Background Information for The Help English B50 Background Information for The Help

Background Knowledge What do you already know about the South during the 1960s? About the Civil Rights movement? Take a few minutes to jot down your ideas. Turn and share with a partner. Did you learn anything new?

Some Fun Facts About the 1960s The U.S. population was about 177,000,000. The average yearly salary was $4,743. Minimum wage was $1.00 per hour. Barbie dolls were introduced by Mattel in 1959.

The Civil Rights Movement Some popular TV shows were Bewitched, Star Trek, and the Twilight Zone. In 1960, Elvis Presley returned from the Army and got back into the music scene. Other popular musicians were Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles.

Gearing Up For Change Despite the abolition of slavery post Civil War, Black Americans were far from free. Nearly a century after our civil war, after suffering innumerable instances of prejudice and injustice, civil rights activists began fighting for change. The initial event was a sit in at a whites-only lunch counter at a Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. Four young African-American college students ordered coffee, and, after they were denied service, sat silently in their seats until closing time. This sit in garnered much attention and inspired other similar sit-ins.

The Movement Begins On October 19th, 1960, Martin Luther King Jr. joined a sit in at a whites only restaurant. He, along with over 50 other protestors, was arrested. John F. Kennedy, who was, at the time running for president, made a public show of support for King, while his brother, Robert Kennedy, convinced the judge to let King out on bail. The Kennedy family thus attracted many African-Americans to the Democratic party.

Freedom Riders On December 5th, 1960, the Supreme Court ruled that segregation on vehicles traveling between states was unlawful because it violated the Interstate Commerce Act (Boynton v. Virginia). In 1961, the Freedom Riders (composed of 13 activists, both black and white) traveled to the Deep South to test the law. In May, the group was attacked outside Alabama. Members of the KKK made an arrangement with the local police to allow them 15 minutes on the bus.

Reactions President Kennedy ordered more strict penalties for refusal to integrate. The Freedom Riders continued, joined by new activists.

Education In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that the University of Mississippi had to allow African American Student and veteran James Meredith to attend. The governor of Mississippi, Ross Barnett, ordered state troopers to prevent Meredith from entering the campus. Riots ensued. President Kennedy ordered U.S. marshals to Mississippi to ensure Meredith’s safety; he became the first African American student at Ole Miss. On August 18th, James Meredith graduated from Ole Miss

Martin Luther King Junior In 1963, King, along with the Southern Christian Leadership conference, protested segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. On April 12th, he was arrested and then on the 16th, he wrote his now famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in response to white Alabama ministers urging him to end his protests and be patient with the judicial process of overturning segregation. On August 28th, King delivered his legendary “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.

The Help This is the context for the novel that we are going to be reading in class, The Help. Remember to read rhetorically and take careful notes.