Everyday Heroes : The Civil Rights Movement in Holmes County, Mississippi

Abstract

This thesis project examines contemporary writings on the civil rights movement with a focus on Holmes County, Mississippi to create a unit lesson for high school students. Writings focusing on the grassroots movement of everyday local African Americans, rather than those focusing on major well-known people and events, are selected as the best means to teach students a unit on the civil rights movement. The focus is on developing local leadership and changing mindsets within the local community. This bottoms-up approach when looking at the movement is explored as an avenue to create a unit for students. The unit developed may lead to a re-examination of preexisting perceptions of the civil rights movement and allow students to construct new frameworks.