Web offers images, sounds and words celebrating Black History Month

By JEANNE ROGERS
© St. Petersburg Times
published February 3, 2003

February is Black History Month, a good time to discuss the contributions made by African-Americans.

Online biographical information on contemporary or historical African-Americans will prove varied and interesting. Search engines such as Ask Jeeves for Kids (www.ajkids.com) or Yahooligans (www.yahooligans.com) have a user-friendly format and will provide multiple hits.

Here are a few sites worth adding to your Favorites:

Underground Railroad

www.nationalgeographic.com/railroad/

From the introductory home page with its swinging lantern, this site invites you to take a journey as onlyNational Geographic can. Graphics, text and illustrations help retell the history of the journey many took to find freedom from slavery.

Black History

www.historychannel.com/exhibits/blackhist/proindex.html

You will find information on Thurgood Marshall, Martin Luther King Jr. and other famous African-Americans here.

Africans in America

www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/home.html

PBS brings historical information to the Web using illustrations, graphics and quotes. The tale is divided into four parts and offers users a resource bank.

Encyclopedia Britannica Black History

search.eb.com/blackhistory

The timeline is a wealth of information stretching from 1517 to today. Each event includes active links to important people and topics. Audio and video clips make this a multimedia stop.

African-American History

www.creativefolk.com/blackhistory.html

Read facts and speeches, listen to audio files, and look at the large collection of digital images.

Sports Illustrated for Kids

www.sikids.com/news/blackhistory/

The focus here is on black athletes, such as Jackie Robinson, Althea Gibson and Jesse Owens, to name a few.

U.S. Black History Stamps

library.thinkquest.org/10320/

This Thinkquest from 1997 illustrates the Black Americans featured on U.S. postage stamps. The site includes biographical information, a black history tour and information on stamp collecting.

African Americans in the Sciences

www.princeton.edu/TILDEmcbrown/display/faces.html

Brief biographies, photos and bibliographies are provided here.

Black Inventors

www.blackinventors.org/

Read about Benjamin Bannekar, who produced the first Farmers' Almanac, or Sarah Boone, inventor of the ironing board.

Black History Activities

www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/BHM/AfroAm.html

See how to integrate the Web into your class discussions. You'll find a list of links that will provide you with information and suggestions.

Interactive Quiz

www.brightmoments.com/blackhistory/

This interactive quiz will help you learn information about black history. Incorrect responses require a bit more review. Be sure to read the information provided by links.

Powerful Days in Black and White

www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/moore/mooreIndex.shtml

Photojournalist Charles Moore captured the face of America during the civil rights movement. Move your mouse over words such as riots, celebrate, running and segregation. Each word is a link to a photograph.

-- Jeanne Rogers is the technology specialist at Deer Park Elementary School in New Port Richey.

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