Historian

Shades of History:
The Montgomery Bus Boycott/Beyond Black and White

Historian

Drinking Fountain on the Courthouse Lawn, Halifax, North Carolina, 1938, Library of Congress

Your Role

A historian tries to figure out the story of what happened in the past. Historians are interested in the relationships and connections among people, places, and events over time. Historians try to use primary sources as well as secondary sources to figure out the significance of what took place from the perspective of those closest to the action.

Many U.S. historians consider the Montgomery Bus Boycott to be the birth of a period of American history known as the Civil Rights Era. Your job is to place the boycott in the context of history, figure out how it was connected to what happened before and afterwards, and take your expertise back to your group. As you read, view, and listen, look for what surprises you, what you think is most interesting and important, and what you want to know more about, and try to make note of information obtained from primary sources.

Questions

What was happening in the United States in the early 1950's that might have contributed to the Montgomery Bus Boycott? What conditions and events before 1950 might have paved the way for the boycott?
How did the boycott affect the lives of the people involved? How did it affect the lives of other Americans? How did it influence events that followed it?
What was important about the boycott? What part did it play in the civil rights movement? In American history?

Resources

Separate is Not Equal from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History
The Murder of Emmett Till from PBS American Experience
The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow: A Century of Segregation from PBS
The Civil Rights Era from the Library of Congress: American Memory Collection
African American World Timeline from PBS
African American History Timeline: 1900-2000 from BlackPast.org

For a place to take notes as you do your research, please print the Historian Worksheet.