Spring 2005

Lynda J. Morgan

317A Skinner Hall, History Department

Office Hours: Thursdays, 1:15-3:30, and by appointment

EXT 2453, 2377

ljmorgan@mtholyoke.edu

History 381: Seminar in Civil Rights History

Late Nineteenth Century to the Present

This seminar is designed to introduce students to broad themes and patterns of African-American civil rights history from the end of slavery in 1865 until the present, both within and without the South. We will complete some common readings, and each seminar participant will conduct her own independent research on a selected historical problem in civil rights history. Some of the general themes we will cover include the civil rights legacy of Reconstruction; the historical processes that produced segregation; the implications of migrations and urbanization; civil rights during the World Wars and Depression; the differences between northern and southern civil rights movements; the different phases and general tactics of the movement (legalism, direct action, and electoral politics); and the roles of class, gender, cultures, leadership, and grassroots activism, along with their respective strengths and weaknesses.

We will take careful note from the outset that African Americans never limited their struggles for civil rights by time or place. On the contrary, the story of civil rights in American history has a rich heritage that we will pick up in the late nineteenth century, and which was not only national but international in scope. A crucial conceptual and substantive theme that will receive emphasis throughout stresses African Americans as historical actors who fought for and shaped their own freedoms in the face of overwhelming opposition, terrorism, and only occasional support and assistance.

Course Requirements. Your final grade will be the result of both oral and written components. Each class will be devoted to discussion of the readings, and we will choose discussion leaders for that purpose. Attendance is mandatory, and participation in discussion is a major requirement of the course. It amounts to 20 percent of the total grade, based on both the quality and quantity of your class participation and preparation. You should therefore view this class, among other things, of course, as an opportunity to refine your verbal skills, to listen constructively to yourself and your classmates and to engage in intellectual dialogue, and to learn to ask sensitive and critical questions of the materials you read. One of the primary purposes of the course is to let you take charge of it through your own research and discussions, which is the very definition of a “seminar.” Therefore students should be thoroughly prepared for each week’s class. Class leaders need to come prepared with a series of questions they would like to put up for discussion, and they will be responsible for soliciting the other members’ thoughts and questions and for supervising the class in general. The work of the class leader does not relieve the rest of the class from the same general preparation. Some weeks involve more reading than others. Familiarize yourselves with the syllabus now and plan for these variations.

Short writing assignment, 10%

One 12-15 page research paper, 60%; 40% will be based on your draft

Discussion and leadership, 20%.

Research paper planning, prospectus, preparation, 10%.

We will discuss the major assignment, the research assignment, in greater detail in class. Please note now that the research paper must utilize a significant amount of primary source materials, and it can be on any topic of your choice that is approved by me and which bears some relevance to the content of the course. Those of you who anticipate writing a senior thesis might want to think of this seminar as a way to get started on that project. In any event, everyone should begin thinking right away about your topic, which you must settle on by the third week of class. Peruse readings and bibliographies now to think about what your topic might be. Regular in-class discussions of progress on the research will occur, in addition to individual meetings with me outside of class. Everyone must make an appointment with me by the fourth week of the semester to discuss your research strategies in detail. We will set aside time at the end of the semester in order for you to make short presentations (ten minutes) of your work to the class, which will have read your work already, and receive the benefits of your classmates’ constructive criticisms before you submit your final work. Your draft will receive a grade as well as the final product. Students must provide at least two copies of their papers for distribution to the rest of the class for discussion. The papers will then be made available to the class in a box outside the main history office, 310 Skinner, by noon on the Friday before the class in which they will be discussed. I will need my own separate copy of everyone’s draft. YOU SHOULD ALWAYS TAKE CARE TO MAKE A COPY OF YOUR PAPER FOR YOUR OWN SAFEKEEPING. PLEASE NOTE THAT I DO NOT ACCEPT WORK VIA EMAIL.

Writers need good dictionaries and style and reference guides. I have ordered one reference manual on style and another on research methods, listed below. If you do not have other standard guides, particularly a dictionary and thesaurus, by all means get them now.

Note that in borderline cases, evidence of effort and demonstrated improvement on a student’s behalf will tip the grade in their favor at the end of the semester.

LATE PAPER AND ATTENDANCE POLICY: Assignments which are submitted late will incur +/- penalties for each day the paper is outstanding IF I DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU PRIOR TO THE DEADLINES. Failure to submit the initial draft of the research paper for common discussion is a serious matter. You will get only one chance to present your work; if you fail to take advantage of that chance, your final grade will suffer accordingly. Attendance at all classes is mandatory.

