Digital Snapshots

Here you can find educator resources and lesson plans appropriate for use in Mississippi Studies, U.S. History, and other middle and high school classrooms. In these lesson plans, teachers will find engaging activities and historical content related to the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission.

To understand the past and see its impact on the present, students should engage with primary sources from past events. For students to truly understand the documents and have the correct context, teachers must first lay the groundwork for this connection. The teacher should begin this lesson with a brief introduction about the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission and their efforts to oppose the civil rights movement in Mississippi and nationally. A short introduction to this collection and a list of additional resources is available here.

The selected documents from the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission collection highlights the actions and invasive nature of the MSSC during their existence from 1956 to 1973. The 27 documents capture the state-sponsored investigative unit’s attempts to obstruct racial desegregation in Mississippi, as well as their observations and reporting on the activities of private citizens suspected of engaging in behaviors considered subversive, such as civil rights activism, communist sympathies or beliefs, among others.

Use the buttons below to access the lesson plans, document analyses worksheets created by the National Archives, and learn how you can use the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission papers in your classroom. Also found below are the lesson plans’ recommended documents (both plans utilize the same documents).

Educator Resources & Lesson Plans