African American History Month | Periscope

This collection honors our history and the African Americans who made strides in the advancement of African Americans.

en Espanol

Esta colección rinde homenaje a nuestra historia y a los Afroamericanos que lograron avances en el avance de los Afroamericanos.

Resource Type
Dori Sanders: Clover | Periscope

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Dori Sanders: Clover | Periscope
Episode 12
The setting for her first book, Clover, is a peach farm like the one Dori Sanders grew up on. Clover was published in 1990 and immediately became a best-seller. In the story, Clover is a 10-year-old...
Dori Sanders, Author | Periscope

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Dori Sanders, Author | Periscope
Episode 11
Dori Sanders' book Clover has been translated into five different languages and made into a Disney film. The story is set in the countryside of South Carolina, and told through the eyes of a 10-year...
Philip Simmons | Periscope

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Philip Simmons | Periscope
Episode 9
There are hundreds of Philip Simmons's gates and fences around Charleston. One of his gates hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. He has won national awards and was commissioned to...
Philip Simmons | Periscope

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Philip Simmons | Periscope
Episode 8
At the age of 12, Philip became an apprentice to a blacksmith. It was a hard job. Apprentices swept floors, shoed horses and worked simple pieces of iron while laboring around a hot forge. Only after...
Philip Simmons, Master Blacksmith | Periscope

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Philip Simmons, Master Blacksmith | Periscope
Episode 7
When Philip Simmons was a child, he liked to draw the wrought iron gates around Charleston, South Carolina. The spirals and loops he saw in the ironwork inspired his artistic abilities. Philip would...
Modjeska Simkins, Civil Rights Advocate | Periscope

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Modjeska Simkins, Civil Rights Advocate | Periscope
Episode 6
In the 1950s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became known as the leader of the civil rights movement. More than 20 years before Dr. King, Modjeska Simkins began her own work for the civil rights of...
Bethune-Cookman College | Periscope

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Bethune-Cookman College | Periscope
Episode 5
Mary continued to open more schools, created a hospital and promoted voting rights for African Americans. President Franklin D. Roosevelt invited her to become an advisor in 1936. Her job required her...
Bethune School | Periscope

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Bethune School | Periscope
Episode 4
In 1904, Mary McLeod Bethune began a school for poor African American children in Daytona, Florida. With only $1.50 to start the school, she had to be very creative. The desks were made from packing...
Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator | Periscope

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Mary McLeod Bethune, Educator | Periscope
Episode 3
At a time when there were few educational opportunities for African Americans, Mary McLeod Bethune created schools and a thriving college for them. Mary was born in Mayesville, South Carolina to freed...
A Daring Escape: The Planter | Periscope

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A Daring Escape: The Planter | Periscope
Episode 2
On the evening of May 12, 1862, the captain and officers of the Planter left the ship to spend the night on the shore. Robert and the rest of the slave crew had to stay on board under captain's orders...
Robert Smalls | Periscope

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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...
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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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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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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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

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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." –...
February 1926 & February 1976 | Periscope

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February 1926 & February 1976 | Periscope
Episode 8
Fifty years apart... February 1926: First Negro History Week observed. February 1976: Negro History Week expanded by Congress to National Black History Month.