A Guide to Primary Resources for U.S. History : "Voter lists up by 31% after federal drive" (Birmingham News, 10/01/66) Alabama Department of Archives and History: "Using Primary Sources in the Classroom" "Negro vote may cast deciding ballot Tuesday" (Birmingham News, 11/06/66) Alabama Department of Archives and History: "Using Primary Sources in the Classroom" These two images of actual news articles from a 1960s Birmingham, Alabama newspaper offer students a chance to consider a number of issues, including the logic and impact of federal intervention in state politics (voter registration drives) and the significance of an African American voting bloc to the communities in which black people lived. The students can create graphs from the data provided in the 2 articles. The first graph can show the increase in the number of total voters from 1964 to 1966 in the counties in Alabama, while the second graph can show the breakdown between white and black registered voters in the counties in Alabama in 1966. Because there are a large number of counties, it would be most time efficient for the students to plug the numbers into an excel spreadsheet to create the graphs. The students can use the graphs to analyze the effect of the Voting Rights Act (they can also compare their graphs to the graphs on the VUS.13b resource "Effect of the Voting Rights Act).

(b) describing the importance of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the 1963 March on Washington, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

"Voter lists up by 31% after federal drive" (Birmingham News, 10/01/66)
Alabama Department of Archives and History: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom

"Negro vote may cast deciding ballot Tuesday" (Birmingham News, 11/06/66)
Alabama Department of Archives and History: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom

Description: These two images of actual news articles from a 1960s Birmingham, Alabama newspaper offer students a chance to consider a number of issues, including the logic and impact of federal intervention in state politics (voter registration drives) and the significance of an African American voting bloc to the communities in which black people lived.

Teaching Tips:

Suggestion for Using this Resource as Part of a Lesson

The students can create graphs from the data provided in the 2 articles. The first graph can show the increase in the number of total voters from 1964 to 1966 in the counties in Alabama, while the second graph can show the breakdown between white and black registered voters in the counties in Alabama in 1966. Because there are a large number of counties, it would be most time efficient for the students to plug the numbers into an excel spreadsheet to create the graphs. The students can use the graphs to analyze the effect of the Voting Rights Act (they can also compare their graphs to the graphs on the VUS.13b resource "Effect of the Voting Rights Act).