American Literature

Postwar United States (1945 to early 1970s)

Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

African Americans

This collection uses primary sources to explore Christopher Paul Curtis&#39; The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963.

Teaching Guide: Exploring *The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963*

A photograph of Alabama Governor George Wallace speaking at a White Citizens Council meeting in 1963.

A letter to President John F. Kennedy from Tom Oberdorfer, Birmingham, Alabama, 1963.

“Letter from Birmingham City Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr., 1963. 

A 2006 photograph of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

A photograph of policemen outside the shattered stained-glass window of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, 1963. 

Excerpts from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records from 1972 regarding the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. 

A newsclip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presenting the four demands of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, May 5, 1963.

A newsclip from May 8, 1963 in which President John F. Kennedy expresses satisfaction with the resolution of racial conflicts in Birmingham.

Assorted newspaper clippings on school segregation from the 1950s and 1960s.

Excerpts from the legal complaint in *Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka*, 1951.

An excerpt from the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

A photograph of Emmett Till with his mother, Mrs. Louise (Mame Bradley) Till, Chicago, 1955. 

An excerpt from Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) records regarding the murder of Emmett Till. 

Resources

1. [*Activism in the US*](http://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/activism) online exhibition, Digital Public Library of America. 
2. [Interactive Resource Gallery](http://rg.bcri.org/gallery/), Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.
3. [Civil Rights Digital Library](http://crdl.usg.edu/).  
4. [Project ‘C’ in Birmingham](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/eyesontheprize/story/07_c.html) segment, Eyes on the Prize, PBS. 
5. “[The Children Who Marched into Civil Rights History](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-children-who-marched-into-civil-rights-history/),” CBS News. 

Overview

The civil rights movement was one of the most powerful social justice movements in the history of the United States; however students and scholars of that movement do not often focus on the negative effects of segregation and racism on children of color before and during the civil-rights era. Christopher Paul Curtis’s historical novel *The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963* (1995) is unique because it deals directly with how racism traumatized youth. A beautiful yet tragic coming-of-age story, *The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963*, shows how a young boy, Kenny, is traumatized after witnessing the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. At first Kenny is unaware of the severity of the racism in Birmingham, his grandmother’s hometown, when his family journeys there to keep his older brother Byron out of trouble. He soon realizes that despite some progress toward equality, many Americans are still resistant to the concept of racial integration. Through the support of his family, Kenny overcomes his trauma and matures into a wise young man. This primary source set provides background information on race relations in Alabama during the 1960s, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, and civil rights activism in the South. 

English

*The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963* by Christopher Paul Curtis

https://d2jf00asb0fe6y.cloudfront.net/watsons-go-to-birmingham-1963-christopher-paul-curtis_07_cba8250eaf3bf7894e315a7fcf7dd5d4.mp4

https://d2jf00asb0fe6y.cloudfront.net/watsons-go-to-birmingham-1963-christopher-paul-curtis_07_cba8250eaf3bf7894e315a7fcf7dd5d4.webm

https://d2jf00asb0fe6y.cloudfront.net/watsons-go-to-birmingham-1963-christopher-paul-curtis_07_cba8250eaf3bf7894e315a7fcf7dd5d4.ogg

Courtesy of WSB-TV, Walter J. Brown Media Archives and Peabody Awards Collection via Digital Library of Georgia.

“WSB-TV newsfilm clip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presenting four demands of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, 1963 May 5,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/c8844da4c76519fd7a7b664de3d30e73.


A newsclip of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. presenting the four demands of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama, May 5, 1963.

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Tips for Students

Item 7 of 13 in the Primary Source Set The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis