Led by: Prof. Charles McKinney (Rhodes College)
Course Number: AMHI 667
Semesters: New Course
Image: Marion S. Trikosko, Marchers with SCLC sign for the Savannah Freedom Now Movement during the March on Washington, August 28, 1963 (Library of Congress)
This course will examine the development of the American Civil Rights Movement from roughly the Reconstruction era through the early twenty-first century. The course will pay particular attention to the ways the movement unfolded in the American South, the region of the country that served as the tactical, political, and intellectual epicenter. We will examine the social, cultural, political, and economic climate of the movement and consider how Black people and their allies navigated the titanic changes that occurred during a period many refer to as “The Second Reconstruction.” Specifically, the focus will be on various individuals and organizations and the strategies they implemented to effect change, the tension between local and national initiatives, the impact of gender on the formulation of civil rights struggles; and the continued quest for equality and self-determination in the contemporary moment.
Please note that the required books listed under course readings are finalized but other aspects of the course syllabus are subject to change. We receive an affiliate commission from every purchase made through the Bookshop.org links provided. Thank you for supporting our programs!
Coming soon
Charles McKinney, Associate Professor of History, Rhodes College
Charles W. McKinney, Jr. is an associate professor of history at Rhodes College. He is a scholar of the Civil Rights Movement and has a special interest in illuminating the under-researched phenomenon of mass-based protest and community struggle that takes place far removed from the urban centers of the South. McKinney has published three books on the Civil Rights Movement and is currently working on a project that explores the life and career of George Washington Lee, an African American Republican operative and civil rights activist who lived in Memphis in the middle of the twentieth century. He earned his BA from Morehouse College and his MA and PhD from Duke University.
The views expressed in the course descriptions and lectures are those of the lead scholars.