MDAH FacebookThe Freedom Rides: Journey for Change
The Mississippi Department of Archives and History introduces the Freedom Rides in Mississippi: An Online Lesson Plan complementing the exhibit at the William Winter Building in May 2011. The exhibit will also join our Traveling Exhibit program in 2012.
In the spring of 1961, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) organized rides in an attempt to end segregation under the auspices of "separate but equal" in the American South. The riders were volunteers, black and white, young and old, who bravely set out on a journey to change an accepted practice that was firmly entrenched in the south.
Students will discover and discuss the Freedom Rides, the participants on both sides, the origins and background of the movement, and the impact of the rides on Mississippi and the country. Lessons and handouts are adaptable for grades 4-12.