Modern America

ETHS Content Essays, Primary Sources, and Student Activities

Alex Haley

Key Words:  Alex Haley, Malcolm X, Roots, 

B.B. King

Key Words: B.B. King, Blues

Changes in Agriculture in post World War II Tennessee

Key Words: fertilizer, erosion control, TVA,

Columbia Race Riots

Key Words: Columbia TN, Jim Crow Laws, Thurgood Marshall, riots

Diane Nash

Key Words: Diane Nash, Nashville Sit-ins, Jim Crow Laws, Freedom Rider

Elvis Presley: The King of Rock-n-Roll

Key Words: Memphis, Rock-n-Roll, Sun Studios

Famous Tennesseans

Key Words: Alex Haley, Wilma Rudolph, Dolly Parton, Al Gore Jr., Oprah Winfrey

Highlander Folk School

Key Words: Monteagle, TN, Integration, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Memphis and the Birth of Rock-n-Roll

Key Words: Memphis, Blues, Elvis Presley, Sun Studios

Tent Cities in Fayette and Haywood

Key Words: Fayettte County, Haywood County, Civil Rights, Tent Cities

The Clinton 12 and the Integration of Clinton High School

Key Words:  Clinton TN, Segregation, Brown vs. Board of Education, Integration

The Nashville Sit-ins

Key Words:  Nashville, Sitins, Diane Nash, Rev. James Lawson Jr., Kelly Smith Jr.

 


Modern America Additional Resources

Modern America Activities

Autobiography of Malcolm X Activity
Civil Rights Historic Markers Timeline Activity
Civil Rights Historical Markers Activity (Teacher's Guide)
Determining Significance Events of the Civil Rights Movement Activity
Memphis Rock and Soul Museum Activity Guide
Ruby Bridges Activity

Modern America Web Links

USA Today

News story about Diane Nash includes photos

NY Times

Link to Alex Haley’s obituary. The obituary discusses the controversy over the legacy of Roots.

Reader's Digest Story: Alex Haley

This is an early story from Alex Haley that appeared in Reader’s Digest.  Note: The story use some language that may be considered offensive today and may not be appropriate for younger students

Civil Rights Digital Library

The Civil Rights Digital Library has a wealth of images and other primary sources related to all aspects of the Civil Rights Movement.

Nashville Digital Library 

The Digital Collection of the Nashville Public Library contains a wealth of Civil Rights sources.  Use “civil rights” as the search term.

University of Memphis 

This website constructed by the University of Memphis contains a wealth of resources on the Tent City movement

Jackson Sun 

The Jackson Sun created a website to document the civil rights movement in Jackson.  It also includes sources on the Tent Cities movement.

Video: Race Riots 

Emory Associate Professor of African American Studies, Carol Anderson, discusses the Columbia Race Riots.

Living Room Candidate

Amazing website with presidential campaign advertisements from 1952 to the present 

 Cesar Chavez Foundation

The website document Chavez life and work

Modern America ETHS Articles

Modern America ETHS Articles

Highlander Folk School

Blum, Michael. “ ‘Everyone You Don’t Like is a Communist’: The Highlander Center and the Civil Rights Movement in Knoxville, 1961-1971.” The Journal of East Tennessee History 86 (2014): 57-76.

Additional Related Articles:

Hardaway, Roger D. “Race, Sex, and Law: Miscegenation in Tennessee.” The Journal of East Tennessee History 74 (2000): 24-37.