Monjo, F.N. Drinking Gourd: A Story of the Underground Railroad. New York: HarperTrophy, 1993. This easy-to-read Chapter book tells the classic tale of a station on the Underground Railroad and a slave family's escape from slavery. 62 pages.

Polacco, Patricia. Pink and Say. New York: Philomel Books, 1994. Young Pink and Say were Union soldiers–one white and one black. Both were just 15 years old. This is a retelling of a story Say told his daughter after the war ended. Unpaged.

Schroeder, Alan. Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman. New York: Dial Books, 1996. This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of Harriet Tubman's childhood. While it is fictionalized, it is based on careful research and accurately portrays the lives and living conditions of slaves in Maryland in the 1820s. Unpaged.

Stolz, Mary. A Ballad of the Civil War. New York: HarperCollins, 1997. This story of two brothers who fight on opposite sides during the Civil War is based on an old ballad. 54 pages.

Aliki. A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver. New York: Aladdin-Simon & Schuster, 1965. Beautiful illustrations enhance this story of the life of George Washington Carver, the slave who became a scientist. Unpaged.

Bains, Rae. Harriet Tubman: The Road to Freedom. Mahwah: Troll Associates, 1982. Harriet escapes from slavery and then becomes a conductor on the Underground Railroad. 48 pages.

"Frederick Douglass: Fighter for Freedom." Cobblestone: The History Magazine for Young People. Feb. 1989. Each issue contains easy-to-read articles, primary source readings, excellent illustrations, and occasional crafts and puzzles. Web site: cobblestonepub.com. About 50 pages.

Fritz, Jean. Just a Few Words, Mr. Lincoln. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1993. The author provides a look at the circumstances surrounding Lincoln's speech at Gettysburg. Includes the text of Lincoln's speech. Easy to read. 48 pages.

Hancock, Sibyl. Famous Firsts of Black Americans. Gretna: Pelican Publishing, 1987. Short biographies of famous black Americans, including Crispus Attucks, Benjamin Banneker, and George Washington Carver. Scientists, explorers, sport figures, musicians, and other achievers from the 1500s to the present also are discussed. 94 pages.

Haskins, Jim. Outward Dreams: Black Inventors and Their Inventions. New York: Walker and Company, 1992. Includes biographical Chapters on Benjamin Banneker, Jan Matzelinger, Elijah McCoy, Lewis Latimer, Granville Woods, Garrett Morgan, and others. A list of inventions by black Americans appears in a 10-page appendix. 101 pages.

King, Martin Luther, Jr. I Have a Dream. New York: Scholastic, 1997. The full text of King's "I Have a Dream" speech is illustrated by 15 artists. Includes a forward by Coretta Scott King. 40 pages.

McKissack, Patricia and Fredrick L. McKissack. Christmas in the Big House, Christmas in the Quarters. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 1994. Tells the story of Christmas on a plantation in Virginia in 1859. Contains facts about customs, plus stories and songs of the period. 68 pages.

Murphy, Jim. The Boys' War: Confederate and Union Soldiers Talk About the Civil War. New York: Clarion Books-Houghton Mifflin, 1990. First-hand accounts give a vivid picture of the Civil War and the boys who fought in it. Includes period photographs, excerpts from diaries and letters, a bibliography, and index. 110 pages.

Rockwell, Anne. Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth. New York: Knopf-Random House, 2000. A beautifully written and illustrated story of Sojourner Truth, one of the most powerful voices in the abolitionist movement. 34 pages.

Shumate, Jane. Sojourner Truth and the Voice of Freedom. Brookfield: Millbrook Press, 1991. This book tells the story of Sojourner Truth and her work for equal rights for blacks and women. Includes a time line of Sojourner Truth's life, a bibliography, and an index. 32 pages.

Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Danbury: Children's Press, Inc., 1986. One day Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus and sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. This was also the beginning of the civil rights work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 31 pages.

Stein, R. Conrad. The Story of the Underground Railroad. Danbury: Children's Press, Inc., 1981. Tells the exciting story of the Underground Railroad and the men and women who helped escaping slaves to their freedom. 31 pages.

Sullivan, Otha Richard. Black Stars: African American Inventors. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998. Biographies of black discoverers and inventors including Benjamin Banneker and George Washington Carver. 164 pages.

Zeinert, Karen. Those Courageous Women of the Civil War. Brookfield: The Millbrook Press, 1998. This book examines the roles of northern, southern, and slave women during the Civil War. A good reference for the advanced reader. Includes period photographs and journal entries. 96 pages.

http://blackhistory.eb.com
Encyclopedia Britannica Guide to Black History. This comprehensive site divides black history into eras, including the Civil War and the modern civil rights movement. It features biographies of key figures and important events. The site also includes student activities.

http://www.civilwar.com
Civilwar.com. As a comprehensive source for Civil War information, this site includes a detailed time line, descriptions of each Civil War battle and key locations, text of major documents–including the Emancipation Proclamation–diaries, and letters. You also can visit the section on Civil War music and sing some of the era's favorite songs.

http://www.thelincolnmuseum.org
The Lincoln Museum. Home of the largest museum dedicated to the life of Abraham Lincoln, this comprehensive site features portraits, posters, and other memorabilia from the museum's permanent collections and temporary exhibits. View Lincoln's family album, and read a draft of the Emancipation Proclamation.

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aohome.html
African American Odyssey. This special presentation showcases the Library of Congress's vast African American collection. The site features rare books, personal accounts, images, pamphlets, maps, and speeches which document black history in America.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html
PBS: Africans in America. The online companion to the PBS television series, this site details America's slave history, from the arrival of early explorers to the Civil War. Each section provides a narrative which introduces the history of the period. A resource bank with biographies, historical entries, documents, and commentaries also is included.

http://www.mlkonline.com
Martin Luther King Online. This "one stop source" for information about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. includes a biography, collection of speeches, and list a powerful quotes. This site also has a multimedia gallery with a number of images, video, and sound clips.

http://www.splcenter.org/crm/memorial.jsp
Civil Rights Memorial. The Southern Poverty Law Center sponsors the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama. At this site take a virtual tour and also learn the story behind the memorial.

http://www.loc.gov/
Library of Congress. "Storming Fort Wagner" (on pages 4-5 of Explore America, Book 7) and other famous pieces of American artwork are in the Library of Congress collection. While you're at this site, click on "America's Library" and visit features such as "Meet Amazing Americans," "Jump Back in Time," "Explore the States," and "See, Hear, and Sing."