• Struggle for racial and gender equality and for the extension of civil liberties.
• Social and economic impact of the Great Depression (e.g., the impact of the Depression on industry and workers; the response of local and state officials in combating the resulting economic and social crises; the effects of the Depression on American families and on ethnic and racial minorities; the effect on gender roles; the victimization of African Americans and white sharecroppers).
• Economic boom and social transformation of the post-World War II United States.

• Narrative, The Second Great Migration
• Outline map of the 50 states (student desk copies, transparencies, or computer graphic)
• Graphing paper (optional)
• Congressional Research Service Report, Black Members of the United States Congress 1789–2001 (available online at http://www.house.gov/cummings/cbc/blackmembers.pdf)

1. Provide students with the information that, during the Reconstruction era, all African-American Members of Congress came from the southern states of Mississippi (Senators Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce along with Representative John Lynch); South Carolina (Representatives Joseph Rainey, Robert DeLarge, Richard Cain, Alonzo Ransier, Robert Smalls, Thomas Miller, and George Murray); Alabama (Representatives Benjamin Turner, James Rapier, Jeremiah Haralson, and Charles Nash); North Carolina (Representatives John Hyman, James O'Hara, Henry Cheatham, and George White); Virginia (Representative John Langston); Georgia (Representative Jefferson Long); or Florida (Representative Josiah Walls).
2. Ask students to mark these states on an outline map of the United States.
3. Ask students to graph data on the number of Representatives from each state on the following blank graph:
4. Discuss as a class where in the United States, and in the South, African-American congressional representation was strongest and hypothesize why.

Evaluate the maps and graphs on a ten-point scale (which you may multiply by ten to convert to a 100-point scale or letter grades) using the following rubric:

Evaluate the essay on a 20-point scale (which you may multiply by five to convert to a 100-point scale or letter grades) using the following rubric:

• The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) website is located at: http://www.house.gov/cummings/cbc/cbchome.htm. The CBC History tab on the menu leads to a history of the origins of the caucus and information about the 13 founding members at: http://www.house.gov/cummings/cbc/cbchistory.htm. This website also provides links to a nearly 60-page Congressional Research Service Report, Black Members of the United States Congress 1789–2001 at: http://www.house.gov/cummings/cbc/blackmembers.pdf.
• The United States Senate provides a listing of Senators from minority groups at: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/minority_senators.htm.

• Language Arts/Drama: Ask students to research and write a skit based on the experiences of pioneering African-American Congressional leaders such as Hiram Revels, Oscar DePriest, Adam Clayton Powell, Edward Brooke, Shirley Chisholm, and Carol Moseley-Braun. Student may either present the resulting drama in class or on stage, or record the performance.
• Government/Political Science: Students may conduct additional research on the growth of African-American political power in the mid-Twentieth century. They may wish to research:

  • Biographies of leading African-American mayors, state representatives and governors, Members of the U.S. Congress, and cabinet members.
  • How political cartoonists have chronicled the emergence and impact of African-American political leaders.
  • The relationship between Civil Rights-era court cases and legislation that extended the franchise to African-American voters and the opportunity to serve to African-American political leaders.