Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Mamie Till-Mobley Chooses to Hold an Open-Casket Funeral
Mamie Till-Mobley describes why she insisted on an open-casket funeral. She told the funeral director, “Let the world see what I’ve seen”.
Myrlie Evers-Williams Reflects on the Impact of Emmett Till’s Murder
Civil rights activist and leader in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) reflects on the impact of Emmett Till’s murder.
Excerpt from "Lynching and the Excuse for It"
In this editorial, Ida B. Wells responds to Jane Addams, a progressive who was known for her work serving immigrant communities in Chicago. Wells corrects Addams’s claims using lynching data she documented from 1882 to 1891.
John Lewis, “I Couldn’t Accept The Way Things Were”
In this excerpt from his memoir Walking with the Wind, Congressman John Lewis describes the impact of Emmett Till's murder.
Anne Moody, “Coming of Age in Mississippi”
Anne Moody, who was involved in the Civil Rights Movement through the NAACP, CORE, and SNCC, recalls her attempts to make sense of Emmett Till’s murder as a 14-year-old.
Joyce Ladner and Cleveland Sellers on Emmett Till
Joyce Ladner and Cleveland Sellers, civil rights activists and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), reflect on the impact of Emmett Till's murder.
Excerpts from “Board of Education: Chinese Mother Letter”, Daily Alta California, 1885
Mary Tape, a Chinese American who fought in court for her children to go to school with white children, wrote this letter to the San Francisco Board of Education in 1885.
Excerpts from “Andrew G. Imutan 1965-1974,” Essays by UFW Volunteers Collection
Andrew Imutan recounts the proceedings of a 1965 Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee meeting that led to the Delano grape workers strike.
A Latina Mother Responds to Conditions at School
Historian Tatiana Cruz describes what a Latina mother saw when she visited her daughter’s school in Boston in the 1970s.
How Social Media Users Help and Harm
A CNN article explores the strengths and weaknesses of, and interplay between, professional news and amateur social media.
Officer Kills Ferguson Teen
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch article summarizes what was known in the first 24 hours after Michael Brown was killed in Ferguson, Mo.