Resources for Black History Month

I’ve been gathering a few Black History Month resources to share with teachers here at our high school and thought I’d share them here as well.

African American History Month, a collaborative government-sponsored site, provides links to primary source-driven lessons from the Library of Congress, the National Archives, the National Gallery, the National Park Service and the National  Endowment for the Humanities, as well as a free downloadable Emancipation Proclamation eBook available for multiple devices.  Also check out FREE: Federal Resources for Educational Excellence’s government resources which include an Emancipation Proclamation Commemorative Coloring Book

The American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress offers a rich list of 17 collections relating to African American History, including:

• African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship, a primary-source illustrated story of  more than 200 years of African American struggle and achievement.
• African American Pamplets, an eclectic review of African-American history and culture, published between 1875 and 1900. Among the authors represented are Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Benjamin W. Arnett, Alexander Crummel, and Emanuel Love.
• Baseball and Jackie Robinson ~ Multiformat ~ 1860-1969
• Slave Narratives, Audio Interviews from 1932-1975
  
• Slave Narratives, Federal Writers’ Project Multiformat, 1936-1938
• The papers of Frederick Douglass, 1841-1964

Smithsonian Education shares Black History Teaching Resources that include a Harlem Renaissance Reading List; a reading list for younger readers Black Wings: African American Pioneer Aviators; a Cultural Heritage Tour; lessons on the Art and Life of William H. Johnson; and a study of history through portraiture with Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits.

The New York Times Learning Network invites teachers and students to Celebrate Black History Month, with a bounty of its own content, including Historical Times Front Pages, Lesson Plans, Crosswords, Current Times Resources.  The original 2010 post was updated last month.

EDSITEment’s Guide to Black History Month Teaching Resources, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, provides a collection of NEH-supported websites and EDSITEment-developed lessons that tell the four-hundred-year story of African Americans. They will also encounter some of the most influential voices and the most memorable images in American history and culture.

Gale Cengage Learning annually offers free selection of biographical resources from their high quality databases on its Black History Month page.

Sweet Search also gathers a list of biographies on African Americans with links to sources and additional content.

Booklist Online recently listed the Top Ten Books for Youth on Black History: sharing outstanding books about the civil rights movement on this year’s list of the top black-history titles, along with a picture book about an unsung singer of the Harlem Renaissance and a stylish biography of Willie Mays.

PBS Africans in America presents the story of slavery in America in four parts, each of which presents historical narrative, documents, images, stories, biographies, and commentaries, as well as a Teacher’s Guide for the website and the television show.

Scholastic invites us to Celebrate African American Heritage with a variety of lesson plans, primary sources, simulations, multimedia activities, research starters and reading guides. Among them are The Underground Railroad: Escape From Slavery, an immersive multimedia activity, with historic figures like Harriet Tubman and the Classroom Play: Back To Africa, Marcus Garvey,

Learn NC’s Beyond Black History Month describes strategies with which educators might shift the lens to include new perspective and presents a wide array of  lesson plans and resources toward that goal.

Biography.com Celebrates Black History Month with brief profiles, photographs, and videos organized by field of achievement.  Don’t miss the site’s Black History timeline and videos.

Time for Kids’ Black History Month feature includes the video, Inspired By . . . filled with quotes about inspiring civil rights leaders, slideshows, timelines, and stories by kid reporters.

History.com shares a huge library of videos, speeches, photo galleries and interactivities.

The National Education Associate gathers a long list of interdisciplinary Black History Month Lessons and Resources and quizzes for grade K through 12.

InfoPlease’s Black History Month page shares fabulous list of timelines, a gathering of biographical materials and quotations, brief coverage of contemporary issues and facts, and more.

Filed under: african american history, history