In this special revised and updated feature for Black History Month, teachers, parents, and students will find a collection of NEH-supported websites and EDSITEment-developed lessons that tell the four-hundred-year old story of African Americans from slavery through freedom and citizenship to the presidency.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the American Abolitionist Movement. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Before the 13th Amendment officially ended slavery in the United States, free and enslaved African Americans fought for their liberty, society’s recognition of their humanity, and the promise of equality. A variety of methods were used by enslaved African Americans to resist the conditions they experienced while in bondage. In this lesson plan, students will learn about three individuals whose actions are a representation of the bravery of African Americans who fought for their freedom and equality. 

Students will use their knowledge and understanding of the lives and contributions of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, and Abraham Lincoln with focus on the Civil War era by reconstructing key aspects of their lives that connect them to the Civil War.

Students will select a person, persons, or event from the Pre-war to Civil War era that had a significant impact on African American and United States history. They will design a monument or a memorial and create a proposal for it.

Fifth grade students in Michigan begin their study of American history with American Indian peoples before the arrival of European explorers and conclude with the adoption of the Bill of Rights in 1791.

Students will write letters and create posters to inform others about the fight for the rights of Women and African Americans. They will be able to explain the main ideas of the abolitionist and women’s suffrage movements.