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In the aftermath of the Civil War, African Americans adapted to life as free people with the help of Black church leaders as well as a federal organization known as the Freedmen's Bureau. The Bureau helped freedmen establish schools, purchase land, and legalize their marriages, however, funding limitations and deeply held racist attitudes forced the Bureau to close in 1872. African Americans were largely abandoned to contend on their own with persistent racial attitudes and discrimination. Many continued to work for their former masters as sharecroppers or tenant farmers in a vicious cycle of debt peonage.

In the twentieth century, the modern civil rights movement put pressure on the courts to address discriminative practices, especially segregation in public facilities and in the nation's public schools.

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Morgan v. Hennigan

In 1972, a number of African-American students brought a major discrimination case against Boston public schools. Read about this case in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts: Morgan v. Hennigan.

Documents from the Northeast Region ~ Boston

Ella Fitzgerald

En route to a concert from Honolulu to Australia, Ella Fitzgerald was denied the right to board a Pan American flight. Fitzgerald was an international singing sensation. The refusal to allow her on board the plane was seen as discriminatory. Examine the official complaint and judgement in the case Ella Fitzgerald vs Pan American Airways, INC, 1954.

Documents from the Northeast Region ~ New York City

The Freedmen's Bureau

The Freedmen's Bureau helped free African-Americans legalize their marriages, attend school, and buy property. Examine records of the field offices of the Freedmen's Bureau.

Documents from the MidAtlantic Region ~ Philadelphia

Related Resources

Examine our lesson plans related to modern Civil Rights Cases.

View the text of the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Find other Civil Rights cases in ARC (Archival Research Catalog).

Questions for Discussion

1. What positive changes did Freedmen experience with the introduction of the Freedmen's Bureau?
   
   
2. How did the lives of African-Americans change after the Freedmen's Bureau ceased to function?
   
   
3. How was life as a Freedman similar to life under slavery?
   
   
4. In the 1954 case involving the airlines, how was Ella Fitzgerald's civil right violated?
   
   
5. Discuss how discrimination cases in the 1950's lead to the major civil rights movement of the 1960's.

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