Jim Crow Museum
1010 Campus Drive
Big Rapids, MI 49307
[email protected]
(231) 591-5873
Teaching Tools and Resources
The Jim Crow Museum has curated a collection of videos and artifacts to be used in classrooms as an education tool.
Classroom Artifact Discovery
If you can’t take a trip to the museum, the education staff can bring a smaller version of the collection to your classroom through our artifact discovery program. Students will learn about the history of Jim Crow through collections exploration and discussion.
Video Collection
The Digital Art and Design program at Kendall College of Art and Design and the Jim Crow Museum of Ferris State University works in collaboration to create a series of animated shorts to complement the mission of both organizations and the EPIC project, which brings attention to topics of Social Justice. The animated shorts are excellent teaching tools that introduce learners of all ages to topics like discrimination, segregation, and racism in an accessible and impactful manner. The videos feature the stories of Rube Foster, Shirley Chisholm, Garrett Morgan, the Harlem Hellfighters, Leontyne Price, and Percival Prattis.
Rube Foster, Athlete
Shirley Chisholm, Politician
Garrett Morgan, Inventor
Harlem Hellfighters, Soldiers
Leontyne Price, Singer
Percival Prattis, Writer
The system of Jim Crow was upheld by the belief that white people were superior to Black people, including but not limited to intelligence, morality, and civilized behavior. All major societal institutions reflected and supported the oppression of Black people, and the Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson legitimized Jim Crow norms and laws. Segregation signs were placed above water fountains and doors, in parks, on beaches, and on public and private facilities. Black people who violated Jim Crow laws or customs risked their homes, jobs, even their lives. Violence was used as a method of social control.
Voting Rights and Literacy Tests
Redlining
Blackening Up
The "Negro" Battle Royal
Black People as Targets
Despite facing discrimination and systemic barriers restricting access to career, housing, educational, and other opportunities, Black people made significant contributions that enriched communities across the United States. The achievements of African Americans were realized in all areas, despite the hatred and intolerance of Jim Crow. The movement to remove Jim Crow laws, etiquette, and norms began in the early 20th century culminating in the Civil Rights Movement. Remnants of Jim Crow conduct remain today; the pushback started by these brave individuals continues in the spirit of the social justice and equity movements in the 21st century.
Black Aviation
Black Entrepreneurship
Pullman Porters
Haste to Rise: Black Education during Jim Crow
