Background Knowledge
Remembering the Past
The 1960-1969 was a decade of major events for the United States: the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and, later, Robert F. Kennedy; the first Moon landing; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the Summer of Love; the Beatles' British Invasion; the Civil Rights Act; and the Voting Rights Act. In 1960s America, signs separating whites and “colored” were a “normal” part of life. There were separate bathrooms, water fountains, schools, stores, public pools, hotels, public phones, waiting rooms, movie theaters…you get the point. It was illegal to marry between races. Illegal to sit together in most public places. Illegal to sit in the same boat to fish. In some places, it was illegal to be outside after dark if you were Black. Punishments for breaking these “Jim Crow” laws included fines, jail time, beatings, property destruction, and lynchings. Because of the “Jim Crow” laws and extreme racism of the South, the lives of white and Black Americans rarely crossed paths, publicly or privately.4 It was surely a scary time for many people.
Art, music, fliers, posters, rallies, speakers, and word of mouth were all ways to unite and galvanize the people in the movement. Radio DJs and college papers shared news and events that wouldn’t be on any TV station or in the public city newspaper. It was hard for the government to control the slang and secret phrases used by DJs announcing events day by day, such as Children’s March in Birmingham. College newspapers and editorials were student creations, often self-published and distributed, and were hard to control. Fliers could appear on poles and walls overnight. Students simply hearing about events would replicate successful ones and use unsuccessful ones as opportunities to improve. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at rallies and in churches, making it clear that their community needed to unite because the government, aka the white man, made sure there were “firm limits to their progress”; many white communities fought against integration and the trouble it would bring.5 King wrote that the government envisioned the black community to “expect to remain permanently unequal and permanently poor”; and to not confuse “cautiously measured improvements with expectation of full equality”. He also stated that the white man expected that “true equality could never be a reality in the United States”.6
Presentation of the Unit
In this unit, I have curated a timeline of major events from the 60s, featuring a song, an artwork, and a print for each year. I will present information by year to provide a linear understanding that can be shown, read out loud, and given to students for each year represented. For each year presented, I will read the information I have written about that year first, with it available in writing for them to follow along. Next, I will play a song released that year as they quietly deep-dive to read and react to the art piece I have chosen for that year on their own. To read the art entails looking at the piece, asking yourself the 5 W’s of Who, What, When, Where, and Why, and thinking about the piece before asking questions or reading the title or description. At the end of the song (or sampling for some longer songs), we will have a class discussion about the song and the art before checking out the print piece. The print pieces can be any type of print media: screenprinting, posters, signage, newspapers, photos, etc. Each will be discussed for its use as printed media and how it was produced. Each year presented will also have an activity such as researching a topic, introducing or expanding an idea, or demonstrations and practicing a method for printing,
Investigations for 1960
Song: Sam Cooke, “Chain Gang”7
Artwork: Norman Lewis, “American Totem”8
In Print: Roslyn Rallies for Civil Rights. “They Shall Be Served”. Flyer.9
The sit-ins were a catalyst for so many more people to rise up and protest the continued segregation, discrimination, and hate-filled division in the United States that had been ongoing since before slavery ended. The sit-ins aimed to address the issues that dominated the lives of Black Americans; the idea of “separate but equal” was anything but equal, and an uprising was coming to prove it. The Greensboro Sit-Ins began with four college students sitting on stools at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.10 People sat there every day without incident. However, these four were protesting; they weren’t allowed to sit in those seats because they weren’t Caucasian. Those seats were for whites only, and the Black students were out to non-violently protest this type of segregation (within private establishments). The four students were nicknamed “The Greensboro 4”. They went back to that counter every day for a week, and by the end, the stools were full of protestors. Within two weeks, “... sit-ins spread to fifteen cities in five Southern states. Within the following year, over 50,000 people…had participated in one kind of demonstration or another.”11 This sit-in movement was first planned out by a group of young women at Bennet College in Greenville, North Carolina. The Bennet College chapter of the NAACP spent the previous year meeting and planning the event. They had the support of the school President, Dr. Willa Player, to include the students at A&T College. As the A&T students filled the seats at the counter, the women of Bennet College carried out picket lines in front of Woolworth’s.12 By July 26th of 1960, businesses finally caved and agreed to the integration at the lunch counters. It would be several years later, and a lot of sporadic picketing, that “total desegregation of Greensboro’s public accommodations” would succeed.13 Some of the Bennet Belles would also become an important part of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) group and an important step to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, pronounced “snick” for short (SNCC). The college students and other young people of SNCC would go on to support the sit-ins and picket lines, the Freedom Rides of 1961, Freedom Schools (that truly changed education for so many blacks in the South), and assisting with voter registration drives in the South along with the NAACP and CORE during Freedom Summer of 1964.14 They were extremely organized, had offices and volunteers from all over the country.
