Download High School Lesson Plan US History 5.4B Sipuel and McLaurin

High School
United States History and Geography
Modern Times
Standard 5.4B
Content Standard 5: The student will analyze foreign and domestic policies during the
Cold War, 1945 to 1975.
4. Cite specific textual and visual evidence to analyze the major events,
personalities, tactics, and effects of the Civil Rights Movement.
A. Assess the effects …the United States Supreme Court decisions in the
cases of Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher and George McLaurin,….
Lesson Plan
Grade Level: High School
State colleges in Oklahoma were forced to desegregate because of Supreme Court
rulings in the cases of Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and
McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950)
Objectives:
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Students will be familiar with the basic issues involving both the Sipuel and the
McLaurin court cases.
Students will be able to explain the decision/rationale of the Supreme Court in
the rulings of those cases.
Students will assess the impact of those cases on Oklahoma public colleges and
universities.
Students will understand how the rulings in the Sipuel and McLaurin cases
established a precedent to influence the outcome of the case of Brown v. Board
of Education of Topeka, Kansas.
Materials:
White board, interactive white board or overhead projector
Internet device
Pencils, pens, and paper
Laptops, computers, tablets
Applying the Skill:
Performing Searches: Use: the Oklahoma Historical Society web page
http://www.okhistory.org/general/searchresults to research Ada Lois Sipuel
Fisher and Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma and George
McLaurin in McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents (1950).
Procedures:
Directions: Discuss with students the issues concerning segregation, the NAACP, and the
United States Supreme Court decisions as they applied to state universities in Oklahoma. Direct
the students to the above website. Have them select and read articles concerning the roles of
Ada Lois Sipuel and George McLaurin in overturning segregation policies in Oklahoma. Ask the
students to be prepared to share their information with the class either orally or in an electronic
production.
Using the www.okhistory.org site, students have many choices to research.
Assessment:
Have students write a summary of what they think was the most important contribution
of Ada Lois Sipuel and George McLaurin relating to segregation in colleges in
Oklahoma. Explain why.
Ask students to compare the Sipuel or McLaurin cases and determine which had a
greater impact on the desegregation of Oklahoma public colleges.
Ask students to predict how things may have been different in Oklahoma without the
leadership of Sipuel and McLaurin.
Have students predict why they think Sipuel and McLaurin preferred to use lawsuits and
court challenges to resist and eliminate discrimination laws rather than violence.
Why were Sipuel and McLaurin effective agents of change?