2010 Civil Rights Summer Institute

One of the most fun parts about planning for the Civil Rights Summer Institute was the incredible amount of resources out there. When we were choosing books, videos, websites, and even presenters, we had a wide enough selection that we were really able to tailor our choices to what we thought was best suited to the week. We had the amazing luck to find teachers, community members and members of our own team who could contribute fantastic information, background and personal perspective to the week.

The AHTC is fortunate enough to have such a large group of smart, willing teachers to draw from when we're looking for presenters, as evidenced by the lesson plans page of our website (www.americanhistoryteachers.org,) and during the Summer Institute four of them joined us to present. On Wednesday, Izona Burgess led a session about the milestones of the Civil Rights movement and its legacy, using the lens of her own childhood experiences. Renayee Westfield presented her lesson "An Introduction to African American Efforts in World War II" which unpacks the significance of African American war efforts and explores the racism they faced at home and overseas. On Friday, Amos Lee presented his lesson "Race Riots and Reality." Amos's lesson looks at Jim Crow laws and race riots in Illinois, and then involves the students in primary source analysis, using interviews taken by the State Commission to Investigate Living Conditions of the Urban Colored Population, which looked into the economic, cultural, health and living conditions of the "urban colored" population in Illinois in the early 1940s.


In addition, Friday saw Mary Anne Jusko presenting her lesson "From Barbershops in Champaign, IL to Bus Boycotts in Montgomery, AL: All's Not Fair in 1954-1955 America." Mary Anne's lesson focused on bringing the general term Civil Rights home to her students by focusing on events here in Champaign Urbana.Using an amazing set of primary sources, Mary Anne's lesson looks at the local efforts to de-segregate campus barbershops.


On Wednesday, we were also joined by Terry Townsend, a community member who spoke about his experiences with the Civil Rights movement. His session " An Overview of the Civil Rights and Opportunity Movement and its Relationship to the National Movement" drew from his decades of experience working locally to improve race relations. He brought the Community Reinvestment Act to the attention of community leaders, which resulted in banks increasing their efforts to make loans to African Americans. He also served as a Housing Commissioner for 10 years.

The week was further enhanced by sessions led by Superintendent of the Urbana School District Dr. Preston Williams Jr, Ed.D and AHTC Activities Coordinator Jennifer Bredemeier. Dr. Williams presented on the process of desegregation in Urbana schools and its legacy for the district today.

Jennifer Bredemeier drew upon her masters degree in Human Resources for her Friday session "Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Discrimination in Employment." Title VII outlaws discrimination in employment based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, and her presentation discussed law cases that were key in interpreting that law and determining the different types of employment discrimination covered under that section.


Our last presenter of the week was Urbana Free Library Librarian Carol Inskeep. Carol is a frequent AHTC presenter and a crowd favorite. Her book lists cover a large range of ages and are an amazing resource for teachers as they are lesson planning. Carol presented both on Wednesday and Friday, providing the group with a very extensive list of children's books, graphic novels, young adult books and documentaries that covered the Civil Rights movement. As always, the teachers were captivated by the sections of the books that Carol read out-loud.


Thanks to all of you for presenting! You were a huge part of what made this week a success.