Below you'll find a recent YouTube video by Congressman John Lewis. He was a critical figure in the Civil Rights Era and he explains the importance of the Voting Rights Act as well as the "Bloody Sunday" march in Selma, Alabama. This is a "primary source" because it comes directly from an eyewitness.
These are links to a pair of important primary source documents we'll be using during this unit. Taken together, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Malcom X's "Ballot or the Bullet" frame the debate about different tactics and philosophies in the civil rights struggle.
This link provides a view of President Kennedy's showdown with Alabama Governor George Wallace over integration at the University of Alabama. You'll learn why Kennedy ultimately decided to federalize the Alabama National Guard. This link from the Miller Center provides both primary source text and video of President Kennedy's live address to the nation - an early example of how TV played a key role in the Civil Rights Era.
The United States House of Representatives has provided this link that gives a written breakdown of many major civil rights acts passed by congress - both before, during and after the modern Civil Rights Era. This is a primary source because it comes from the political body that passed these acts.
In addition, a separate link from the National Archives takes you to the text of the 24th Amendment (titled "Amendment XXIV), which is also a key part of the Civil Rights Era. The National Archives is a government agency, so this too is a primary source.
This multimedia page from History.com will give you background information on Thurgood Marshall. The written biography section is a secondary source, but click through to the "speeches" section (or just click here) and you'll also find a primary source. It's a short audio recording of the press conference that he and other lawyers held after the Brown V. Board decision.
PBS also provides a good secondary source for information about Brown v. Board. It's a good written overview of the case and it includes links to other related topics. Just click here.
Get more information about Rosa Parks from this site on Biography.com. It's a secondary source that includes a written biography and a short documentary.
This article from AARP details the lives and struggles of Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez. The secondary source gives a glimpse into the farm worker movement as seen through the eyes of both Huerta's and Chavez's children.
Encyclopedia Britannica will help you with background information about Gloria Steinem and the modern women's movement. This page is a secondary source and it provides a short biography. This video below is a first-person account by Steinem so it serves as a primary source.