Prof. Michael Fitzgerald
History 181
Fall 2010
"THE CIVIL RIGHTS REVOLUTION,
1940-2010"
OFFICE HOURS: Monday 2-3, Tuesday 2-3, and Thursday 3-4 and by appointment in Holland
Hall 532
It should be possible to confer with me immediately after class.
PHONE: x3162 (or leave message with dept. secretary at x3167). My home phone is 663-6041,
but don’t call me at home unless it is reasonably urgent and can’t wait.
E-MAIL: fitz. I check my messages every weekday at least once, and sometimes on weekends. If
there is some sort of confusion regarding assignments, textbooks, or whatever, let me know
immediately. Also, e-mail me if you want to talk something over, but didn't want to bring it up in
class. (By the way, if you do want to reach the whole class, "history-181" should do it--feel free
to speak your piece if you want to respond to something in class).
REMEMBER TO CHECK YOUR E-MAIL DAILY FOR ASSIGNMENT UPDATES OR
CLASS ANNOUNCMENTS.
THIS ISN’T A CONTRACT, I CAN CHANGE DATES AND ASSIGNMENTS AS
NEEDED
PURPOSE: This course examines the evolution of American race relations from the origins of
legal segregation to the present day, but focusing specifically on the middle decades of the
twentieth century. The impact of the civil rights movement will be the major focus, on African
Americans, American racial politics, and society in general.
Note: most professors think themselves to have an outstanding virtue. Here’s mine: I don’t mind
it if people speak their minds, disagree with each other or with me. This topic tends to be value
laden and political, but that’s acceptable, makes the subject more lively. If students disagree, it
means the professor is doing the job right, that students are thinking independently. So speak
your mind, but don’t necessarily expect me to agree with you either: I have a professional
obligation to tell you what I think.
----------------------------------------------------------Textbooks:
Anne Moody, Coming of Age in Mississippi
Henry Louis Gates, Colored People
Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Howell Raines, My Soul Is Rested
Clay Carson, The Eyes on the Prize Reader
And several handout readings.
----------------------------------------------------------CLASS ASSIGNMENTS: Four papers of four pages or so each, plus final. Class participation,
as reflected in attendance and class discussion, will count for much of the grade. Attendance in
class is expected, as is intelligent participation based on the readings. More than three absences
in a semester would ordinarily suggest a problem. AND YOU NEED TO SHOW UP ON TIME,
IF 8 AM IS AN ISSUE DROP THE CLASS.
You will also be required to see portions of several episodes of the PBS series on the Civil
Rights Movement and other films which will be shown in class.
Note: The reading load is heavy, so get used to it now. If you do not do the readings by the date
specified, you will be unable to say much on the subject matter--and your grade depends in large
part upon this. So, speak up when appropriate, and I tend to call on people when it seems useful;
we will avoid having the same few people do all the talking.
I should also point out that the subject matter overlaps with a good deal of American political
history during the Eisenhower (1953-61), Kennedy (1961-63), Johnson (1963-69), and Nixon
(1969-1974) presidencies. If I assume knowledge which you don't already have, feel free to stop
me and ask for further information. I'm pretty easygoing about answering questions, but it is up
to you to stop me from "going over your head." (You can, however, ask questions via e-mail if it
is easier, or if you want to ask anything else.)
---------------------------------------------------------APPROXIMATE READING SCHEDULE--Additional class handouts or online assignments
will be distributed periodically. THIS ISN'T A CONTRACT, I CAN CHANGE
ASSIGNMENT OR READING DATES AS BECOMES NECESSARY.
9 September—Introduction
14 Sept.--Living under Jim Crow (Moody, 3-79)
16 Sept.--Living under Jim Crow (Moody, 80-147)
21 Sept.--Living under Jim Crow (Moody, 147-232)
23 Sept.—Growing up in the Upper South (Gates, first half)
28 Sept.--Growing up White in the Upper South (Gates, second half, 89-176)
30 Sept--Growing up Black in the Urban North (Malcolm X, 3-83)
5 October--FIRST PAPER DUE--No Reading Assignment--Lecture and in Class Film
7 Oct.--Origins of the Civil Rights Movement (Raines, 27-34, 71-74, 131-37; Carson, 37-41, 6574) (and also getting Anne Moody into college, Moody, 232-280)
12 Oct.--The Montgomery Bus Boycott (Raines, 37-74; Carson, 44-57, and class handouts, and
The Sit-Ins and the Student Movement (Raines, 75-137; Carson 117-132)
Approximately 14 Oct.—Evening Film, Eyes on the Prize
19 Oct.—FALL BREAK
21 Oct.--Albany and Birmingham (Raines, 361-7, 139-185; Carson, 138-146, 153-159) and The
Segregationists Speak (Raines, 297-323; Carson, 83-94)
26 Oct.--Living in the Movement (Moody, 283-350)
28 Oct.--Living in the Movement (Moody, 351-424)
28 Oct.--Mississippi Freedom Summer (Raines, 233-293)
2 Nov.--Selma and the Culmination of the Southern Movement; (Raines, 187-226, 385-6;
Carson, 208-11, 213-17, 221-3; interview with David Kjerland, St. Olaf class of 1966). And
The Rise of Black Power (Carson, 248-261, 279-287; Raines, 416-423)
Approximately 4 Nov.—Film Showing—SECOND PAPER DUE
9 Nov.--Black Life in the Urban North (Malcolm X, pages 155-305, Chapters 9-14)
11 Nov.--Black Life in the Urban North (Malcolm X, pages 306-440, Chapter 14-end)
FIX THESE PAGE NUMBERS
16 Nov.--The Nation of Islam (Malcolm X, pages 306-440, Chapter 14-end)
18 Nov.--The First Watts Uprising--Los Angeles, 1965 (in class handout, selection from
Glasgow, "The Black Underclass") ; Martin Luther King, selection from "Where Do We Go
From Here?" (1967); The Late Career and Assassination of King (Raines, 425-31, 459-61,
Carson, 383-419)
23 Nov.--No Reading, in class film, THIRD PAPER DUE
25 Nov.--Thanksgiving Break
30 Nov.--Nixon, Police Repression and the Decline of the Radical Movement (Carson, 500-557)
2 Dec.--The 60s: Freedom Movements Everywhere--Feminism and the Civil Rights Movement
(Readings: Raines, 432-4; “SNCC Position Paper, Women in the Movement”; Casey Hayden and
Mary King, “Sex and Caste; The National Organization for Women “Bill of Rights”; “No More
Miss America,” statement, 1968; Gay Rights--Readings on the Stonewall Uprising)
7 Dec.--The Latino Struggle: Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers (Readings: Chavez,
Interview, 46-51; Chavez, “The Mexican American and the Church,” 42-44, Dolores Huerta,
Recollections, 42-43); other readings to be announced
9 Dec.--Students and the Anti-War Movement (Introduction to the Port Huron Statement of
Students for a Democratic Society; Mario Savio Speech, “An End to History,” SDS Call for a
March on Washington; “SNCC Position Paper on Vietnam” )
14 December—America after Civil Rights—to the Obama Era—FOURTH PAPER DUE --no
reading
FINAL EXAM—2-4 PM, SATURDAY, 18 DECEMBER 2010
Grading: All the papers and the final count for one sixth of the course grade, as does class
attendance and participation. Participation means showing up on time, having read the material,
and having something interesting to say about it. More than three absences over the course of a
semester is a problem.
I should also call your attention to the beefed-up campus anti-plagiarism policy. Faculty are now
obliged to pursue such issues aggressively. See the official policy on this,
http://www.stolaf.edu/stulife/thebook/academic/integrity.html