Civil Rights Meeting Flyers

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Civil Rights Meeting Flyers

As a major American city, Philadelphia was the site of important conferences and a destination for key figures in the civil rights and Black Power movements. The Thelma McDaniel Collection includes flyers announcing two very different meetings that took place at Philadelphia churches in the 1960s. In this lesson, students are given the opportunity to research the Black Power movements in Philadelphia to give context to their analysis of these meeting flyers. 

Essential Questions

How has social disagreement and collaboration been beneficial to Pennsylvania society?

Objectives

Students will be able to:

  • Identify and evaluate conflict and cooperation among social groups and organizations in United States history from 1890 to the present. 
  • Evaluate how continuity and change have influenced United States history from 1890 to the present.
  • Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole. 

Suggested Instructional Procedures

1. Familiarize yourself with Black Power using the Meeting Flyers Background Information sheet. Give students a short lecture. 

2. Present the two meeting flyers to the students. Have students research the names of key players and institutions on the flyers such as Church of the Advocate, Stokely Carmichael, SNCC, CORE, Father Paul Washington, Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church, Andrew Young, and SCLC. Students will share their findings with the class. 

3.  Compare the two meetings using the provided worksheet. Discuss what the differences and similarities were in terms of what type of people were in the audience, the content of the speeches, the size of the event, etc.

4.  Have students write for assessment on the prompt:  If you had a time machine, which meeting would you want to attend and why?

Vocabulary

United Negro College Fund:  “UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nation's largest and most effective minority education organization. UNCF provides operating funds for 38 member historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs), scholarships and internships for students at about 900 institutions and faculty and administrative professional training.” From the UNFC website 
Homogeneous:  being the same or similar