Florida’s Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s:
Protests in Tallahassee
By Scott Fields
I.
Lesson Summary
Summary
A new wave of civil rights activity swept across the nation in the 1960s. No longer content to simply wait
patiently as federal courts and white political leaders determined their future status as citizens, African-American
leaders and their followers confronted the ways of the Old South head-on through sit-ins, Freedom Rides, voter
registrations, and non-violent protests. In this lesson, students will experience the Civil Rights Movement by
viewing images of protests from Tallahassee, creating short 2-to-3-minute mini-dramas based on the events
shown in the pictures, and performing these mini-dramas in a classroom setting.
Objectives
Students will:
1.) understand how the First Amendment to the Constitution protects each citizen’s right to protest;
2.) compare several primary sources depicting civil rights protests in Tallahassee during the 1960s;
3.) explore various primary sources for examples of violations of the First Amendment; and
4.) create mini-dramas depicting the events shown in the primary sources to be performed in class.
U.S. History Event or Era
This lesson could be implemented in the classroom during any unit on the Civil Rights Movement, or any
discussion of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights.
Grade Level
This lesson is meant for middle school or high school.
Materials
One transparency of Overhead Transparency F-8-1, overhead projector (or make one paper copy for each
student), and two copies of each exhibit, from A-H (each group is assigned one exhibit). You may want to have
several props on hand as well, such as yardsticks (or other signholders), posterboards, etc.
Lesson Time
Two class periods, or one block period.
II.
Lesson Procedures
Procedures
1.) Before students enter the classroom, make a transparency from Overhead Transparency F-8-1 (included in
the Activities section). As students enter your classroom, project the transparency and instruct students to
answer the discussion questions.
2.) After allowing students sufficient time to answer the discussion questions, allow the class to discuss their
answers. One point that you should make is that the First Amendment guarantees the right for the people to
peaceably assemble; ask the students for their interpretation of this statement. Are there any protests that
could be considered not protected by the First Amendment? In other words, what is the responsibility of any
protestor that is employing their First Amendment right to protest a government action?
3.) After placing your students in groups of 3-4, explain to them that each group will be given a series of
photographs depicting protests that were held outside of various businesses in Tallahassee during the Civil
Rights Movement of the 1960s. Each group is to create and perform a short, 2-to-3-minute mini-drama
depicting the events in the assigned photos. Each group is responsible for using the questions provided with
each picture to guide them in creating their mini-drama.
4.) Option: Instead of assigning groups to create mini-dramas, divide your class into groups and advise them
that you will play the role of an on-the-scene reporter who is interviewing several people at each protest for
their reactions (in order to do this, you will need to make several transparencies of some of these pictures.
The pictures can be found at http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/ and typing “civil rights” in
the search box.). Then, assign each group a picture and have them prepare for their big moment. Then,
have each group play the role of people in the picture while displaying the transparency behind them, so that
they are “in the picture.”
5.) Be sure to have some props for students to use in order to depict a protest. Allow them to design signs and
hold them aloft with yardsticks and tape, or other supplies. Invite the school’s TV studio people to come and
film some of the “protests” for the next morning’s TV show!
Overhead Transparency F-8-1
III.
Activities
First Amendment to the Constitution
Of the United States of America
“Congress shall make no law…abridging the freedom of speech, or of
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to
petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
Pictures F-8-1 (left) and
F-8-2 (right): Student
protesters at Florida
State University in
Tallahassee (left) and
Eckerd College in St.
Petersburg (right) show
their feelings about the
war in Iraq.
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/
03/21/State/Protesters_try_to_
ral.shtml
What do you see in these
pictures? What do you think
these people are doing? How old
are they? Does the above quote,
written over 200 years ago, still
protect these people from being
arrested for their actions in these
photos? Do you think that if the
First Amendment of the
Constitution did not exist, these
people would be protesting?
Explain your answer.
Picture F-8-3: Students hold signs to
show passing motorists their
opposition to Operation Iraqi
Freedom.
http://www.whatkidscando.org/images/intheir
ownwords/protesters.jpg
Exhibit A: NAACP March on the State Capitol, 1964
Picture F-8-4: Protestors, both
young and old, prepare to
march on the State Capitol in
support of the NAACP, black
voter registration, and the Civil
Rights Act of 1964.
