The 2008 Wall Street Bailout

This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE: "Money, Power and Wall Street" traces the unprecedented decisions made by the U.S. government to intervene in the financial crisis of 2008.

Accessibility features: Caption

Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights Scrapbook

These materials document the goals and activities of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights; from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

American Muslim Women

Learn about the perceptions and challenges of being a Muslim woman in the U.S., in this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly.

Analyzing Primary Source Media

In this media-rich, self-paced lesson, students analyze primary source news footage to gain insights into public sentiment toward historical figures, issues, and events of the past 50 years.

Audrey Hendricks

In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Audrey Hendricks recalls her arrest and jailing at the age of nine for participation in the Children's Crusade of 1963.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Ballot boxing: The problem with electronic voting machines

In this video adapted from Need to Know, correspondent Rick Carr investigates why new voting machines with the latest in technology may not be a panacea for what troubles the American voting system.

Barbara Johns of Farmville, Virginia

In this video from The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, learn about 16-year old Barbara Johns, a high school student who, in 1951, organized a student walk-out to protest inferior educational conditions at Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Bayard Rustin

This transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize documents the leadership strategies of March on Washington organizer Bayard Rustin.

Bayard Rustin: A Freedom Budget, Part 1

This audio excerpt captures the beginning of Bayard Rustin's 1967 "Freedom Budget" speech, describing the social and economic impact of racism over time.

Accessibility features: Caption

Bayard Rustin: A Freedom Budget, Part 2

This audio excerpt from Bayard Rustin's 1967 "Freedom Budget" speech outlines a nine-year plan to end poverty in America.

Accessibility features: Caption

Boston Desegregation

This excerpt from WGBH's Evening Compass news program summarizes events of the first year of the 1974 Boston school desegregation plan.

Accessibility features: Caption

Brown: A Landmark Case

This video segment describes the players and events of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision and how it galvanized the Civil Rights movement as well as white resistance.

Accessibility features: Caption

Burke Marshall

Assistant Attorney General Burke Marshall, in this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, remembers mediating the 1962 desegregation of the University of Mississippi.

Bus to the Burbs

This video excerpt from La Plaza: "Bus to the Burbs" looks at METCO, a voluntary busing program in Boston.

Accessibility features: Caption

Campaigns for Economic Freedom

This lesson plan explores the economic impact of racial discrimination and campaigns for jobs and justice.

The Causes of the 2008 Financial Crisis

This video segment adapted from FRONTLINE: "Money, Power and Wall Street" explores the changes in the U. S. financial market that ultimately led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Accessibility features: Caption

Choosing words: The controversy over Texas textbooks

This video adapted from Need to Know examines controversial decisions made by the Texas State Board of Education regarding the social studies curriculum standards for Texas public schools.

The Civil Rights Movement in America, 1945-1975

This interactive timeline provides a chronological and geographic view of the events of the Civil Rights era and its aftermath.

A Class Divided 1: The Daring Lesson

This segment from FRONTLINE: "A Class Divided" profiles an experiment in discrimination based on eye color that took place in a third-grade class in 1970.

Accessibility features: Caption

A Class Divided 2: Day Two

This segment from FRONTLINE: "A Class Divided" profiles the second day of an experiment in discrimination based on eye color that took place in a third-grade class in 1970.

Accessibility features: Caption

A Class Divided 3: An Interview with Jane Elliott

In this Web-exclusive interview for FRONTLINE, Jane Elliott discusses her abiding sense that her lesson on bigotry is as necessary today as it was in 1968.

Colonel Stone Johnson

In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Colonel Stone Johnson describes how civil rights activists were physically attacked for their work.

Accessibility features: Caption

A Community of People Now

In this video segment from the documentary American Masters: Bill T. Jones: A Good Man, Bill T. Jones struggles to find meaning and relevancy for the life of Abraham Lincoln in today’s social and political landscape.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Concerned White Citizens of Alabama Scrapbook

These materials document the philosophy and activities of the Concerned White Citizens of Alabama, who fought for racial equality and voting rights for African Americans; from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Constance Baker Motley

In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, Justice Constance Baker Motley recalls her role as an NAACP attorney in landmark school desegregation cases.

