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Activity One: Researching the History of
 Jim
Crow/Segregation in the United States
The struggle to end legal segregation took place at
a particular time in our history. It is important to
fully understand that context.
Divide the class into four groups. Assign each group
one of the following topics:
a. Fourteenth Amendment and Plessy v. Ferguson
b. the history of Jim Crow and the overall effects
of legal
segregation
c. effects of segregation on public education (K through
12 and
postsecondary)
d. The NAACP and its role in the struggle to reverse
the Plessy
decision
Have each group share its research on the assigned
topic with the class.
Ask the students to use their textbooks and the following
websites to research their assigned topics.
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module20/index.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/escaping.htm
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_events_plessy.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/stories_org_naacp.html
http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/pec01.html
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module20/index.html
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/search/display_results.php?id=GLC08259
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/collection/
docs_archive_Douglass_letter3.html
Images of racial segregation:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/images/br0020as.jpg
http://www.jimcrowhistory.org/history/escaping.htm
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/
http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/pec01.html
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/
Activity Two: Analyzing the Legal Arguments
Exercise One: Divide the class into small groups. Each
group should research each of the following cases:
Gaines v. Canada (Missouri ex rel Gaines v. Canada)
Sweatt v. Painter
Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas
Exercise Two: Each group will write the opening argument
for the NAACP for each of the Supreme Court cases. When
preparing the arguments, students should consider the
following:
a. the background facts of the cases
b. the argument that the state would make in each
case (The
students
will need to anticipate and address as many opposing
arguments
as possible.)
c. the historical context of the cases
The following websites provide summaries and some analysis
of the cases:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/
http://www.landmarkcases.org/
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/
http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmsupremecourt.html
http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/brown-case-order/
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/conlaw/sepbutequal.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1894713
The full text of each case may be found on this website:
http://www.brownat50.org/brownCases/BrownCasesFrameset.html
Activity Three: Analyzing Public Education after
Brown
Divide the class into five groups. Assign each group
one of the following topics for research. Each group
should be prepared to explain the context and significance
of its topic as it relates to segregation of public
education.
1. Brown v. Board of Education II (1955)
2. Little Rock Nine
3. Griffin v. County School Board of Prince Edward
County
(Virginia)
4. James E. Swann et al., Petitioners, v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Board
of Education, et al.
5. Keyes, et al. v. School District No. 1, Denver,
Colorado
Have each group share its research on the assigned
topic with the class.
The following websites provide primary and secondary
resources:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/
http://www.gilderlehrman.org/teachers/module21/index.html
http://brownat50.org/brownCases/BrownCasesFrameset.html
http://www.oyez.org/oyez/frontpage
Little Rock Nine:
http://www.centralhigh57.org/1957-58.htm
http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/central/
http://louisianahistory.ourfamily.com/arkansas/littlerock9.html
http://www.npr.org/news/specials/brown50/
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/school.pdf
(scholarly account of school desegregation)
http://pbskids.org/wayback/civilrights/features_school.html
Extension Activities:
Essays
1. Analyze the strategy used by the NAACP to overturn
the
separate-but-equal
doctrine in Plessy v. Ferguson.
2. To what extent did the 1954 Brown decision
achieve the
broader
goals of ending segregation and achieving integration
in
public schools in the decades that followed the decision?
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