ENG100: A Lesson Before Dying

Text by Robert Wallace. Photographed by Gordon Park. Life, September 24, 1956.
Note:This photo-essay is Part IV of a Life series called "Background of Segregation".
Part I, September 3, 1956.
Part II: The Coming of Jim Crow, September 10, 1956
Part III: View of the South Violence Enters the Debate, September 17, 1956

Blog post on the case of Willie Francis, a Black 16 year old sentenced to death in Louisiana in 1945. In Writing a Lesson Before Dying Gaines speaks of how the story of Jefferson was based partly on the Francis case.

Editorial in Plaindealer, vol. 50, no. 6, 7 Feb. 1947, p. 11. America's Historical Newspapers database.

This video presents excerpts of Jackie Robinson's speech on civil rights.

Released in 1950, "The Jackie Robinson Story stars the baseball legend himself in a biographical drama about the player and man who integrated major league ball. The story begins with Jackie's early years, profiling the successful young athlete who excelled in a variety of collegiate sports. It follows him to his momentous meeting with Branch Rickey of the no-less-legendary Brooklyn Dodgers who brought Robinson in as a professional player to the previously all-white sport."

Watch this two episode documentary on Kanopy.

Originally televised on BBC in 2000.

Equal Justice Initiative report, August 2010.