VS.9c

Identifying the social and political events in Virginia linked to desegregation and Massive Resistance and their relationship to national history.

NOTE: The Virginia Board of Education adopted the revised 2008 History and Social Science Standards of Learning at the January 10, 2008, meeting. Full implementation of these documents is scheduled for the 2010-2011 school year, as outlined in Superintendent’s Memorandum Informational Number 49.

READY RESOURCES

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• In this lesson, students will learn about desegregation and Massive Resistance in Virginia.
  
  
• Introduce the following session vocabulary words. Have the students make vocabulary cards and meaning cards to match the terms.
  • Prejudice: A formed opinion, usually unfavorable
  • Civil rights: The individual right of all citizens to be treated equally under the law
  • Civil Rights Movement: In the United States during the 1950s and the 1960s, people organized to demand that the federal government protect rights of African Americans and other minorities. People worked together to change unfair laws. They gave speeches, marched in the streets, and participated in boycotts.
  • Discrimination: Unfair treatment of people because of such things as their race, religion, or gender
  • "Separate but equal”: The idea that people of different races would remain segregated, but have equal rights
  • Desegregation: Abolishment of racial segregation
  • Integration: full equality of all races in the use of public facilities
  
  
  
• Show Virginia Pathways Episode 5, Civil Rights again for review about the civil rights movement. Use lessons from Virginia Pathways to further students understanding of Massive Resistance in Virginia. Read passages from teacher-selected books about the Civil Rights Movement.
  
  
• Introduce the key points of desegregation and Massive Resistance in Virginia. The United States Supreme Court ruled in 1954 (Brown v. Board of Education) that “separate but equal” public schools were unconstitutional. All public schools, including those in Virginia, were ordered to integrate.
  
  
• Explain that Virginia’s government established a policy of Massive Resistance, which fought to “resist” the integration of public schools. Some schools were closed to avoid integration. The policy of Massive Resistance failed, and Virginia’s public schools were integrated.
  
  
• Help students understand that Harry F. Byrd, Sr., led the Massive Resistance Movement against integration of public schools.
  
  
• Use the following resources to assist students in creating graphic organizers about desegregation and Massive Resistance.
  • "Student Activity Booklet.” In Pursuit of Freedom and Equality: Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka at http://brownvboard.org
    
  • "Diagram of How the [Brown v. Board of Education] Case Moved Through the Court System.” Landmark Cases: Supreme Court at http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/home.html
    
  • "Teaching With Documents Lesson Plan: Documents Related to Brown v. Board of Education.” http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/brown_v_board_documents
  
  
  
• Use the following resources for background information:
  
  • “Separate but Not Equal: Race, Education, and Prince Edward County, Virginia.” VCU Libraries at http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/pec.html
  • “Brown v. Board of Education.” National Park Service at http://www.nps.gov/brvb. This site describes the National Historic Site at Monroe Elementary School, Topeka, Kansas.
  
  
  
• Use pictures from Social Studies Curriculum Virginia Studies Poster Sets at http://chumby.dlib.vt.edu/melissa/posters/vastudiesposter.html to explain segregation, desegregation, integration, and Massive Resistance.
  
  
• Sequence events in Virginia history by reading background information about Brown v. Board of Education.
  http://www.mcps.org/ss/5thgrade/brownvs.pdf
  
  
• Make connections between the past and present by using resources from The Ground Beneath Our Feet--Massive Resistance.
  http://www.iath.virginia.edu/vcdh/vahistory/massive.resistance/index.html

TEACHER BACKGROUND RESOURCES

WEB SITES

• http://www.library.vcu.edu/exhibits
  The Virginia Commonwealth University library has created several interesting online exhibits. "Separate But Not Equal: Race, Education, and Prince Edward County, Virginia" explores the history of Prince Edward County school segregation in the 1950s and 1960s. The exhibit includes outstanding photographs and links. "Through the Lens of Time: Images of African Americans from the Cook Collection" includes 200 nineteenth and early twentieth century images of African Americans.
  
  
• http://www.vahistory.org/massive.resistance/index.html
  "The Ground Beneath Our Feet-Massive Resistance" is a multimedia presentation that traces the history of Massive Resistance and considers its legacies.
  
  
• http://www.virginiaplaces.org/government/byrdorg.html
  This site contains a detailed history of the Byrd Machine, which was described as a "museum of democracy" housing all of the symbols of government by the people but none of the substance.
  
  
• http://www.longwood.edu/news/bvb
  This site examines the historical legacy of the Brown v. Board of Education case and relates it to events in Prince Edward County.
  
  
• http://www.nps.gov/brvb
  This site describes the National Historic Site at Monroe Elementary School, Topeka, Kansas.
  
  
• http://www.virginiaplaces.org/government/byrdorg.html
  This site offers a thorough history of the political organization that ruled Virginia for more than 50 years, beginning in the 1920s.
  
  
• http://www.landmarkcases.org/brown/home.html
  This site illustrates how the landmark school integration case moved from federal court in Kansas to the U.S. Supreme Court. (Find the diagram listed under Resources.)
  
  
• http://www.library.vcu.edu/jbc/speccoll/pec.html
  This site explores the history of the Prince Edward County school segregation issues of the 1950s and 1960s.
  
  
• http://brownvboard.org
  This site offers activities for younger students related to the historic school integration case. (Click on Student Activity Booklet on the top level of this site.)
  
  
• http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/lessons/brown_v_board_documents
  This site provides the historical background and lists resources for teaching about the case.