Columbia University has created a multimedia African American history Web site, offering free access to historical materials covering the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements for teachers to incorporate into lessons.

The “Amistad Digital Resource,” as it is called, was developed by Columbia University’s Center for Contemporary Black History and the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia.

In just browsing around the site, I’ve found it to be quite powerful. One photograph, for instance, shows the fury on a white woman’s face as Elizabeth Eckford – one of the Little Rock Nine who began the desegregation of the Arkansas school system – braved her way into the Little Rock Central High School in 1957.

There are also an array of videos, maps, timelines and other useful resources.

NEW YORK, New York (February 1, 2008) – Columbia University’s Center for Contemporary Black History (CCBH) and the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC) has developed a new and innovative web-based multimedia resource on African American history called, The Amistad Digital Resource.
Starting February 1, teachers across the country will have free access to www.AmistadResource.org , where they can download maps of civil-rights riots and demonstrations, FBI documents, rare photos and film clips, personal correspondence, oral history interviews, and songs that chronicle the Civil Rights and Black Power movements. Several states, including the New York State Department of Education, have enacted legislation requiring the integration of African-American history in K-12 social studies curricula.

Columbia’s Amistad Digital Resource, accessible to users at no cost, will provide a much-needed solution that helps teachers fulfill this new curricular requirement and be a resource for secondary school teachers to enhance their knowledge and ability to teach African-American history to students.

“The Department of African American Studies at Columbia University has a strong commitment to enhancing K-12 learning,� said Professor Manning Marable, founding director of CCBH. “African-American history is American History, and the integration of African-American history into the public school curriculum strengthens the quality of education for all students.�

A generous grant from the Ford Foundation helped Columbia’s CCBH and EPIC to develop and test the first module, which covers the modern Civil Rights and Black Power Movements (1954–1975) and is based on Marable’s 2003 book Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle. This particular period was also chosen because it is an especially exciting and engaging period for students.

“It makes history come alive,� said Marable, who tested the product in focus groups. “There is a real ‘wow’ factor, and teachers love it.�

The premise for the first module is the notion that ordinary black Americans in the civil rights-era were dedicated activists and not simply victims. The multimedia site includes curricular materials and an interactive timeline demonstrating major events in African-American history during this period, including biographical information about well-known activists Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks; however, archival visual and audio materials documenting the experiences of relatively unknown figures will also be presented. In a chapter about the bus boycott, for example, students can read a letter from a local black women’s group informing the mayor of Montgomery of its plan to boycott the bus and walk to work instead.

“Most kids have been taught that Rosa Parks sat down on the bus because she was exhausted,� said Kate Wittenberg, director of EPIC. “But it was an extremely well-organized movement, carefully planned and executed. The primary sources tell the real story.�

Columbia University’s Amistad Digital Resource suggests innovative ways to teach the African-American history curriculum to high school students at a variety of skill levels, in public or private schools. It also provides teachers with access to selected teaching resources (lesson plans, maps, timelines, and document-based questions).

About the Center for Contemporary Black History

Columbia University’s Center for Contemporary Black History (CCBH) promotes the critical study of black history, culture, and politics within urban America since 1900, with an emphasis on understanding the central role of black intellectuals and public leaders in the making of modern society. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the Center utilizes the educational and research tools of both traditional disciplines and new media technology to organize and enrich the study of contemporary black American history.

About the Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia University

The Electronic Publishing Initiative at Columbia (EPIC) is a center for digital publishing that builds sustainable resources for scholars and students in a variety of disciplines. EPIC’s projects include: Columbia International Affairs Online (http://www.ciaonet.org), Gutenberg-e Online History Project (http://www.gutenberg-e.org), Columbia Earthscape (http://www.earthscape.org), and Digital Anthropology Resources for Teaching (http://dart.columbia.edu ). These resources take advantage of new technologies while maintaining the traditional quality and purpose of university-based research, teaching and publishing.

About Columbia University
A leading academic and research university, Columbia continually seeks to advance the frontiers of knowledge and to foster a campus community deeply engaged in understanding and addressing the complex issues of our time. Columbia’s extensive cultural collaborations and community partnerships help define the University’s underlying values and mission to educate students to be both leading scholars and informed, engaged citizens. Founded in 1754 as King’s College, Columbia University in the City of New York is the fifth oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. www.columbia.edu

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