In the summer of 1964, over forty Freedom Schools opened in Mississippi. These schools were part of Freedom Summer, a project of the Southern Civil Rights Movement, with the goal to empower African Americans in Mississippi to become active citizens and agents of social change.

The curriculum of the summer Freedom Schools was a series of documents that, taken together, offer the best example of a progressive, experiential curriculum that emphasized student-centered teaching and learning-by-doing. 

We believe this curriculum is of value to anyone interested in alternative education, especially in the context of small school and summer school programs with a focus on citizenship education and social activism. This website offers teachers and students, as well as scholars and interested citizens, a chance to peruse and use any of the original documents created for the Freedom Schools. If you have created curriculum based upon this material and would like us to post it here, feel free to send it to us.

The Preface explains our research process and selection criteria as well as our suggestions for further research on Freedom Schools and Freedom Summer. Our Introduction is a brief history placing the curriculum in its historical context.