School Desegregation

What were the causes and effects of school desegregation in the United States?

Subject(s): African Americans, Civics & Government, and US History

Time Period(s): (1945-Early 1970s) Postwar United States

Grade level(s): 6-8 and 9-12

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Supporting question(s):

What impact did Brown v. Board of Education have on the desegregation of public schools?

How did the desegregation of Little Rock Central High School influence the rest of the nation?

Source Set

Description

In October 1941, Jack Delano photographed a number of schools in Greene County, Georgia. These photos included this image of African American students in a school house prior to the Brown v Board of Education decision.


Description

In October of 1941, Jack Delano photographed a number of schools in Greene County, Georgia. These photos included this image of white students appearing in a school classroom prior to the Brown v Board of Education decision.


Description

Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren’s reading copy of the unanimous Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision, 1954, is annotated in his handwriting.


Description

Political cartoon by Jon Kennedy depicting the world listening to the fight over school desegregation in Little Rock, 1957.


Description

Political cartoon by Jon Kennedy, ca. 1958, depicting attempted compromise in the Little Rock School Crisis.


Description

Jon Kennedy’s 1971 cartoon shows a school board member walking his three children from a public school to a private school.


Description

Charts illustrating enrollment by race in the Little Rock School District and LRSD area schools between 1988-1989 and 2000-2001 school years. Excerpt of a larger report to the Office of Desegregation Monitoring.




Additional resource(s):

UA Little Rock Center for Arkansas History and Culture Exhibit  “Confronting the Crisis: The Legacy of Little Rock Central High School”

“Aaron v. Cooper,” Encyclopedia of Arkansas

Teacher’s Guide for Analyzing Political Cartoons

Teacher’s Guide for Analyzing Photographs and Prints

Arkansas Frameworks(s):

Civics

PD.4.C.5 Assess the effects of Civil Rights Legislation on society in the United States.

U.S. History Since 1890

Era9.6.USH.4 Examine domestic policies of the federal government between 1945 and 1970 and the outcomes from multiple perspectives

Era9.6.USH.5 Construct historical arguments of long-term effects of social and economic changes occurring during the mid-20th century using available data and multiple sources

African American History

IE.6.AAH.3 Examine various ways African Americans participated in the Civil Rights Movement and the effects of their actions using a variety of primary and secondary sources

IE.6.AAH.4 Analyze the effects of legislative developments on the African American experience between 1950-1970