WHAT IS A DRAFT? A draft is a fully prepared product. A draft is a rewritten, polished, completely developed essay that forms the basis for an intellectual discussion of the themes and evidence included. A draft is not written the night before. A draft has full sentences, complete notes, has been proofread, and is a work you are proud to have others read for content. It does not contain lists, notes to readers about what will be done before final submission, outlines, or any apologies whatsoever. Readers are not proofreaders, spellcheckers, rewriters, clairvoyants, nor thesis producers. The seminar will not waste precious time on such mundane matters. Readers are there to engage your thesis and evidence and debate the argument and conclusions you reached. When you present your work, do so in a sophisticated and mature fashion that does not insult the intelligence and squander the energy of others. The draft will receive the bulk of the grade for the exercise.

TEXTS available in the Odyssey bookstore and on reserve

Glenda Gilmore, Gender and Jim Crow

Raymond D'Angelo, American Civil Rights Movement

Charles Payne, I've Got the Light of Freedom

Jeanne Theoharis and Komozi Woodard, Freedom North

Alice Walker, Meridian

Wayne Booth, The Craft of Research

Diane Hacker, Pocket Manual of Style

Course package (CP), available in History office, 309 Skinner

SCHEDULE:

Week 1. Feb. 1 Organization and introduction to the course.

Video, “Crusade for Justice”

Week 2. Feb. 8 The Legacy of Reconstruction and the Origins of Jim Crow: African American Initiative and the Politics of Historical Amnesia.

Reading: Gilmore, Gender and Jim Crow, all

CP: Gilmore, “Dating Jim Crow”

Booth, Chpts. 1-3 (to be discussed on Writing Day, March 8)

CLASS LEADERS:

Week 3. Feb. 15 Before Brown: The Depression and World War II Years

D'Angelo: Sullivan, Randolph, Bloom, Dittmer (both), Savage, Kelley, Morris, Meier and Bracey, McNeil, Marshall

Film: Rise and Fall of Jim Crow

TOPICS DUE IN WRITING

CLASS LEADERS:

Week 4. Feb. 22 Beyond Brown

D'Angleo: Meier, Carson, Payne, Baker, Chpt. 3, all

Chpt. 3, Booth, Chpts. 4-6 (to be discussed on Writing Day, March 8)

Film: The Intolerable Burden

CLASS LEADERS:

Week 5. Mar. 1 Student Activism and the Vote

D'Angelo, Chpt. 4

Film excerpt: Eyes on the Prize

CLASS LEADERS:

FIRST SHORT ESSAY DUE: a 3-4 page critical book review of Gilmore. You will isolate the thesis and think about the sorts of information that belong in an introduction. The body of the paper will examine two or three themes that you find engaging, whether persuasive or not. The penultimate paragraph will address the source base and its effectiveness. The conclusion will sum up and provide a statement of historical significance about the book.

Week 6. Mar. 8 Writing Day

Booth, Chpts. 1-8

Film: Excerpt: Eyes on the Prize

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND PROSPECTUS DUE. Your prospectus should be about a page long, and should address your research and writing "game plan" and, very importantly, include the thesis question(s) you are asking. Your bibliography, on a separate page, should be divided into two sections, primary and secondary sources

MARCH 12-20 HAPPY SPRING BREAK

Week 7. Mar. 22 A Mississippi Closeup

Payne, I’ve Got the Light of Freedom, Chpts. 1-7

Film: Excerpt, Eyes on the Prize

CLASS LEADERS:

SUBMISSION OF WORK IN PROGRESS:

Week 8. Mar. 29 Finish Payne

Film: Excerpt, Eyes on the Prize

CLASS LEADERS

SUBMISSION OF WORK IN PROGRESS:

Week 9. Apr. 5 The Post-'68 Era

D'Angelo, Chpts. 5 and 6, selections

Film: Excerpt, Eyes on the Prize

Booth, pp. 149-74, to be discussed on Writing Day

SUBMISSION OF WORK IN PROGRESS:

CLASS LEADERS:

Week 10. Apr. 12 Freedom North

Selected Chapters from Freedom North

Film: Excerpt, Eyes on the Prize

EVERYONE A CLASS LEADER

SUBMISSION OF WORK IN PROGRESS:

Week 11. Apr. 19 Writing Day

Discuss Booth chapters 13-15

Historical Fiction: Walker, Meridian, all.

Week 12. Apr. 26 FIRST GROUP, DRAFT PRESENTATIONS

Drafts are due at noon, Friday, 22 April

Week 13. May 3 SECOND GROUP, DRAFT PRESENTATIONS

Drafts are due at noon, Friday, 29 April

FINAL DRAFTS: DUE NOON, MONDAY, MAY 10

ABSOLUTELY POSITIVELY NO EXTENSIONS WHATSOEVER