Teaching About the Montgomery Bus Boycott

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Books

Rosa by Nikki Giovanni. Beautifully illustrated, this is one of the only children's books that firmly places Rosa Parks within the context of the Movement, including the recent murder of Emmett Till and the organizing of Joanne Robinson and the Women's Political Council, E.D. Nixon, etc.

Rosa Parks (A Trophy Chapter Book) is a children's book written by Eloise Greenfield and illustrated by Gil Ashby on the life of Rosa Parks. An excerpt reads: "How could one quite woman have started it [the Civil Rights Movement] all? This is her story."

She Would Not Be Moved, by best selling author Herb Kohl, is an updated and expanded publication on his original discussion on how this historical event is distorted and stripped down in our classrooms. With an introduction by Marian Wright Edelman, this book includes a contribution by Cynthia Brown on Septima Clark, Virginia Durr, and Rosa Parks. She Would Not Be Moved features a teacher's guide explaining how to evaluate textbooks written for young people, a resource guide to educational materials about Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement, and a dozen black-and-white photographs.

Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott reverberates with the voices of those closest to the bus boycott, ranging from King and his inner circle, to Jo Ann Robinson and other women leaders who started the protest, to the maids, cooks, and other "foot soldiers" who carries out the struggle.

Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement from the 1950s through the 1980s. In this monumental volume, Henry Hampton, creator and executive producer of the acclaimed PBS series Eyes on the Prize, and Steve Fayer, series writer, draw upon nearly one thousand interviews with civil rights activists, politicians, reporters, Justice Department officials, and hundreds of ordinary people who took part in the struggle, weaving fascinating narratives of the Civil Rights Movement told by the people who lived it.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It: The Memoir of Jo Ann Gibson Robinson. Coretta Scott King writes of this book: "This invaluable first hand account of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott, written by an important behind the scenes organizer, evokes the emotional intensity of the Civil Rights Struggle."

Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching, which goes beyond the trivial pursuit of names and dates, has several lessons and readings that promote critical thinking and learning on the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks, and the citizens whose sacrifice and courage helped change the course of our history. The Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES) has selected this resource as the core curriculum for its exhibition, 381 Days: The Montgomery Bus Boycott Story.

Photos and Primary Documents

Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Exhibit: 381 Days. Visit this site to learn how to book the exhibit in your town and download a collection of photos on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

For primary documents, such as the police report, fingerprint card, and bus illustration visit the National Archives and Records Administration.

The below primary documents are from the Alabama Department of Archives & History.

Code of the City of Montgomery

Montgomery Advertiser article 12/6/55

Montgomery Advertiser article 12/9/55

"Negroes' Most Urgent Needs"

"Western Union Telegram: Diamond Brothers"

Montgomery Advertiser article 4/26/56

"Integrated Bus Suggestions"

Performances and CDs

CD This Land Is Your Land
NAPPA 2003 Gold Award
Track #8 The Story of Claudette Colvin (7-10 yrs old, audio sample) by Awele Makeba.

I'm Not Getting On Until Jim Crow Gets Off (Download PDF)
Middle school audience, 75 min. 200-250 students max per performance
I'm Not Getting On Until Jim Crow Gets Off uses ethnographic theatre to examine the untaught history of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Based on oral histories, interviews, court transcripts, memoirs, and biographies, Awele Makeba portrays two teens and two women including 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, JoAnn Robinson, and Rosa Parks.

Rage Is Not A 1-Day Thing! The Untaught History of the Montgomery Bus Boycott
High school audience, 90 min. 300 students max; college/university no limit
Awele Makeba plays a dozen women, men and teenagers, including 15-year-old Claudette Colvin and JoAnn Robinson. Rage explores how heroism is daily, how courage is a simple matter of taking a stand according to your principles, and how ordinary people took direct action to achieve full citizenship, as well as have their humanity recognized. Awele's play is a story of hope that has enormous relevance today, especially to young people. Using oral histories, court transcripts, interviews by the playwright, and memoirs by participants, Rage challenges our collective memory fifty years after the fact.

Websites

Civil Rights Teaching (The official site of Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching)

Rivers of Change
"The world knows of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and Mrs. Rosa Parks, but people know little about the events that propelled them to such fame and recognition. Rivers of Change: The Legacy of Five Unheralded Women in Montgomery and their Struggle for Justice and Dignity©” is about the struggles of five unknown women that were instrumental in starting and ending the Montgomery bus boycott. It is the story of women who reversed a U.S. Supreme Court decision." -- From the Rivers of Change site Introduction

381 Days: SITES
The Smithsonian Institutions Traveling Exhibition Service exhibit on the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Montgomery Bus Boycott: They Changed the World
Click here for video clips of civil rights pioneers as they explain the events surroundings the boycott, voices of the boycott, news articles, and more.

Teaching Tolerance, Freedom's Main Line
Learn how activists in Louisville, Kentucky successfully campaigned against segregated streetcars in this excerpt from the Teaching Tolerance curriculum kit "A Place at the Table."

Anti Defamation League (ADL)Honors the Life and Achievements of Rosa Parks

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute
Visit this site for a daily announcement about the boycott called "On this day fifty years ago" and other materials.

Rosa Parks Eulogy Transcripts
From Democracy Now