Research: African American activism 1935-1941

The later 1930s and early 1940s were pivotal in the history of civil rights movements. African Americans formed new movements like the National Negro Congress  and were active in the Communist Party. The NAACP, long the most important civil rights organization, launched new voting rights campaigns and legal initiatives.  An uprising in response to police brutality in Harlem in 1935, which newspapers called the "Harlem riot,"  made an impression on politicians. The key breakthrough came in 1941 when the March on Washington Movement forced the hand of the Roosevelt administration, causing FDR to issue the  landmark Fair Employment Practices executive order that attempted to ban racial discrimination in access to defense jobs. Choose either the Harlem 1935 uprising or the the 1941 March on Washington Movement.

The assignment has three parts: (1) You will read primary sources (historic newspapers) and record information in an excel database; (2) You will read a recommended secondary source (a book); (3) You will write a 8-10 page paper using information from both the secondary and primary sources

 Primary source research (newspapers):

 1) Begin by downloading this project database_hstaa353-excel.xlsx Download project database_hstaa353-excel.xlsx

 2) We are using ProQuest Historical Newspapers for newspaper searches. Below is the link to the pre-arranged databases of newspaper articles that you should use. It delivers articles from newspapers and magazines related to this topic. 

• Harlem uprising 1935

https://www.proquest.com/search/2344509?accountid=14784 Links to an external site.

•   March on Washington movement 1941

https://www.proquest.com/search/2344511?accountid=14784 Links to an external site.

a) you should see a page like this. If not, you may need to click the Library's login button top right and enter your UW-net ID

b) scroll the titles of articles, clicking on those that seem most relevant. Some will be mistaken entries triggered by the search terms. Others will be too short to be useful. Download copies of all articles that might be useful or interesting. It is more efficient to download them than to read them in ProQuest. 

c) use "back to results" to return to the search results.

d) you can filter results using the menus on left side. Sorted by "oldest first" means the entries are in chronological order. "Relevance" is the other option. You can also open the Publication title menu and select articles from particular newspapers.

3) After downloading many articles, add at least 20 to your project database_hstaa353-excel.xlsx Download project database_hstaa353-excel.xlsx and write a short description of the event or issue described in each article. Feel free to add additional information in other columns. Your spreadsheet needs to include no less than 20 articles. You will submit the research database along with your paper.

4)  Please DO NOT save or delete the ProQuest search. Others will not be able to use it.

Secondary source research (books):

 5) Obtain and read one or more books. Several are listed below. Others can be identified in  UW Library catalog http://www.lib.washington.edu/   

Winning the War for Democracy The March on Washington Movement, 1941-1946 Links to an external site.