10 Questions for the Past: The 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott

About This Lesson

Although the 10 Questions Framework was designed for student changemakers in the twenty-first century, there is much for today's young people to learn from student activism in the past. Students have “chosen to participate” in consequential ways at critical moments throughout the past century of US history. 

This lesson focuses on a school boycott organized in 1963 by students in Chicago. On October 22, 1963, 225,000 students boycotted Chicago’s public schools to protest racial segregation and unequal conditions in white and black schools. Many marched through the city calling for the resignation of School Superintendent Benjamin Willis. Although it was one of the largest civil rights protests in the North, the 1963 Chicago school boycott is relatively unknown compared to other protests of the era.

In this lesson, students examine the 1963 boycott through the lens of the 10 Questions Framework. They explore the strategies, risks, and historical significance of the students’ activism, while also considering bigger-picture questions about social progress. Can changemakers, for instance, still consider their efforts “successful” if it takes years for their full impact to be realized? Is social impact only measured through immediate, tangible results? Students will reflect on these questions through an analysis of two competing narratives about the boycott’s effects: a secondary source article and a 1966 interview with Martin Luther King Jr.

Guiding Questions

• What historical conditions were students responding to when they walked out of class during the 1963 Chicago school boycott?
• What does “success” mean in the context of social change? How should we assess the impact of changemaking efforts?

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to situate the 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott within the broader historical context of northern segregation and the civil rights movement.
• Students will recognize that social change is a long-term process that requires resilience, effective tactics, and a clear vision.

Activities

These activities can be implemented in one 50-minute class period.

Day 1 Activities

Activity 1: Place the 1963 School Boycott in Historical Context

Explain to students that in class today they will be learning about the 1963 Chicago Public Schools Boycott. Before students learn more about the school boycott, let them know that while school segregation was formally outlawed in Illinois in 1874, a combination of federal, local, and state policies kept schools segregated. In Chicago, school officials adjusted boundary lines during the years after World War II to ensure that school districts remained as segregated as the city’s neighborhoods. Benjamin Willis, who was the school superintendent from 1953 to 1966, resisted desegregation efforts, even in the face of massive overcrowding in the city’s predominantly African American neighborhood schools. Under Willis, the school district dealt with cramped classrooms by building what were called “Willis Wagons”—portable trailers for black students’ classrooms—rather than sending them to under-capacity white schools.

Next, have students watch a video clip from the documentary ‘63 Boycott: Today Is Freedom Day (3:06), featuring eyewitness accounts from Chicago Public Schools (CPS) students attending the boycott. Pass out the handout 10 Questions Framework: Questions for the Past. As students watch the clip, ask them to take notes that will help them answer the first question on the handout (which also roughly corresponds to Question 1 from the 10 Questions Framework): What conditions were CPS students protesting in 1963? If time allows, consider showing the video twice so that students have time to both watch carefully and collect their notes. Ask volunteers to share their answers, and let students know that they will be learning more about the boycott in the next activity.

Activity 2: Consider How the 10 Questions Apply to the 1963 Chicago School Boycott

Explain to students that they will now be learning more about the 1963 Chicago school boycott and using the 10 Questions Framework they were introduced to in the previous lesson to understand the protests in greater depth. Start the reading Why MLK Encouraged 225,000 Chicago Kids to Cut Class in 1963 together as a class, with the teacher reading aloud until the paragraph that begins “Then, in 1961 . . . ” and ends with “corralled in poor schools.” Once you’ve finished reading, solicit ideas from the class for notes to add to the 10 Questions Framework: Questions for the Past handout. Students should be looking for evidence that helps them answer Questions 2–4 on the handout.

In pairs, ask students to continue to read the article and look for answers to Questions 2–4. Tell them to stop after every four paragraphs for notetaking and to change partners.

Once pairs have finished reading the article and writing their responses to Questions 2–4, ask volunteers to share their findings.

Day 2 Activities

Activity 1: Reflect on Dr. King’s Advice to a Chicago Student Activist

Tell students that they will be hearing a different viewpoint on the ultimate impact of the Chicago school boycott than what is presented in the article they just read. (You may want to spend a minute with students reviewing the article’s perspective on this issue beforehand.) Tell them that they will now be listening to an audio recording, Martin Luther King Jr. on School Desegregation in Chicago (4:16), of King giving advice to a disillusioned high-school student activist in Chicago in 1966. Ask students to take notes in response to the following question, which is Question 5 on the handout: According to Dr. King, what ultimate effect did the boycott have? If you have time, play the audio clip twice so that students have plenty of time to process it.

Lead a class discussion using the Fishbowl strategy in which volunteers share their answers, and then let students offer their own perspectives on the following bigger-picture questions:

• Why do you think the article you read earlier and this 1966 interview differ in their interpretations of the impact of the 1963 boycott?
• What is King’s message to the student about social progress and the role of nonviolent protest in achieving societal change?

Activity 2: Grapple with the Meaning of “Success”

Using the Barometer teaching strategy, ask students to respond to the following prompt: The success or failure of a movement for social change should be determined by whether or not it provides immediate, tangible results.

Once students are settled in their positions, ask volunteers to share their thoughts at various places along the continuum. Advise students that they can change their initial opinions if they are persuaded by another classmate. Encourage students to refer to the information they’ve learned in the unit to support their positions.

Ask students to return to their desks. As a closing activity, have them write a note to the student who asked for Dr. King’s advice, providing their own advice to the student. In their responses, students can agree or disagree with Dr. King, draw on examples from their own lives, or use what they’ve learned in the unit to support their conclusions.