Students will spend 45 minutes watching three videos in small groups as mentioned in Activities below.
Investigations for 1961-1962
Song: Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1962)15
Artwork: “Freedom Riders’ Greyhound bus burning in Alabama”, 1961; and other Photos16
In print: Photo of “Freedom group hang signs on bus”.17
Image 1. Freedom group hang signs on bus
“During the spring of 1961, student activists from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) launched the Freedom Rides to challenge segregation on interstate buses and bus terminals.”18 Much like the counters at Woolworths, bus terminals and buses also had segregated areas. CORE had previously, in 1947, attempted to use buses in protests called “The Journey of Reconciliation” to “test a Supreme Court decision that declared segregation on interstate buses unconstitutional”.19 However, due to the lack of direct confrontation, it received very little media attention and fell a bit flat in terms of the protest's intentions. The 1961 Freedom Rides were much more aggressive, loud, and boisterous, and fed off the buildup of sit-ins and boycotts that were still ongoing. Something that the sit-ins and bus protests did was disrupt businesses and cause financial loss, which always raises alarms. Alarms were also raised when Klan members started stopping buses to taunt, torment, degrade, beat, and threaten the lives of the riders. In one incident on May 14th of 1961, a bus was met at the station in Anniston, Alabama by an angry mob. The mob smashed windows and slashed tires, causing the driver to leave immediately out of fear for the safety of the people on the bus, with the mob following behind. Due to the flat tires, the bus was forced to pull over, and the mob started to rock the bus, screaming threats, and one man threw a Molotov cocktail into a window of the bus, igniting the interior in flames. Men on the outside blocked the back emergency door and the front exit, yelling out to burn them all alive. The riders scrambled out the windows only to face severe beating from the mob. The injured were ushered to a nearby hospital, to which the mob followed, and the injured were met with hospital staff that refused service to the injured because they were black. All of this was an attempt to get the states in the South to adhere to the Supreme Court's already-declared ruling.20
At this point, students should pick a social issue that matters to them, past or present. They should write down the issue and any facts they already know about it. Students will also create a poster declaring their position on the issue at this time. This can be a square with their notes at this time but will be turned into a larger piece for the final project.
Investigations for 1963
Song: Sam Cooke, “A Change is Gonna Come”21
Artwork: Norman Rockwell, “The Problem We All Live With”22
In Print: “March on Washington”, Original Protest Poster23
If all you know about Martin Luther King Jr. is that he was at the March in Washington, featuring his "I Have a Dream" speech, you don’t know Martin Luther King Jr.24 The speech was indeed a powerful motivator for many people to stand up and speak out. He “skillfully employed metaphors, repetition, and allusions to create a vivid picture of the struggles and aspirations of African Americans”.25 While his speech did bring about changes in our country, he was about more than that particular speech. King wanted all people to unite despite differences, but he was aware of the social, political, and educational indoctrination of racism keeping us apart. He said, “The doctrine of white supremacy was embedded in every textbook and preached in practically every pulpit. It became a structural part of the culture.”.26 Americans were being systematically taught and ingrained in racism. King recognized this and preached against it publicly in sermons and in writing. He was also well aware of our militarized government and said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death…”.27 Our nation, as of 2026, spends roughly 70 billion on education and about 2 trillion on the Department of Defense.28 This speaks volumes about the United States and what King warned us about.
The Birmingham Children’s Crusade was another important protest in 1963. Thousands of students walked out of schools in Birmingham to protest segregation in a non-violent, peaceful protest they called D-Day. Many walked out of school with the understanding they could be arrested for protesting. They walked out anyway and joined together on 16th Street. They went into the 16th Street Baptist Church singing “We Shall Overcome,” for prayers, songs, and speakers. As they left the church, the police were waiting outside, insisting the students disperse. Students were attacked by the police with dogs and fire hose cannons, arrested and put in jail or bussed out to the fairgrounds (that they typically weren’t allowed to go to as Black individuals). This peaceful protest gone awry was shown on the news and upset a great number of people that children would be treated in such a way and greatly pushed the entire cause forward.29 By the end of 1963, Medgar Evers and President John F. Kennedy were both assassinated for their support of the Civil Rights movement, and the 16th Street Church was bombed, killing 4 little girls.
In this lesson, students will learn about the tools used in various printmaking styles and when words must be reversed for printing. Students will design and create a small print related to their social issues to show their understanding of reverse printing. Students will use tools to draw on Styrofoam representing their chosen cause and must include words. They will experiment with rollers, brayers, a wheel press, and creating reduction relief.
Investigations for 1963-1964
Song: Odetta, “Got My Mind on Freedom”30
Artwork: Romare Bearden, “Mysteries from Prevalence of Ritual”31
In Print: “School Boycott!” Freedom Day, February 3, 196432
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was proposed by President John F. Kennedy in 1963 before his assassination and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, legally ending segregation.33 It was “intended to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, or national origin in the United States”.34 The fact that the act “gave federal law enforcement agencies the power to prevent racial discrimination in employment, voting, and the use of public facilities” didn’t mean the agencies would always enforce it.35 Thus the fight for equality continued.
