Primary Source Archives:
Library of Congress. The Library of Congress is one of the best historical archives in the world and it has a section dedicated to civil rights. Although it's the nation's largest library, it has a lot more than just books. In addition to photographs, maps and illustrations, it contains many important documents covering hundreds of years of American history. From performing arts to world wars, many subjects are covered by the primary sources in this database.
National Archives. This is another top archive for locating primary sources of all kinds. It also has a section on civil rights. It operates as an independent agency of the U.S. government and contains government and historical documents and records. Letters, pictures and films and many other primary resources relating to American history can be found here. The National Archives is also a very good resource for locating American military documents.
Civil Rights Digital Library. This archive is run by Georgia's public university system and contains thousands of documents, photographs and unedited news film from the 1950s and 1960s. Since Georgia was home to so many civil rights leaders and events, the TV stations and other news organizations contributed primary sources that can't be found anywhere else.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute contains an import archive related to the slain civil rights leader. Maintained by Stanford University, the archive also contains documents and pictures about the larger civil rights struggle.
The King Center also contains important primary sources related to civil rights. Their archive also centers on documents and pictures related to Dr. King, however many other civil rights leaders and activities are documented. Their website is very interactive and fun to use.
Explore Other Primary Source Lesson Plans:
PBS has dozens of great lesson plans on U.S. history. This lesson on Abraham Lincoln uses primary sources to reveal big ideas and everyday details about the man who held together the nation. This particular lesson utilizes a "gallery walk" activity that gets students out of their seats and examining various primary sources posted around the room. Students will see pictures, letters and documents involving Lincoln. They're be able to source and contextualize these Civil War era documents. They'll also be able to corroborate these documents by comparing them to other documents. Plus, they can conduct a close reading of key portions.
This is another great primary source lesson plan. Students can use sourcing, context, corroboration and close readings to examine a fascinating period in history. This lesson from PBS allows students to investigate an alleged Nazi spy ring busted in America during WWII. Using primary source documents and films, students are able to draw their own conclusions and determine where the documents contain bias.
Two Demonstrations of Online Analysis Tools (click on the video to open in full-screen mode):
Primary source tutorial #1: Creating you own online primary source tool:
Primary source tutorial #2: Learning from a primary source tool: