Online Resources for Black History Month

With the first African American President successfully and firmly seated in the White House, it seems the entire Internet is celebrating not only his success, but Black History Month itself. Some of the resources we're recommending this month have been around a number of years, but many of them have recently landed themselves on the web, championing the successes of African Americans throughout history. Here are our "TeacherRated" sites:

For a list of Front Page News excerpts and full-length articles related to significant moments in Black history, visit On This Day from the New York Times.

Of course, History.com has a wealth of Black History resources including video and an interactive timeline outlining significant moments in Black History.

Potentially helpful to lessons in mathematic, The U.S. Census Bureau has commemorated Black History month with a ... relevant to the study of African Americans in the United States.

The Celebrate African American Heritage site contains lesson plans and student resources. Sections include Slavery and Freedom (the Underground Railroad, Civil War, etc), Arts and Culture (including the history of jazz), the Civil Rights Movement (Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Little Rock), trailblazers and influential leaders (inventors, scientists, sports figures). The Black History in America section also has an interactive timeline on African-American history.

If your students are learning about the Little Rock crisis, an excellent site where they can view primary source documents about this crisis is Little Rock 1957 Pages From History. Created by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, this site has primary source information on the Little Rock Central High School Crisis of 1957. There are copies of the front pages from two local newspapers (the Arkansas Democrat and Arkansas Gazette) as well as full reprints of selected stories published during the crisis. The site also includes a summary of events prior to and during the crisis, an outline of the key people involved, pictures and selected editorial/opinion pages from the Arkansas Democrat and Ark.... Also includes information on the 40th anniversary of the integration of Little Rock schools.

We invite you to view other resources at in our Black History Month category or share your top rated Black History sites by filling in this online form.