|
 Rosa
Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr. are two most familiar
faces of the Civil Rights Movement. Students learn from
pre-school through high school that Rosa Parks refused to
give up her seat and Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream.
We hope the country will honor the 50th anniversary of the
Montgomery Bus Boycott and the life of Rosa Parks by teaching
a more complete history of this watershed event.
 The
disconnect between Rosa Parks' arrest and the boycott creates
the illusion that it was a spontaneous response to Rosa
Park's civil disobedience. This, however, discounts the
strategic brilliance and courage of the African American
community in Montgomery. It is critical for students to
learn that 50,000 citizens had to sacrifice everyday for
over a year to sustain the boycott and change the course
of our history. Recognizing the citizens of Montgomery does
not discount the actions of the politically astute Rosa
Parks, but rather puts her in context of a greater social
struggle for justice.
Please
email
us if you have any resources we can add to this section
of the website.
Lessons
Montgomery
Bus Boycott Mythbusters Quiz (DOC)
Quiz Answers (DOC)
This quiz, created by Teaching for Change, is designed
for grades 6-12 and for professional development.
Role
Play on the Bus Boycott (PDF)
A five part lesson for grades 7-12 helps students understand
the challenges faced by the Montgomery Improvement Association
as they worked to organize and sustain the boycott for 381
days. From Putting the Movement Back
into Civil Rights Teaching. Handouts
(PDF)
Dramatization
of the Bus Boycott for First and Second Grade (PDF)
How to introduce the story of the boycott to young children.
From Putting the Movement Back into
Civil Rights Teaching.
BROWDER
v. GAYLE: The Women Before Rosa Parks from Teaching
Tolerance
Learn about the legal battle that made the Montgomery Bus
Boycott successful.
Women
and the Civil Rights Movement
A presentation (PowerPoint) by Professor Elsa Barkley Brown,
University of Maryland-College Park, on women in the Civil
Rights Movement with a focus on transportation boycotts.
Resources
Books
 Rosa
by Nikki Giovanni. Beautifully illustrated, this is one
of the only children's books that firmly places Rosa Parks
within the context of the Movement, including the recent
murder of Emmett Till and the organizing of Joanne Robinson
and the Women's Political Council, E.D. Nixon, etc.
(Rosa is available from catalog)
 Rosa
Parks (A Trophy Chapter Book) is a children's book
written by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Gil Ashby
on the life of Rosa Parks. An excerpt reads: "How could
one quite woman have started it [the Civil Rights Movement]
it all? This is her story."
 She
Would Not Be Moved, by best selling author Herb Kohl,
is an updated and expanded publication on his original discussion
on how this historical event is distorted and stripped down
in our classrooms. With an introduction by Marian Wright
Edelman, this book also includes a contribution by Cynthia
Brown on Septima Clark, Virginia Durr, and Rosa Parks. She
Would Not Be Moved features a teacher's guide explaining
how to evaluate textbooks written for young people, a resource
guide to educational materials about Rosa Parks and the
Civil Rights Movement, and a dozen black-and-white photographs.
 Daybreak
of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott reverberates
with the voices of those closest to the bus boycott, ranging
from King and his inner circle, to Jo Ann Robinson and other
women leaders who started the protest, to the maids, cooks,
and other "foot soldiers" who carries out the
struggle.
 Voices
of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement
from the 1950's through the 1980's. In this monumental
volume, Henry Hampton, creator and executive producer of
the acclaimed PBS series Eyes on the Prize, and Steve Fayer,
series writer, draw upon nearly one thousand interviews
with civil rights activists, politicians, reporters, Justice
Department officials, and hundreds of ordinary people who
took part in the struggle, weaving fascinating narratives
of the Civil Rights Movement told by the people who lived
it.
 The
Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The
Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson. Coretta Scott King
writes of this book: "This invaluable first hand account
of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, written by an important
behind the scenes organizer, evokes the emotional intensity
of the Civil Rights Struggle."
 Putting
the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching,
which goes beyond the trivial pursuit of names and dates,
has several lessons and readings that promote critical thinking
and learning on the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks,
and the citizens whose sacrifice and courage helped change
the course of our history. The Smithsonian Institutions
Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES) has selected this
resources as the core curriculum for its exhibition, 381
Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story.
Photos
 Smithsonian
Institutions Traveling Exhibit: 381 Days. Visit this
site to learn how to book the exhibit in your town and download
a collection of photos on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
For
primary documents, such as the police report, fingerprint
card, and bus illustration of Rosa Parks visit the National
Archives and Records Administration.
The below primary documents are from the Alabama Department
of Archives & History.
Code
of the City of Montgomery
Montgomery
Advertiser article 12/6/55
Montgomery
Advertiser article 12/9/55
"Negroes'
Most Urgent Needs"
"Western
Union Telegram: Diamond Brothers"
Montgomery
Advertiser article 4/26/56
"Integrated
Bus Suggestions"
Performances
and CD's
CD
This Land Is Your Land
NAPPA 2003 Gold Award
Track #8 The Story of Claudette Colvin (7-10 yrs old,
audio sample) by Awele Makeba.
I'm
Not Getting On Until Jim Crow Gets Off (Download PDF)
Middle school audience, 75 min. 200-250 students max per
performance
Contact: Awele Makeba
I'm Not Getting On Until Jim Crow Gets Off uses ethnographic
theatre to examine the untaught history of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott. Based on oral histories, interviews, court
transcripts, memoirs, and biographies, Awele Makeba portrays
two teens and two women including 15-year-old Claudette
Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, JoAnn Robinson, and Rosa Parks.
Rage
Is Not A 1-Day Thing! The Untaught History of the Montgomery
Bus Boycott
High school audience, 90 min. 300 students max; college/university
no limit
Contact: Awele Makeba
Awele Makeba plays a dozen women, men and teenagers, including
15-year-old Claudette Colvin and JoAnn Robinson. Rage
explores how heroism is daily, how courage is a simple matter
of taking a stand according to your principles, and how
ordinary people took direct action to achieve full citizenship,
as well as have their humanity recognized. Awele's play
is a story of hope that has enormous relevance today, especially
to young people. Using oral histories, court transcripts,
interviews by the playwright, and memoirs by participants,
Rage challenges our collective memory fifty years after
the fact.
Websites
www.civilrightsteaching.org
(The official site of Putting the Movement
Back into Civil Rights Teaching)
381
Days: SITES
The Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Exhibition Service
exhibit on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Montgomery
Bus Boycott: They Changed the World
Click here for video clips of civil rights pioneers as they
explain the events surroundings the boycott, voices of the
boycott, news articles, and more.
Teaching
Tolerance, Freedom's Main Line
Learn how activists in Louisville, Kentucky successfully
campaigned against segregated streetcars in this excerpt
from the Teaching Tolerance curriculum kit "A Place
at the Table."
“Voices
of Civil Rights: Ordinary People. Extraordinary Stories”,
Contains first-hand accounts, historical timelines, music
videos and a bus tour that can be used as part of a web
quest, an interactive class activity, or as a good source
for an independent research project on Rosa Parks and other
early civil rights activists. Joint project of AARP, the
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), and the Library
of Congress, 2004.
The
Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
Visit this site for a daily announcement about the boycott
called "On this day fifty years ago" and other
materials.
Rosa Parks Eulogy Transcripts
From Democracy Now
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