All About African Americans: Black History Month Teaching Resources

By Bonnie Bracey Sutton

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Because of the meager amount of resources about black history available in textbooks and the time that teachers must spend to find them, I am posting some useful links to articles and videos about black history, biographies of influential black people, and related information.

Most outstanding is the Library of Congress's African American Mosaic, with information on all issues related to the study of black history and culture. Also notable are the Smithsonian Institution's resources, including its African American History and Culture directory, and Digital History's online textbook African American Voices. Also, the nonprofit African American Registry is a great source of information about African American history.

As a teacher, I realize that time is a problem and that these resources are a little late coming to you. I hope, however, that you will find some windows of time to use them in meaningful ways.

I am reminded, even as I post this, that members of many of other minority groups will say, "Well, what about resources for me?" Thank heavens for Google -- with all the resources available on the Internet, we can, all through the year, be more multiculturally inclusive. For example, check out Ask.Asia and the vast resources of the National Geographic Society.

A Sampling of Online Black History Month Teaching Resources

The Father of Black History Month

How did Black History Month start? The Chicago Public Library and the Official Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League Web site have information about writer and editor Carter G. Woodson.

The Buffalo Soldiers and the Civil War

A number of Web sites chronicle the African American experience during the Civil War, including Buffalosoldier.net. (Did you know that there were female buffalo soldiers?) The International Museum of the Horse has information about daily life on the Western frontier, and Civil War @ Charleston has information about the African American soldier experience in the Civil War in South Carolina.

Great African American Leaders

MLK Online has a biography of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a selection of his speeches, and other facts and information about him. The Black Collegian Online has compiled profiles of notable African Americans.

Other Resources

• American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology, created at the University of Virginia
• The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center
• The Civil Rights Movement Veterans
• The Million Man March pledge
• AOL.com: Black Voices
• The History Channel: Black History Month
• Infoplease.com: Black History Month
• Biography.com: Celebrating Our Black History
• AT&T Knowledge Ventures: Patchwork of African-American Life
• CNN.com: Black History
• The New York Times on the Web Learning Network: Black History Month
• PBS Online: Africans in America
• BrightMoments.com: The Internet African American History Challenge