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African American History

Learn about the achievements of African Americans who have shaped South Carolina and American history.

Black History Month is celebrated every February to honor the achievements of African Americans who have shaped American history. Historian Carter G. Woodson hoped to raise awareness of African American's contributions to civilization by establishing Negro History Week. The event was first celebrated during a week in February 1926 that included both Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass' birthdays. The week was later expanded to a month in 1976 during the United States bicentennial.

PHOTO: On March 20, 1969, Black hospital workers at the Medical College of South Carolina in Charleston went on strike to protest the firing of twelve employees and to call for higher wages and union recognition.

Within this Collection

Content Type
Robert Smalls | Periscope

Photo

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Robert Smalls | Periscope
Episode 1
In 1839, Robert Smalls was born into slavery in Beaufort, South Carolina. As a slave, he worked in the Charleston shipyards. After learning the local harbor and surrounding waters, 23-year-old Robert...
Ruby Bridges  | Periscope

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Ruby Bridges | Periscope
Episode 5
Ruby still lives in New Orleans. She runs the Ruby Bridges Foundation to help troubled children at William Frantz and other schools. With the group, Ruby travels the country advocating the importance...
Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles | Periscope

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Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles | Periscope
Episode 4
Ruby's friend, psychiatrist Dr. Robert Coles, wrote "The Story of Ruby Bridges." At William Frantz, Ruby attended an empty classroom. Some parents refused to let their children go to the integrated...
Policemen & Federal Marshals | Periscope

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Policemen & Federal Marshals | Periscope
Episode 3
By the time Ruby was six years old, there were new laws stating that African American and white students had to integrate, or share, schools. People such as Martin Luther King, Jr. had worked for...
Gullah Gourmet

Lesson

Grades

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Gullah Gourmet

When enslaved Africans came to the coast of South Carolina they brought many foods with them that have become traditional Southern favorites. They include peanuts, sweet potatoes, okra, black-eyed...

Colored Water Fountain | Periscope

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Colored Water Fountain | Periscope
Episode 2
Ruby was born in 1954. At the time, African-American children and white children had to attend separate schools. Segregation, or the separation of African American and white people, was practiced by...
Ruby Bridges (1960) | Periscope

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Ruby Bridges (1960) | Periscope
Episode 1
Ruby Bridges' first day at William Frantz Elementary School was very unusual. Integration, or the sharing of schools by African American and white people, had recently become law in 1960. She was one...
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Legislation | Periscope

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Grades

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Legislation | Periscope
Episode 6
Dr. King's efforts would lead to wider recognition of equal rights, education and political representation for African Americans and other minorities. For his work, he earned a Nobel Peace Prize in...
March on Washington - Crowd on the Mall | Periscope

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Grades

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March on Washington - Crowd on the Mall | Periscope
Episode 5
Dr. King traveled around the world giving speeches and organizing peaceful protests. He met with presidents to urge support for civil rights. His "I Have a Dream" speech was delivered in Washington, D...
Rosa Parks | Periscope

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Grades

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Rosa Parks | Periscope
Episode 4
In 1955, Rosa Parks, a seamstress living in Montgomery, Alabama, wanted to peacefully demonstrate what civil rights meant to her. She was arrested for sitting at the front of the bus, a place reserved...
March on Washington | Periscope

Photo

Grades

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March on Washington | Periscope
Episode 3
Like Gandhi, Dr. King committed his life to peacefully helping people attain civil rights. Much of Dr. King's work concerned the civil rights of African Americans. During the 1950s, there were fewer...
Mahatma Gandhi | Periscope

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Mahatma Gandhi | Periscope
Episode 2
Gandhi used nonviolent protest to promote civil rights for the people of India. "True nonviolence should mean a complete freedom from ill will and anger and hate and an overflowing love for all." –...
Gullah Storybook

Lesson

Grades

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Gullah Storybook

The goal for this project is to create an electronic storybook to teach younger students about Gullah. The storybook should be a multi-sensory, interactive experience for young readers so that they...

Journal of Negro History Volume I | Periscope

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Journal of Negro History Volume I | Periscope
Episode 2
"Men of scholarship…must show us the right way and lead us into light, which is shining brighter and brighter." - Carter Woodson The association's goal was to study African American history, publish...
Minnie Kennedy and the Civil Rights Movement

Lesson

Grades

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Minnie Kennedy and the Civil Rights Movement

This lesson can be a component of a year-long project based lesson on civil rights or one part of a single, shorter PBL focusing only the civil rights era after World War II. This particular extension...

 Slave Hire System | Eye on the Past

Video

Grades

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Slave Hire System | Eye on the Past
History of slavery in urban settings and the tags worn by slaves who were hired to work for the city or for other slave owners in cities like Charleston, Savannah, Mobile, and Norfolk. Laws required...