Informational Passages on Black History

How much would you say you know about Black History Month?

• TONS!

• A good amount

• Not enough

• Nothing

Match the following Black history figures to their descriptions.

• Civil rights activist, author and poet

• Harriet Tubman

• Abolitionist and and a women's rights activist

• Carter Woodson

• Started "Negro History Week," which later became Black History Month

• Sojourner Truth

• Social reformer, abolitionist, speaker, writer, and statesman

• Frederick Douglass

• Underground Railroad “conductor” and civil rights activist

• Maya Angelou

Put these Black history milestones in order of when they took place (earliest to latest).

• In the court case Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court ruled that public facilities were to be separate but equal for Black people.

• The Thirteenth Amendment, outlawing slavery, was passed by Congress.

• The Harlem Renaissance marked a historic period of sensational black literature and art.

• In the court case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, the Supreme Court overturned legal school segregation.

• The March on Washington was the largest civil rights demonstration ever. Dr. MLK Jr. delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

​ (a)   was the first president to officially recognize Black History Month.

• Gerald Ford
• George Bush
• Abraham Lincoln
• Donald Trump

Answer explanation

Gerald Ford, 38th president. Took over when President Nixon was impeached and resigned. His term was from August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977.

Why did Rosa Parks go to jail in 1955 ?

Answer explanation

She refused to give up her seat on the bus to a white person.

She was the first African American to attend an all-white elementary school in the South.  For her protection, she had to be escorted by U.S. Marshals to and from William Frantz Elementary School that first day.

• Phillis Wheatley

• Shirley Chisholm

• Oprah Winfrey

• Ruby Bridges

___________ was the first African American allowed to play major league baseball.  He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers for 10 years.

(first and last name)

This poet became a central figure in the Harlem Renaissance.  He wrote about African Americans, and used jazz rhythms and dialect in his work.

• Langston Hughes

• Jessie Owens

• Ruby Bridges

• Marcus Garvey

He won four gold medals in the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games, which made Hitler mad because he assumed the Germans were superior.

• Marcus Garvey

• Ruby Bridges

• Langston Hughes

• Jessie Owens

Who was the scientist who made hundreds of products from peanuts, sweet potatoes, pecans, and soybeans? Some of these products included adhesives, dyes, and rubber substitute.

• George Washington Carver

• Thurgood Marshall

• Sarah E. Goode

• Sojourner Truth