To Kill a Mockingbird
Looking into the Past
Guiding Question: What was life like for the African American in the
South during the time in which our novel takes
place?
Today we will be researching the history and cultural climate of the deep South in 1930’s America. You
will be using a website sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanities, which is government
sponsored for educators. The website address is:
www.edsitement.neh.gov/printable_lesson_plan.asp?id=525
The directions for this lesson are as follows:
1. Log onto the website.
2. Read the introduction.
3. Notice the guiding question: How does To Kill a Mockingbird frame issues of
courage and cowardice against the backdrop of the American South in the 1930’s?
This question will guide our class discussions on this novel.
4. Scroll down and click on “Introduction: History and cultural milieu of the deep South
in 1930s”.
5. Click on and read “The Need for Change.” Answer the following questions on a
separate sheet of paper: (Write in complete sentences and answer fully.)
1.) What did the Supreme Court decision Plessy v. Ferguson do?
2.) What were African Americans not allowed to do? List 10 restrictions.
3.) What is your personal reaction to this Supreme Court decision? How would
you have felt if you had been an African American at that time?
6. Go back to the previous page and click on “Remembering Jim Crow.” You will now
go through each of the documentary sections, reading the paragraphs and watching the
slide shows for each: Bitter Times; Danger, Violence, Exploitation; Communities
“Behind the Veil”; Keeping the Past; Resistance; and Whites Remember Jim Crow.
For each of these sections, you will write a brief summary and your own personal
reactions. Label each of these summaries, so it will be easy to follow later when we
refer back to these readings.
For class discussion:
In order to prepare for a class discussion on this assignment, answer the following questions:
 What is a Jim Crow law?
 What was life like for the African American economically, socially, and legally
during the time of Jim Crow?
 How were African Americans attacked during this time? Did they have any legal recourse
against acts of violence waged against them?
 How do whites now regard their treatment of African Americans during this time?