Who Marched for Civil Rights?

Primary Source Detectives

by Richard Spilsbury

How do we know about the thousands of people who marched in campaigns for civil rights for African Americans in the 1960s? Where did they march and what happened to them? This book shows how we know about the marchers and their experiences from primary and other sources. It includes information on some historical detective work that has taken place, using documentary and oral evidence, that has enabled historians to piece together the fascinating story of the civil rights marches.

64 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What makes this book great is not that it's about the Civil Rights (though that puts it right up there automatically) but that besides being about a momentous part of history, is that there's all these great tips on learning how to be a true historian - how to look at information and determine what's unbiased. What's fair. The author documents the things they've learned in the course of writing a book on this nature. That's awesome! Because these skills can be taken to the next book on history that you look at. Or to the news. Or to anywhere where you need to discern and sort truth from fiction.

That's awesome. Everyone should be taught those skills - and then use them.

(Oh yes, the Civil Rights part of the book? Complete and fair. A solid book with only a hint of pretension. Nice.)