- The Meaning and Making of Emancipation eBook
- Oh Freedom! Sought Under the Fugitive Slave Act
- Responding to the Murder of Harry T. Moore
- Documents relating the 1921 Tulsa Massacre:
-- Report About the Tulsa Massacre by Maurice Willows, 12/31/1921
-- Photo Album of the Tulsa Massacre and Aftermath, 1921
-- Tulsa Tribune Articles about the Tulsa Massacre, 6/5/1921
-- Additional documents on this topic - Twelve Years a Slave
- U.S. v. Amistad: A Case of Jurisdiction
- We Shall Overcome: March on Washington
- Find primary sources on DocsTeach
National Endowment for the Humanities 32Hide All
- After the American Revolution: Free African Americans in the North
- August Wilson's Blues Poetry
- The Black Archives of Mid-America
- Colored Conventions Project (in cooperation with the University of Delaware)
- The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement
- Frederick Douglass's “Narrative:” Myth of the Happy Slave
- From Courage to Freedom: Frederick Douglass's 1845 Autobiography
- Grassroots Perspectives on the Civil Rights Movement: Focus on Women
- The Green Book: African American Experiences of Travel and Place in the U.S
- Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
- Jacob Lawrence's Migration Series: Removing the Mask
- JFK, Freedom Riders, and the Civil Rights Movement
- Malcolm X: A Radical Vision for Civil Rights
- Mapping Prejudice (Site supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities)
- Martin Puryear's Ladder for Booker T. Washington
- The Music of African American History
- Music of the Harlem Renaissance
- NEH Landmarks of American History & Culture, "African Americans and the Making of Early New England"
- "A Raisin in the Sun": Whose American Dream?
- The Right to Love: The Case of Loving v. Virginia
- Slavery in the Colonial North
- Solomon Northup's “Twelve Years a Slave” and the Slave Narrative Tradition
- “Stony the Road: Exploring Alabama's Civil Rights Legacy” K12 Teacher Lesson Plans (Site supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities)
- Teacher's Guide: African American History in the United States
- Teacher's Guide: Maya Angelou: A Phenomenal Woman
- Teacher's Guide: The Reconstruction Era
- Teacher's Guide: The Works of Langston Hughes
- Their Eyes Were Watching God: Folk Speech and Figurative Language
- Toni Morrison's Beloved: For Sixty Million and More
- Twelve Years a Slave: Analyzing Slave Narratives
- Visualizing Emancipation
- W.E.B. DuBois Papers
National Gallery of Art 8Hide All
- Browse online materials (PDFs, interactive lesson plans, and podcasts) and borrow free-loan resources (teaching packets, DVDs/VHS) on African American art and artists at NGA Learning Resources.
- The Art of Romare Bearden (Teaching Packet)
- The First African American Regiment (Grades: 5–8)
- Gordon Parks Photography
- In Memoriam: Honoring Heroes & Heroines through Sculpture (Grades 5–8)
- Pippin's Story (Grades: K–4)
- The Shaw Memorial (Teaching Packet)
- Uncovering America: Harlem Renaissance
National Park Service 8Hide All
- National Park Service Education Portal
- Teaching with Historic Places
- Civil Rights and Racial Healing Feature
- African American History
- Discover the Jackie Robinson Ballpark Lightning Lesson
- Discover the Mary Ann Shadd Cary House Lightning Lesson
- Discover Colonel Young's Protest Ride for Equality and Country Lightning Lesson
- Discover the African Burial Ground National Monument Lightning Lesson
Smithsonian Institution 1Hide All
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum 6Hide All
- How Did Different Goals and Political Systems Shape Racism in Nazi Germany and the United States?
- Lesson: Black Americans and the Nazi Olympics
- Lesson: Black Press Newspaper Coverage of the Holocaust
- Lesson: Racial Science and Law in Nazi Germany and the United States
- Teaching Materials on Nazism and Jim Crow
- What Were Some Similarities Between Racism in Nazi Germany and in the United States, 1920s-1940s?