623 Results
Racism
A Lifeline for Democracy
In her 2005 commencement speech at the University of Vermont, Ruth Simmons describes experiences that helped her escape the poverty and discrimination of her youth to become the president of Brown University.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Louisiana White League Platform (1874)
The White League was a paramilitary group responsible for widespread violence against black and white Republicans in Louisiana and Mississippi. The group’s platform from 1874 is articulated here.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Names and Freedom
Historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.
![A group of African Americans soberly observe Juneteenth in their hats, canes and bonnets in Austin, TX, 1900.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Emancipation_Day_celebration_-_1900-06-19%20%281%29.jpg?h=6ea8326e&itok=2mUmYjCx)
Names and Freedom (en español)
In Spanish, historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.
![A group of African Americans soberly observe Juneteenth in their hats, canes and bonnets in Austin, TX, 1900.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Emancipation_Day_celebration_-_1900-06-19%20%281%29.jpg?h=6ea8326e&itok=2mUmYjCx)
A Nucleus of Ordinary Men
Consider the role that secrecy and fear play in mob violence with W. E. B. Du Bois’ analysis of the Ku Klux Klan’s power.
![A portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois, head-and-shoulders, facing slightly right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a53178u.jpg?h=87584735&itok=bgkKYE0Q)
A Nucleus of Ordinary Men (en español)
In Spanish, consider the role that secrecy and fear play in mob violence with W. E. B. Du Bois’ analysis of the Ku Klux Klan’s power.
![A portrait of W.E.B. Du Bois, head-and-shoulders, facing slightly right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/3a53178u.jpg?h=87584735&itok=bgkKYE0Q)
Presidential Reconstruction
Investigate aspects of President Andrew Johnson’s plans for Reconstruction that outlined how to bring former Confederate citizens and states back into the Union.
![A photograph of Andrew Johnson.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/03751u.jpg?h=8c44f663&itok=SOBBoTvF)
Reconstructing Mississippi
Learn about the accomplishments of the first interracial legislature in Mississippi from the account of John Roy Lynch, a freedman who served in the state’s House of Representatives.
![Photograph shows a montage of seventy-five portraits of members of the Mississippi State Legislature (1874-1875)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/mississippi-legislature-1874-75.jpg?h=6c376ef6&itok=NdPaXqS1)
Reconstructing Mississippi (en español)
In Spanish, learn about the accomplishments of the first interracial legislature in Mississippi from the account of John Roy Lynch, a freedman who served in the state’s House of Representatives.
![Photograph shows a montage of seventy-five portraits of members of the Mississippi State Legislature (1874-1875)](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/mississippi-legislature-1874-75.jpg?h=6c376ef6&itok=NdPaXqS1)
The Scottsboro Affair
Consider the nature of justice with this reading about the Scottsboro Affair in which nine black teenagers were accused of raping two white women in the 1930s.
![The Scottsboro Boys with attorney Samuel Leibowitz, 1932](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/1932_TheScottsboroBoyswithattorneySamuelLeibowitz_FH2173829.jpg?h=74939261&itok=j2h0Ev7x)
The Southern Lady and Belle: The Companion to Southern Literature by Joseph Flora and Lucinda MacKethan
Authors Joseph Flora and Lucinda MacKethan describe the social stereotypes of the "Southern lady" and the younger "Southern belle."
![Cover illustration of Harper's Weekly, September 7, 1861 showing a stereotypical Southern belle](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/1861_CoverIllustrationOfHarpersWeekly_FH2170271.jpeg?h=7d7ebcb9&itok=y3T_lb8s)