A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : Massive Resistance in Virginia--Documents University of Virginia: The Ground Beneath Our Feet (Episodes in Virginia History)--Massive Resistance This resource is the access page for a number of interesting documents relating to the 1951 Prince Edward County litigation for better African American schools. Of special note are the interview with Oliver Hill, and the newspaper transcriptions from the Richmond Afro-American and the Charlottesville Daily Progress. Scroll down from the top of the page to find the links to these documents. Read one of the newspaper articles as a class. Have students discuss what they read and remark on whether they agree with the article and whom the article was targeting. Ask students for their understanding of the meaning of massive resistance. How was this incorporated into the Civil Rights movement. Divide the class into groups and give each group a different document. Have them analyze the document then have each group teach the rest of the class about the document. Assign each student one of the events on the timeline, and have them do further research on that event. They will do a visual presentation about the event. Suggestions for presentations are dressing up like the person involved, showing pictures from the event, or creating original visuals pertaining to that event. Have students use the Internet to look up additional newspaper articles focusing on famous events during the Civil Rights era, and what the reactions were in Virginia. Have students focus on headlines and opinion articles.

(a) identifying the importance of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, the roles of Thurgood Marshall and Oliver Hill, and how Virginia responded;

Massive Resistance in Virginia--Documents
University of Virginia: The Ground Beneath Our Feet (Episodes in Virginia History)--Massive Resistance

Description: This resource is the access page for a number of interesting documents relating to the 1951 Prince Edward County litigation for better African American schools. Of special note are the interview with Oliver Hill, and the newspaper transcriptions from the Richmond Afro-American and the Charlottesville Daily Progress. Scroll down from the top of the page to find the links to these documents.

Teaching Tips:

"Do Now" Suggestion

Read one of the newspaper articles as a class. Have students discuss what they read and remark on whether they agree with the article and whom the article was targeting. Ask students for their understanding of the meaning of massive resistance. How was this incorporated into the Civil Rights movement.

Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

Divide the class into groups and give each group a different document. Have them analyze the document then have each group teach the rest of the class about the document. Assign each student one of the events on the timeline, and have them do further research on that event. They will do a visual presentation about the event. Suggestions for presentations are dressing up like the person involved, showing pictures from the event, or creating original visuals pertaining to that event. Have students use the Internet to look up additional newspaper articles focusing on famous events during the Civil Rights era, and what the reactions were in Virginia. Have students focus on headlines and opinion articles.