Greetings

We are pleased to share with you the third newsletter for educators with news and resources for teaching about Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and labor history.

Included are stories about National History Day in Mississippi, a teacher fellow, classroom resources, Civil Rights Movement anniversaries (Selma and the Mississippi Congressional Challenge), an interview with Marion Barry, and teacher learning opportunities.

National History Day in Mississippi

Don't miss the National History Day competition in Mississippi on March 21 at USM in Hattiesburg. It is a unique and powerful opportunity to engage your students in the study and sharing of local history. Find ideas for projects here. Or volunteer to judge the local history awards. Contact Julian Hipkins III for more info.

Normandy Institute 2015

Congratulations to Mr. Alan Wheat of McComb High School and his student Isaiah Mckay who have been selected as the first representatives from Mississippi for the NHD Normandy Institute. They will research a soldier from their area who is buried in the Normandy American Cemetery in France. In June, the team will travel to Washington, DC and France.

Teacher Fellowship

Hattiesburg Teacher Selected for Retreat

In December, Alma McDonald (Hattiesburg teacher fellow) was selected as one of 16 teachers to attend a national writing retreat on teaching about climate change. McDonald stated:

"I now realize that this isn't just a time where civil rights are important. We must begin to address the global environmental concerns and how they affect human rights as a whole."

Alma is writing an article about her experience with environmental racism growing up in Louisiana and her class action lawsuit against Hercules Offshore. She plans to use the article as a starting point for a lesson on environmental racism.

Teacher Fellowship Openings

Apply by February 15

Mississippi middle and high public school teachers are invited to apply for the Mississippi teacher fellowship program with a focus on the Civil Rights Movement and labor history. Read more.

Classroom Resources

Mississippi Congressional Challenge

January 2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the Mississippi Congressional Challenge. The challenge was filed by the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP) to protest five Mississippi congressmen sitting in the House of Representatives. The challenge argued that the state representatives had been selected under a political system that excluded African-Americans from participating in the democratic process of electing state officials.


Mississippi History Now Mississippi History Now is an award-winning online publication that offers a wide variety of resources on the history of Mississippi from prehistory through the 20th century. Here is one example: When Youth Protest: The Mississippi Civil Rights Movement, 1955-1970s.	Voting Rights Struggle in Selma In this 50th anniversary year of the Selma to Montgomery marches and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we recommend 15 Key Points from Bottom-Up History and Why It Matters Today and a classroom lesson. Many activists from Mississippi played a key role in Selma.

Historypin

Civil rights movement activist and politician Marion Barry (March 6, 1936 - Nov. 23, 2014) was born in Itta Bena, MS. An interview conducted by McComb high school students has been added to the Uncovering Mississippi's Hidden History project page.

We encourage everyone reading this newsletter to add key people and events to the Mississippi Historypin page. Individuals, classrooms, and/or organizations can post on the page.

Learning Opportunities


Veterans of Mississippi Civil Rights Movement The 10th Anniversary Conference will take place at Tougaloo College from March 18-21, 2015. Register here.	National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Apply to present by March 1, 2015 November 13-15, 2015 New Orleans

StoryCorps Recording in Jackson

StoryCorps is a non-profit, oral history organization that records conversational interviews between pairs of people who know each other well--usually family members or friends--and archives them at the Library of Congress for future generations. Each conversation lasts for 40 minutes and can be on any story or experience that the participants feel like sharing. It is completely free. StoryCorps will be recording in Jackson from February 5th until March 6th, 2015. Reserve a recording time at the StoryCorps website.

	National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Programs Each year, NEH offers tuition-free opportunities for school, college, and university educators to study a variety of humanities topics including U.S. history. Stipends of $1,200-$3,900 help cover expenses for these one- to five-week programs. For more information and application instructions, visit the website for the programs.
	Spring Social Studies Teachers Workshop: Women of Mississippi History From the matriarchal societies of Native Americans to the women of the Civil Rights Movement, women have left their mark on the state of Mississippi. Sign up now for a workshop on February 21. Deadline for registration is February 13, 2015. Cost is $40. 0.5 CEU credit available through Mississippi College. Learn more.

Background Reading


For a Voice and the Vote: My Journey with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party We are pleased to announce the publication of one of the only books on the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. In For a Voice and the Vote, author Lisa Anderson Todd gives a insider's account of her experience volunteering in Greenville, Mississippi, during Freedom Summer and with the MFDP.	A Story of Two Mississippi State Historians James Loewen just released an article about two very different historians at Mississippi State University. John K. Bettersworth wrote one of the main history textbooks used in schools from about 1960-1990. Glover Moore wrote and published his own book as an alternative to Bettersworth's traditional account of Mississippi history.

In Memory

Mrs. Prince Lee, age 97, widow of civil rights activist Herbert Lee, passed away on January 16, 2015.

The funeral will be held on January 31, 2015, fifty-one years to the day of the ambush slaying of Louis Allen. Allen was killed because he told the truth to the FBI about the murder of voting rights activist Herbert Lee who was gunned down by his neighbor and state legislator E. H. Hurst.

Mrs. Lee, mother of nine children, was one of the women on the stage at the 1963 March on Washington.

Contact

For More Information

To learn more or share comments, write to project director Julian Hipkins III.

We welcome teaching Civil Rights Movement stories and photos from Mississippi teachers to feature in this monthly e-newsletter. Below are photos of people Julian Hipkins met while in Ashland, Mississippi in mid-January.

(left) Mr. Henry Reaves Jr. next to a photo (top) of his father who was active in the Benton County NAACP at a time when meetings had to be held in secret. (right) Ashland High School librarian Dr. Renee Hooper with her new copy of Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching.

This monthly e-newsletter is produced by Teaching for Change
with funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.