Picture F-8-5: Dozens of
NAACP members
demonstrate outside the State
Capitol in Tallahassee in
support of the new federal
civil rights legislation.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? What
do the signs say? What are the people doing? Who do you think organized this
demonstration? One sign reads, “Open all state jobs to all state citizens;” what does that
mean?
Exhibit B: Lunch Counter Sit-in at Woolworth’s, March 13, 1960
Picture F-8-6: Tallahassee
policeman Joe Gregory and City
Manager Arvah Hopkins look on
as demonstrators, both black
and white, stage a lunch counter
sit-in at Woolworth’s to protest
the eatery’s policy of
segregation.
Picture F-8-7:
Demonstrators, both black
and white, stage a lunch
counter sit-in at
Woolworth’s to protest the
eatery’s policy of
segregation. At the right
is George Thurston, a
reporter.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? Why
aren’t the people at the lunch counter eating? Why do you think these people are holding a sitin? How do you think others might react to this demonstration? What options do you think
Officer Gregory and City Manager Hopkins have? Look at the black workers in the
background of Picture F-8-7; do you think they feel conflicted? Why?
Exhibit C: Demonstrators Protest Segregated Facilities
Picture F-8-8
Picture F-8-9
Picture F-8-10
Picture F-8-11
Protestors demonstrate against segregated facilities and exclusionary
practices on the part of McCrory's, F.W. Woolworth's, Walgreen's and Sear's stores in Dec. 1960 (Pictures F-8-9
& F-8-10), and against segregated seating in the Florida Theater on Monroe Street in Tallahassee in 1963
(Pictures F-8-11 & F-8-12). Note the presence of the media and Leon County Sheriff William P. Joyce to the left
in Picture F-8-12.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? What
do the signs say? What are the people doing? Why do you think these protestors are holding
signs that proclaim their belief in non-violent protest? What do you think Sheriff Joyce is
saying? What are the people in the background thinking and saying?
Exhibit D: Demonstrators Protest Segregated Facilities
Picture F-8-12: Protestors
attempt to lead a boycott
against “the Mecca,” a
popular eatery across
from the gate of Florida
State University in
Tallahassee. “The
Mecca” is now the new
location for Bill’s
Bookstore, previously
next-door to “the Mecca”
and seen in the
background of this
picture. The sign on the
right reads,” Don’t let
your money support
racial discrimination.”
Picture F-8-13: A
protestor demonstrates
against racial segregation
in popular Tallahassee
eateries such as
McCrory’s, Woolworth’s,
Walgreen’s, and Sear’s.
In the background,
another protestor picks
up a sign that has been
ripped out of her hand
and thrown on the ground
by a passerby.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? What
do the signs say? What are the people doing? Compare the two pictures; why are the people
in the top picture smiling, while the people (protestor and passing pedestrian) in the bottom
picture are not? What is the “Golden Rule,” and why doesn’t it apply inside the eatery?
Exhibit E: Protestors and Policemen in Tallahassee, December 1960
Picture F-8-14: Two protestors
talk with three Tallahassee
policemen during the
December 1960 lunch counter
sit-ins and demonstrations
against segregated eating
facilities.
Picture F-8-15: Two protestors
talk with three Tallahassee
policemen during the
December 1960 lunch counter
sit-ins and demonstrations
against segregated eating
facilities.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? What
do you think that the women and the police officers are talking about? Who is the man on the
right side of both pictures? Both women are holding pieces of signs that have been ripped;
how do you think that happened? Was this a violation of the protestors’ right to free speech
and to “peaceably assemble”? Explain. Do you think that the police officers will do anything
about it?
Exhibit F: One Young Man’s Reaction to the Demonstrations, December 1960
Picture F-8-16: A young white man strips a poster from
a protestor’s hands outside a Tallahassee eatery.
Picture F-8-17: Protestor Priscilla Stephens asks the
young man to not take any more posters away from
the demonstrators.
