FREEDOM AND EQUALITY:  Commemorating the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The struggle for freedom and equality without restriction by ethnicity, gender, or religion has been a long and often turbulent piece of American History.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark achievement in this regard. It was enacted into law upon being signed at the White House by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 2, 1964.  As we commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act together as a nation, we invite you to join us in bringing critical analysis into your classrooms by asking this question:

“How much progress has been made toward Civil Rights in our country, and how much more remains to be accomplished?”

Three significant areas of injustice that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 addressed were:

  1. Prejudicial voter registration requirements and restrictions
  2. Racial segregation and educational inequality of public schools
  3. Racial segregation and restrictions within workplace and public facilities

ENTER OUR CONTEST AND WIN A BRACELET TO SUPPORT “Eracism!”

A. Locate a primary source depicting one of the above three areas of discrimination for any race, color, religion, sex, or national origin – and provide the title of the primary source and the Library of Congress link in a comment to this post.

B. Tell us in a sentence or two within your comment what you found particularly insightful about the primary source you chose.

C. Explain briefly in the comment how you intend to use the primary source in your classroom to further this awareness and discussion among students.

You will be contacted at the email address given when you post your comment in order to redeem your bracelet.  Please note – your email address will NOT be published as part of your comment.

 

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS TEACHER WEBINAR:  October 7th – Online

Despite controversy as to how far we’ve come in achieving the objectives of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it cannot be denied that the Civil Rights Movement accomplished changes that have remained transformational in their impact.  The Library of Congress is presenting an online Webinar offering teachers insightful exploration based on primary sources to bring alive this meaningful topic within your classrooms:

“On Tuesday, October 7, at 7 PM ET, staff from the Library will host a webinar that will engage participants in a model primary source analysis, facilitate a discussion about the power of primary sources for teaching about civil rights issues, and demonstrate how to find resources from Library of Congress.”

CLICK HERE FOR FULL DETAILS & RECORDING OF LIBRARY OF CONGRESS WEBINAR

GOVERNORS STATE CELEBRATES CIVIL RIGHTS ACT:  November 6th – on Campus

Governors State University has been offering events throughout the year for students and faculty to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act.  On November 6th, there will be an entire day of celebration and activities from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm on campus.

TPS-GSU will be participating in the Civil Rights Presentations in Panel format on November 6th.  The panelists and topics of presentations will be decided on October 15th.  Watch for updates on our website, and for more information in our November blog and ezine.  (We invite you to subscribe below to ensure you don’t miss out on any future announcements.)

LESSON PLANS EXPLORING CIVIL RIGHTS – THEN AND NOW:

We are committed to supporting you as an educator with ready to go Lesson Plans and primary source materials.  This month, we are pleased to bring you a plethora of excellent Lesson Plans and Primary Source materials that can be implemented by you with time-saving ease to bring alive within your classroom the monumental events of this period in our history, when we struggled as a nation to find peaceful methods to achieve Civil Rights.

Lesson Plans from TPS-GSU – EDUC & 7212 Digital Primary Sources Course Alumni

Additional Resources from the Library of Congress

OCTOBER 2014 FEATURE TEACHER:  LYNETTE JOHNSON

We are pleased to introduce you to our Feature Teacher for this month!  Lynette Johnson serves as Project Manager for TPS-GSU, and while she is not a traditional educator, her support for educators and the entire TPS-GSU Team to achieve excellence in our respective teaching capacities, deserves special recognition as our October “Feature Teacher.”

September Feature Teacher:  TPS-GSU Project Manager, Lynette Johnson

October Feature Teacher: TPS-GSU Project Manager, Lynette Johnson

  1. When did you take the graduate course, Digital Primary Sources, at GSU, and what lesson plan did you design? My lesson plan is The Blackest Homerun In History (Fall 2012).
  2. Please tell me your reason for taking the graduate course. I took the course because, as you know I work with the program, and I thought I needed the experience – what students experience who take the program – so that way I could be a resource to them.
  3. What has brought you the most value from TPS-GSU professional development programs? The skills and knowledge that I gained as relates to history and technology.  Perhaps I may not have otherwise taken the initiative to learn more about them.  The program is very wholesome in bringing historical events to life, and you learn quite a bit of technology through that.  I think that brought me the most value.
  4. I understand you are working on your Masters in studies related to addictions.  What inspired you to set this new goal?  One thing I would say that always inspires me to go to school is knowledge. My aspiration to gain knowledge about a subject matter will always encourage me to go to school. For me, I view education as knowledge.  Sometimes people view it as an avenue for financial gain, but I view it as a way to increase my learning so I will know about a subject matter, so that is my primary reason for anything I study.  May I ask, why this area? Because it interests me and also I feel that it’s problematic in our society today, and I think the more we know about it the more we can help.
  5. What do you enjoy most about being Project Manager for TPS-GSU, and your position within GSU-COE?  (In addition to being Project Manager for our Director, Lynn is Office Manager for the graduate advising in the College of Education.)  As Project Manager, I love history and I find that the Library of Congress is all about that – that’s what it is – it’s history.  It’s a way to go to that one location and find so much about who we are and where we are – it’s just an enormous resource!  I would say as far as the specifics of my job as an Office Manager, I enjoy learning about (because I work in advising) the programs that we offer and being able to assist the advising staff in regards to that.  In both my TPS and COE positions, I love meeting and interacting with students – assisting them anyway I can.  I’m always encouraging them.
  6. Are there any recent achievements you would like to tell us about?  My most recent achievement was to graduate with my B.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies in Spring 2013.
  7. Please tell me about yourself and your family.  There are four people in my immediate family – my husband, myself and our two daughters.  We love to bowl and enjoy family outings.  I am a singer, poetress, and fashion consultant.  I believe secretly, we are all entrepreneurs ;-)

NEW PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS UNDERWAY … STAY TUNED!