Students will get into small groups to research and discuss what the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was. What difference was it expected to make? What laws did it change? If one of the students already has knowledge on the topic, they are free to bring up pictures or other evidence to back up their knowledge and allow others to read the topic in images, as well as words. What images come to mind related to their own cause? They should not be looking up images of their own cause, only thinking about, writing about, or sketching the images they think of, for now.
Investigations for 1965
Song: Barry McGuire, “Eve of Destruction”36
Artwork: Melvin Edwards, “The Lifted X”37
In Print: Southern Conference Educational Fund, Woody Guthrie Card Screenprint38
The March 7th Selma to Montgomery march came about after a Black civil rights activist, Jimmie Lee Jackson, was shot twice, point blank, by a white police officer as he tried to protect his mother and elderly grandfather from police brutality at a voter rights march.39 (Compare the photo in this link to that of the Freedom Riders hanging out of the bus.) His death and the need for the government to protect and enforce the 15th Amendment, which protects the Black man's right to vote, led 600 peaceful demonstrators to walk from Selma to Montgomery. Before they could get out of Selma across the Edmund Pettus Bridge the Alabama State Troopers and local police (with the state governor standing nearby) beat them back with “whips, nightsticks, and tear gas”.40 Yet again, a peaceful protest was caught on camera and television, viewed by an enraged audience that led civil rights activists to converge on Selma. Two days later, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. led the same march to the same bridge, this time with 2000 people. The police and the military were there! Soon, the police and military blockades had parted as if to let them through, but Reverend King paused the group with a prayer and turned everyone around, much to their chagrin. He feared they would let them through then attack and didn’t want any more violence.41 President LBJ publicly denounced the blockade and insisted they be allowed to march and that he would be putting out a new voting rights act to Congress culminating in the Voting Rights Act later that year.42 The march didn’t make it to Selma, but the outcome was a step forward for equal rights. It is a meaningful comparison to show the linked color video and the linked black and white photo above, citations 39 and 40.
In a march, protest, or demonstration, screenprints are often used for posters, t-shirts, flyers, and pamphlets. Repeated images create a common visual, a reminder of community, that there is a group effort being made. Much like sports team and school logos etched on every possible surface and company branding, it's all about recognition. The demand for equal rights was often represented by the raised black fist. It was a symbol of solidarity and power. For this lesson we will look at the screen-printing process. Students will have access to full size screens and small hoop screens for printing. The following images are examples of multi-color print types possible with screen-printing.
Image 2. Winold Reiss, designer43
Image 3. Gemini Enterprises, publisher44
Investigations for 1967-1968
Song: James Brown, "Say It Loud – I'm Black and I'm Proud"45
Artwork: Faith Ringgold, “American People Series #18: The Flag Is Bleeding”, 1967.46
In print: Peter Gee, “Jefferson County Jail Print 01”, Silkscreen Print 47
The assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 sparked widespread outrage and urban riots all over the United States while anti-war protests escalated at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.48 Inspired by the civil rights protests in the south, multiple protest organizations rallied East LA High School students from 7 high schools to participate in student walkouts over an 8-day period. 15,000 students participated in the largest student protest to date, known as The Blowout. The walkouts were to protest unequal education in the schools that were dominated by Latinx students. Their demands included bi-lingual education, Mexican-American administrators, and recommendations for curriculum changes. The Board of Education rejected their demands based on a lack of funding, but the outcry for change continued.49
Investigations for 1969
Song: Sly and The Family Stone, “Everyday People”50
Artwork: David Hammons, “The Door (Admissions Office)”51 or Sandow Birk, "The TPF in Sheridan Square (Stonewall 1969)"52
In print: Emory Douglas, “Revolution in Our Lifetime”, poster work on paper53
“The Stonewall Inn was a gay bar on Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City, where in June 1969 a significant uprising against police oppression ignited a great expansion and crescendo of the fight for LGBTQ civil rights”.54 Homosexuals were considered to have mental illness, and homosexuality was illegal until the end of the 60’s. The riots began outside the Stonewall Inn after police had come in to raid the bar as they often did, for having liquor without a license. The crowd outside began to protest and forced the police to barricade themselves inside the bar. “The riots continued for five days and are seen by many historians as a spontaneous reaction against police harassment and discrimination against sexual minorities.”55 While there were many racial minorities at the Stonewall Riots, they were also looking for their rights as individuals, not just based on the color of their skin or their personal preferences and lifestyles. “Civil liberties are fundamental, constitutionally guaranteed freedoms that protect individuals from arbitrary or unreasonable government interference.”56
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