Picture F-8-18: The young man walks away, “prize”
in hand.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? Why do
you think that this young man took the poster away from the protestor? Why do you suppose
that he took the poster from a young, thin black woman instead of from someone in Picture F8-18? Why don’t the other protestors attempt to take the poster away from him? Is this
particular young white man the only one who disagrees with the protests?
Exhibit G: Protests Against Segregated Movie Theaters, 1963
Picture F-8-19: Protestors express their views outside a
segregated theater in Tallahassee, while police officers
stand by.
Picture F-8-21: Roundup of FAMU students arrested for
protesting segregation at motion picture theaters.
Picture F-8-20: Protestors kneel in prayer after several
others are arrested by Tallahassee police officers.
Picture F-8-22: 220 Negro students more than filled a circuit
court room to face charges of contempt for demonstrating
against segregated movie theaters. Circuit Judge Ben Willis
ordered the demonstrations halted pending a hearing but the
students, from FAMU, ignored the order and picketed one of
the two white patronage theaters. Police arrested a total of 257.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? Do you
think many of the people in Picture F-8-19 are actually coming to the theater to see a movie?
Why do you think so? How do you think the white people in the background of Picture F-8-20
felt as they entered the theater? The police officers? How can you see the demonstrators’
strategy of “flooding the jails, clogging the courts” in Pictures F-8-21 & F-8-22? Do you think
that this strategy would ultimately be effective in abolishing segregation?
Exhibit H: The “Freedom Bus” in Tallahassee
Picture F-8-23: Several NAACP members ready a bus for a Freedom Ride to Alabama.
As you create your mini-drama, keep these questions in mind: What do you see? What
are the people next to the bus doing? Why do you think that the bus has a megaphone
attached to it? Do you think that traveling from one place to another is the sole purpose of this
bus? The bus’ side reads “NAACP Freedom Bus: Akron, Ohio-help-Anniston, Alabama: Join
the fight for freedom.” What do you think the purpose of this particular bus trip from Ohio to
Alabama, via Tallahassee, has been? What might be some advantages of traveling in a bus
through the Jim Crow South while promoting integration?
IV.
Assessment
1.) The amendment of the U.S. Constitution that protects each American’s right to free speech and the
right to assemble peacefully in order to protest government actions is the:
a. First
b. Second
c. Fourth
d. Eleventh
2.) True or false. The scenes of these protests depicted mostly African-Americans demonstrating against school
segregation.
3.) True or false. While protesting unequal access to public facilities in these protests, some demonstrators
encountered mistreatment at the hands of segregationists and police.
4.) Using the five pictures below in sequence, write a brief mini-drama with two scenes, the first scene depicting
the events of pictures #1-#3, and the second scene depicting the events in pictures #4 and #5.
Picture #1
Picture #2
Picture #4
Picture #3
Picture #5
5.) Examine the following images. Pretend you are a newspaper reporter who is covering a demonstration
against segregated seating outside a popular movie theater. Write a front-page article about the event shown
in the photographs. Be sure your article includes the following:
(a.) An appropriate headline that will catch the reader’s attention;
(b.) A 2-3 paragraph article that explains what happened at the event shown. The article should
also accurately address these questions: where did it happen, when did it happen, who was
involved, why did it happen?
(c.) At least two fictional quotes from people you “interviewed” at the scene. To make sure that
your article is balanced, the quotes should be from people with differing viewpoints on the
event.
V.
Resources
Florida Memory Project’s “Florida Photographic Collection” http://www.floridamemory.com/PhotographicCollection/collections_index.cfm
“History Alive! The United States” Middle School Program, developed by Teachers’ Curriculum Institute
(www.historyalive.com)
“Our Documents: 100 Milestone Documents from the National Archives” http://www.ourdocuments.gov/index.php?flash=true&
Appleby, Joyce, Ph.D., et al. The American Journey. Glencoe McGraw-Hill: New York, New York (2003).
“What Kids Can Do: Powerful Learning with Public Purpose”- http://www.whatkidscando.org/
St. Petersburg Times (March 21, 2003) – “Protestors Try to Rally Dissent”
(http://www.sptimes.com/2003/03/21/State/Protesters_try_to_ral.shtml)