Civil rights lesson plans

Three new lesson plans use oral history excerpts from the Southern Oral History Program to explore the civil rights movement in North Carolina.

In Brown vs. Board of Education, students will listen to three oral histories, two from prominent Southern politicians, George Wallace and Jesse Helms. The third offers a contrasting opinion from the viewpoint of an African American woman from Charlotte whose children went to integrated schools.

Students will trace the life of Rebecca Clark in Race in her Lifetime. Clark, an African American woman, who was born in rural Orange County just before the Depression, witnessed the changes in civil rights over the years. Students will gain empathy for the challenge African Americans faced in the South, even in what is considered a “liberal” or “progressive” town like Chapel Hill. They will also learn about the election of Chapel Hill’s first black mayor, Howard Lee, and the importance of African American participation in the political process.

Students will discuss well-known civil rights protests in the context of personal risk in Civil Rights Protests and Dilemmas. They will also listen to two oral histories where individuals tell a story about a protest, or personal risk, they took in order to promote equality for African Americans.