A Country Preacher: Rev. De Laine

In this video segment produced for the Levine Museum of the New South, the Reverend Joseph De Laine's son and daughter describe his role in the first public school desegregation lawsuit.

Accessibility features: Caption

Decision in the Streets

This video segment, adapted from Decision in the Streets by civil rights filmmaker Harvey Richards, portrays the interracial protests that took place in San Francisco in 1963-64.

Accessibility features: Caption

Desegregation in San Francisco

This audio excerpt from National Public Radio's All Things Considered examines policies designed to achieve racial diversity in San Francisco's schools and their impact on Chinese Americans.

Desegregation Mandate: Jefferson County, AL

A 1967 federal court order resulted in this document, which mandated school desegregation in Birmingham.

Diane Nash and the Sit-Ins

Diane Nash was a college student when she started leading sit-in demonstrations to protest discrimination. In this interview, recorded for Eyes on the Prize, Nash describes her role in the Civil Rights movement.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Documenting Brown 1: The Fourteenth Amendment

The Fourteenth Amendment established the equal protection clause, later used in key desegregation cases.

Documenting Brown 2: Plessy v. Ferguson

The Supreme Court's 1896 ruling legalized the "separate but equal" doctrine that sanctioned segregation.

Documenting Brown 3: Gong Lum v. Rice

The Supreme Court's 1927 opinion in Gong Lum v. Rice affirmed legalized school segregation.

Documenting Brown 4: Mendez v. Westminster

This 1946 federal court ruling marked a victory for Mexican Americans and chipped away at the "separate but equal" doctrine, declaring segregated schools based on national origin unconstitutional.

Documenting Brown 5: Brown v. Board of Education, 1954

The Supreme Court's landmark opinion overturned its earlier ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson and declared segregated schools unconstitutional.

Documenting Brown 6: Brown v. Board of Education, 1955

The Supreme Court's opinion in Brown II reflects the struggle between federal and state governments on how and when school desegregation would occur.

Documenting Brown 7: Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 helped enforce the Brown ruling, a decade later.

Documenting Brown: Collected Excerpts

This collection of excerpts from legislation and court decisions documents key phases of the legal struggle to gain and implement equal education.

Drawing the lines: Parties fight for redistricting power

In this video adapted from Need to Know, students learn about redistricting and the impact it has on elections, and democracy, in America.

Eileen Kelley Walbert

Eileen Walbert was among the Concerned White Citizens of Alabama who took a stand for civil rights, as she describes in this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Eleventh Commandment Flyer

This flyer from the 1962 Birmingham selective buying campaign encourages African Americans to boycott discriminatory businesses; from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Excerpts from the March on Washington, Part 1

This audio compilation, recorded live at the 1963 March on Washington, captures the voices of several civil rights leaders.

Accessibility features: Caption

Excerpts from the March on Washington, Part 2

This audio compilation, recorded live at the 1963 March on Washington, pays tribute to the women -- both leaders and widows of slain leaders -- of the Civil Rights movement.

Accessibility features: Caption

Excerpts from the March on Washington, Part 3

Recorded live at the 1963 March on Washington, this audio segment captures the voice of SNCC leader John Lewis.

Accessibility features: Caption

Exploring Religious America

In this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, learn about Muslims in Lawrenceville, Georgia, their plans to build an Islamic cemetery and the stiff objections from their Christian neighbors.

Facing Muslim Stereotypes After September 11

In this video segment from Finding Your Roots, Yasir Qadhi shares his personal experience with Muslim stereotypes and anti-Muslim sentiments following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

Faith in Change: John Lewis

This lesson uses video segments from the PBS series Finding Your Roots to explore the American civil rights movement of the 1960s through the personal experience of one of its most prominent leaders—Congressman John Lewis.

Fannie Lou Hamer

This video segment profiles the life and leadership of Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist best known for her stirring testimony at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Accessibility features: Caption

Gideon v. Wainwright

Learn how the case of Gideon v. Wainwright brought about sweeping change in the American justice system in this video segment from The Supreme Court.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Griswold v. Connecticut

The “right to privacy” as a legal issue is the topic of this video segment from The Supreme Court.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Growing up under Jim Crow in Birmingham, Alabama

In this video segment from Finding Your Roots, Condoleezza Rice discusses what life was like growing up in Birmingham, Alabama during the era of Jim Crow.

