Freedom Summer was a civil rights campaign that took place in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. Hundreds of civil rights activists and volunteers, most of them college students, went to Mississippi. There, they worked with local activists to create Freedom Schools to educate Black children, register Black voters, and challenge the segregationist Democratic Party in Mississippi with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. In many cases, activists were met with violence, threats, and intimidation, including the murder of three volunteers. In the end, the Freedom Summer brought national attention to racial discrimination.
6-8
The Heart of Social Studies
Inquiries
Filed Under:
Freedom Summer was a civil rights campaign that took place in Mississippi during the summer of 1964. Hundreds of civil rights activists and volunteers, most of them college students, went to Mississippi. There, they worked with local activists to create Freedom Schools to educate Black children, register Black voters, and challenge the segregationist Democratic Party…
Filed Under:
On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 people attended the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Participants gathered peacefully in Washington, D.C., to call for an end to racial discrimination and greater economic justice. Today, the event is best remembered for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and for…
Filed Under:
The Greensboro sit-ins began on February 1, 1960, when four African American college students sat at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and politely refused to leave after being denied service. Sit-ins quickly spread across the South. Sit-ins became an important strategy during the Civil Rights Movement because they challenged segregation through nonviolent…
Filed Under:
Civil rights activists used boycotts, a type of non-violent direct action, to push local businesses to desegregate. By refusing to spend money on segregated public transportation or at businesses that treated African Americans unfairly, protesters put economic pressure on those businesses to change their policies. Boycotts helped inspire more civil rights campaigns and contributed to…
Filed Under:
World War II was a catalyst for many changes to the United States throughout the twentieth century. Those changes have had long lasting effects on the U.S. and throughout the world. In this inquiry, students will predict how World War II shaped the future of the United States politically, socially, economically, and internationally.
…
Filed Under:
Photographs often reveal the human impact of significant historical events. When Japanese Americans were forced to live in internment camps during World War II, Ansel Adams aimed to show the resilience of Japanese Americans despite losing everything they were forced to leave behind. The resulting imagery may tell an incomplete story about their experience. By…
Filed Under:
World War II created a generation of heroes on the warfront as a generation of military families made countless sacrifices so the Allies could defeat the fascist Axis powers. Meanwhile, civilians on the home front also demonstrated what it meant to serve their country. This inquiry asks students to think about the concept of patriotism…
Filed Under:
World War II represents one of the most pivotal eras in modern history. The immense scale of the war brings with it millions of historical records, artifacts, and stories and organizations across the world have used these to create lasting memorials to the veterans who served. This inquiry explores some of those endeavors and asks…
Filed Under:
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression required an unprecedented level of involvement by the Federal government. Regardless of the FDR’s intentions, the varied realities of Americans opened the New Deal up to mixed reviews. While some newspapers accommodated supporters, many publications featured political cartoons critical of the New Deal. This inquiry asks students…
Filed Under:
While political promises are not a new phenomenon, the scale of change required by the New Deal to address Great Depression problems was unprecedented. This inquiry requires students to compare the vision shared by FDR in his inaugural address and fireside chat with the programs and initiatives enacted by the New Deal.
…