African American History

What do civil rights, peanut butter, automatic traffic lights and open heart surgery have in common? They are just a few of the valuable contributions African Americans such as Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington Carver, Garrett A. Morgan and Daniel Hale Williams have made to our daily lives. Explore the many achievements by African Americans through the direct links on the Times Launch Point Web site: https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint.

Here are the best sites for getting your schoolwork done or for just having fun.

Level 1

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Black History Month: African American Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first successful open heart surgery in 1893. Find out about other trailblazers and leaders in the fields of astrophysics, arts, literature, education and business.

https://www.post-gazette.com/blackhistorymonth/kids.asp

African American Heroes: Thurgood Marshall was the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court, and it was he who won the famous Brown vs. Board of Education case, which made segregated schools illegal. Learn interesting facts about all kinds of heroes, both past and present, through these illustrated profiles.

https://marin.k12.ca.us/~parkweb/african_american/a_a.html

Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad for Children: Learn about the routes and methods this African American heroine used to bring more than 300 slaves to freedom. Test your knowledge of the Underground Railroad through a quiz and several puzzles.

https://www2.lhric.org/pocantico/tubman/tubman.html

Level 2

World Book Encyclopedia Presents: The African American Journey: The majority of African Americans can trace their ancestry back to one of three ancient African empires: Ghana, Mali or Songhai. Journey from Africa to America as this site chronicles African American history from Africa in 500 A.D. through the modern civil rights movement.

https://www.worldbook.com/fun/aajourny/html/index.html

Harlem Renaissance: The Harlem Renaissance was a period from 1920-1930 marked by great achievements by African Americans in the arts. Get acquainted with some of the extraordinary musicians and writers of the time, including Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.

https://www.encarta.com/schoolhouse/Harlem/harlem.asp

Baseball, the Color Line and Jackie Robinson: On April 15, 1947, Jackie Robinson broke the “color barrier” and became the first African American to play baseball in the major leagues. Find out about the events prior to this pivotal moment, including the establishment of the Negro Leagues in the 1930s.

https://memory.loc.gov/ammem/jrhtml/jrabout.html

Level 3

African American Odyssey: View historical photos and artifacts while you read about African American history from the days of slavery to the civil rights movement.

https://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/exhibit/aointro.html

Selected African American Inventors and Scientists: Granville T. Woods held more than 60 patents and Madame C.J. Walker became the first female millionaire through her innovations and business savvy. Learn about many important inventions and discoveries through a timeline and a collection of resources.

https://www.ll.georgetown.edu/os/blackhis.html

The Buffalo Soldiers on the Western Front: In July 1886, Congress established two cavalry units made up of African Americans to patrol the American frontier. Learn what life was like for the 9th and 10th cavalries, which encountered Geronimo, Sitting Bull, Billy the Kid and Pancho Villa in the course of their work.

https://www.imh.org/imh/buf/buftoc.html

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This column was designed by Michelle Lopez, Jenifer Matsumoto, Jennifer Koontz and Anna Manring.

EXPLORER’S QUEST

What African American playwright has won two Pulitzer Prizes for his plays?

CLUE: See Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Black History Month

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 50 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: A premise is one sentence that describes who the story is about (protagonist), what the protagonist wants (objective) and why it’s hard for the protagonist to get it (obstacle).