Growing up under Jim Crow in Grapeland, Texas

This video segment from Finding Your Roots features Ruth Simmons as she discusses her childhood in Grapeland, Texas as the daughter of sharecroppers.

Growing up under Jim Crow in Piedmont, West Virginia and Chattanooga, Tennessee

This video segment from Finding Your Roots details what life was like during the Jim Crow era in Chattanooga, Tennessee through the personal experiences of actor Samuel L. Jackson.

Harry Briggs, Sr. and Eliza Briggs

In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, Harry and Eliza Briggs describe their experience in the first school desegregation case, Briggs v. Elliott.

Hyde County School Boycott

This slide show tells the story of a yearlong boycott to protest the closing of historically black schools in Hyde County, North Carolina.

Brown Reactions: Black Educators

This 1954 statement, issued by a group of black educators, strongly endorses the Supreme Court's Brown ruling.

Brown Reactions: Editorials

This sampling of newspaper editorials from the mid-1950s reflects the range of public opinion and responses to the Brown decision.

Brown Reactions: Judge Brady

This 1954 statement from Tom Brady, a founder of the White Citizens' Council movement, expresses opposition to the Brown decision.

Ike and Little Rock

This video segment, adapted from American Experience: "Ike", profiles the president's controversial response to the Little Rock school desegregation crisis in 1957.

Accessibility features: Caption

Mendez v. Westminster: Desegregating California's Schools

Sylvia Mendez recalls the conditions that led Mexican Americans to sue for desegregation in the 1940s in this segment from Mendez vs. Westminster: Para Todos los Niños/For All the Children, from KOCE-TV.

Accessibility features: Caption

The Impact of Deportation

In this video excerpt from FRONTLINE: "Lost in Detention," an immigrant family with American-born children copes with the aftermath of the mother's deportation to Mexico because she lacked legal status.

Accessibility features: Caption

Implementing Brown

Point/counterpoint commentary on the president's actions after the Brown ruling; from American Experience: "Eisenhower."

Accessibility features: Caption

Islam in America

In this lesson, students explore some of the religious and cultural variations and diversity within Islam, as well as the relation of Muslims to members of other religious groups.

James Farmer and the Freedom Rides

In this video interview, recorded for Eyes on the Prize, Freedom Ride organizer James Farmer describes the interracial bus rides through the South that tested desegregation and sparked white resistance.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Jane Jacobs

Learn about Jane Jacobs, an activist who worked to save the neighborhoods of New York City in this video segment from New York Voices.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Jim Zwerg

In this interview transcript from People's Century, northern civil rights activist and Freedom Rider Jim Zwerg describes his experiences.

Joe Dickson

In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Joe Dickson recalls student activism at Miles College.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Kenneth Clark

In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, psychologist Kenneth Clark describes his research that illustrated the impact of racism on African American children.

Ku Klux Klan Flyers

This flyer advertises a 1963 white supremacist Ku Klux Klan meeting; from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael)

In this transcript of an interview recorded for Eyes on the Prize, Stokely Carmichael describes SNCC organizing campaigns and his views on "Black Power."

Law Student Barack Obama, 1991

Harvard Law student Barack Obama speaks in support of Professor Derrick Bell and diversity at a 1991 rally in this archival news footage from WGBH: "Ten O'Clock News."

Accessibility features: Caption

Little Rock Nine

This collection of photos shows scenes from the controversial desegregation of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957.

Lola Hendricks

In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Lola Hendricks describes her work behind the scenes to advance the Civil Rights movement.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Malcolm X: Black Nationalism

In this archival news footage, civil rights leader Malcolm X describes the political, economic, and social aspects of black nationalism.

Accessibility features: Caption

Malcolm X: Regarding Whiteness

In this interview, taken from archival news footage, civil rights leader Malcolm X describes the impact of his 1964 pilgrimage to Mecca on his racial views.

Accessibility features: Caption

March on Washington Flyers

These 1963 flyers announce the speakers and issues for the March on Washington; from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

Melba Pattillo Beals

Melba Patillo Beals was one of nine black students who desegregated Little Rock's Central High School in 1957. In this interview, recorded for Eyes on the Prize, Beals describes her tumultuous experience.

