ENGLISH B50
Background Information for The Help
BACKGROUND KNOWLEDGE
What do you already know about the South
during the 1960s? About the Civil Rights
movement? Take a few minutes to jot down your
ideas.
 Turn and share with a partner. Did you learn
anything new?
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SOME FUN FACTS ABOUT THE 1960S
The U.S. population was about 177,000,000.
 The average yearly salary was $4,743.
 Minimum wage was $1.00 per hour.
 Barbie dolls were introduced by Mattel in 1959.
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THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
Some popular TV shows were Bewitched, Star
Trek, and the Twilight Zone.
 In 1960, Elvis Presley returned from the Army
and got back into the music scene.
 Other popular musicians were Bob Dylan, The
Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles.
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GEARING UP FOR CHANGE
Despite the abolition of slavery post Civil War,
Black Americans were far from free.
 Nearly a century after our civil war, after
suffering innumerable instances of prejudice and
injustice, civil rights activists began fighting for
change.
 The initial event was a sit in at a whites-only
lunch counter at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro,
North Carolina.

Four young African-American college students
ordered coffee, and, after they were denied service,
sat silently in their seats until closing time.
 This sit in garnered much attention and inspired
other similar sit-ins.

THE MOVEMENT BEGINS
On October 19th, 1960, Martin Luther King Jr.
joined a sit in at a whites only restaurant. He,
along with over 50 other protestors, was arrested.
 John F. Kennedy, who was, at the time running
for president, made a public show of support for
King, while his brother, Robert Kennedy,
convinced the judge to let King out on bail.
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The Kennedy family thus attracted many AfricanAmericans to the Democratic party.
FREEDOM RIDERS
On December 5th, 1960, the Supreme Court ruled
that segregation on vehicles traveling between
states was unlawful because it violated the
Interstate Commerce Act (Boynton v. Virginia).
 In 1961, the Freedom Riders (composed of 13
activists, both black and white) traveled to the
Deep South to test the law.
 In May, the group was attacked outside
Alabama.


Members of the KKK made an arrangement with the
local police to allow them 15 minutes on the bus.
REACTIONS

President Kennedy ordered more strict penalties
for refusal to integrate.

The Freedom Riders continued, joined by new
activists.
EDUCATION
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In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that the University
of Mississippi had to allow African American Student
and veteran James Meredith to attend.
The governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, ordered
state troopers to prevent Meredith from entering the
campus.
Riots ensued.
President Kennedy ordered U.S. marshals to
Mississippi to ensure Meredith’s safety; he became
the first African American student at Ole Miss.
On August 18th, James Meredith graduated from Ole
Miss
MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR
In 1963, King, along with the Southern Christian
Leadership conference, protested segregation in
Birmingham, Alabama.
 On April 12th, he was arrested and then on the
16th, he wrote his now famous “Letter from a
Birmingham Jail” in response to white Alabama
ministers urging him to end his protests and be
patient with the judicial process of overturning
segregation.
 On August 28th, King delivered his legendary “I
Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC at the
March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

THE HELP
This is the context for the novel that we are going
to be reading in class, The Help.
 Remember to read rhetorically and take careful
notes.
