The Civil Rights Movement

Project Assignment

The Contender

During the 1960’s, life was very hard and at times extremely frustrating for many people for many reasons. Our country was undergoing major social change in response to the widening of our perception of the world. Many minority groups yearned for equal rights, and people found that public demonstration was a way to inform others of the need for change. In response to this extremely tough time, the Civil Rights Movement began. At first the movement was focused on gaining equal rights through peaceful actions; however, racial tensions became the focus after equal rights were granted and extreme cases of violence took place. To help you gain a clear understanding of what took place during the movement, you are to:

1. Get a partner. (You may work alone if you want.)

2. Choose a Civil Rights event from the list on the back. (no two groups can do the same topic)

3. R esearch your topic. You must understand the event and why it is significant. Read several websites to get a clear picture of what happened. Keep track of the websites and create a bibliography (works cited) to show the research you have done.

4. C reate a small poster about the topic.

Include on your poster:

-Background information about the person or the event. Write in the middle of your poster at least a paragraph explaining what happened and why the event was important to the Civil Rights Movement.

-When and where the event took place. Include the city, state, day, month, and year.

-Photos of other art images of the person/event. Fill the rest of the poster with images printed out from the internet.

5. Present your poster to the class. Explain the event and the pictures that you have selected. If you are working with a partner, both of you need to speak during the presentation.

Civil Rights Events Timeline:

1. Brown vs. Board of Education

2. Emmitt Till

3. Rosa Parks

4. Montgomery Bus Boycott/Freedom Riders

5. Southern Christian Leadership Conference

6. Little Rock Nine

7. Woolworth’s Lunch Counter incident

8. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee

9. The Congress of Racial Equality

10. James Meredith and the University of Mississippi

11. Birmingham Riots

12. Letter from Birmingham Jail

13. Medgar Evers

14. “I Have a Dream” Speech

15. Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama, bombing

16. The 24th Amendment

17. The Civil Rights Act of 1964

18. James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner

19. Malcolm X Assassination

20. Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama

21. The Voting Rights Act of 1965

22. Watts Race Riots

23. Executive Order 11246—Affirmative Action

24. The Black Panthers

25. Stokely Carmichael

26. Loving v. Virginia

27. Newark, New Jersey, Race Riots

28. Detroit, Michigan, Race Riots

29. Martin Luther King Assassination

30. The Civil Rights Act of 1968