Accessibility features: Caption

Miranda v. Arizona

In this video from The Supreme Court, learn about the Court's sweeping decision in response to police brutality and terror tactics.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Mixed signals: Why is the USDA Promoting Nutrition and Pushing Cheese?

In this video adapted from Need to Know, learn about the mixed messages the U.S. Department of Agriculture sends to the American public around food.

The Most Powerful Instrument

In this video segment from Finding Your Roots, Congressman John Lewis recalls the March on Selma, a civil rights protest focusing on the African American right to vote; the event began peacefully but ended violently.

Movement Music Medley

This collection of songs and images highlights the role of music in the Civil Rights movement.

Accessibility features: Caption

Moving to Oak Park

This video segment, adapted from NOVA, shows the racial violence sparked when the African American chemist Percy Julian and his family moved into an exclusive Chicago suburb in 1950.

Accessibility features: Caption

The Murder of Emmett Till

This video segment adapted from AMERICAN EXPERIENCE tells the story of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old boy whose brutal murder helped spark the U.S. Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s.

Accessibility features: Caption

Muslim Diversity

Roughly half the Muslims in the United States are African American and the other half are immigrants and their American–born children. This video from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly explores the relationship between these two communities.

Muslims in America

In this video segment from Religion & Ethics Newsweekly, learn about how the events of 9/11 have posed continuing challenges for American Muslims as they work to build their community in the U.S.

Nixon and the Court

In this video from the series The Supreme Court, President Nixon promises a return to conservatism, in part through Supreme Court appointments.

Accessibility features: Transcript

The Oil Crisis, 1979

Drivers wait in long lines at gas stations because of shortages resulting from the oil crisis in this 1979 television news footage from the Northeast Historic Film.

Accessibility features: Caption

Only In America

This video segment from the PBS series Finding Your Roots provides a brief biography of Congressman John Lewis, including his role in the civil rights movement.

The Quest for Religious Freedom

In this lesson, video segments from the PBS series Finding Your Roots are used to explore how religion has played a part in attracting immigrants to the U.S. and the role it plays in the lives of modern American families.

Questioning Jewish Identity

This video segment from Finding Your Roots details Rabbi Angela Buchdahl’s struggle with her Jewish identity and explains how she overcame her doubts to ultimately become a rabbi.

Reaction to the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., 1968

In this April 1968 archival news footage from the Boston Public Library, citizens at a public rally in Boston, Massachusetts, respond to the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.

Accessibility features: Caption

Realities of Life in the Jim Crow Era

This hands-on, media-enhanced lesson explores life in the Jim Crow South using video segments from the PBS series Finding Your Roots.

Reconsidering Brown

In the video segments presented in this activity, leading historians and legal scholars reflect on the promise of the Supreme Court ruling in Brown v. Board of Education, and why it remains unfulfilled.

Re-Examining Brown

This lesson explores the historical complexity of the struggle to desegregate schools, the geographic scope of racism, conditions that prompted activism and litigation, and how laws have changed over time.

Rehnquist’s Views on the Miranda Decision

This video from the series The Supreme Court presents Justice Rehnquist’s views on the landmark case Miranda v. Arizona.

Accessibility features: Transcript

Religion and the First Amendment

In this lesson, students learn about the First Amendment and its protection of religious freedom as well as various Muslim practices and rituals. They prepare and present an arts-based project about freedom of religion.

Rev. C. T. Vivian

In this transcript of an interview for Eyes on the Prize, the Reverend C. T. Vivian remembers his leadership role in the Civil Rights Movement and the risks civil rights activists took in challenging segregation.

Rev. Frank Dukes: Selective Buying Campaign

In this oral history from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Frank Dukes describes his role in the 1962 boycott of discriminatory stores and businesses.

Accessibility features: Caption, Transcript

Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth

This oral history transcript from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute documents the tumultuous life and leadership of the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, who survived a bomb attack that destroyed his home.

The Road to Brown

This video segment looks at the history of the NAACP's efforts to convince the Supreme Court that segregated schools were unconstitutional, leading up to the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education cases.

Accessibility features: Caption