There is a good deal of primary source material on the Internet relating to Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement. The following sites must therefore not be seen as ‘library’ type resources for students to go away and read. Their use needs careful consideration in terms of:

• the depth of information they contain
• the range of insights published in them
• the ability to communicate with experts and enthusiasts
• the ability to access original archive material
• the potential to use the sites as the basis of really stimulating and imaginative activities

The following sites are recommended because they meet at least some of the criteria listed above.

http://martinlutherking.8m.com/

This site proclaims itself to be a time-saving site for teachers looking at the issue of Civil Rights and Martin Luther King. It is very helpfully organised into themes and issues. For example, there are sections which take users directly to sites where they can find examples of King’s lectures and speeches, sometimes as audio or video files.

http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/

This site is a comprehensive collection of papers and documents relating to Martin Luther King and his work. The project is based at Stamford University in the USA.

http://www.murple.net/propaganda/racist/mlking.html

This is a highly dubious site in which almost every aspect of King’s life is denigrated and ‘exposed’ as being false or corrupt. It can be a valuable resource but needs careful handling. It may even be better for teachers to download sections of text and edit selectively. It is NOT a site to simply send students to. The content is not immoral or pornographic but the message of the site is one which needs contextualising. As a purely educational resource, it gives an insight into King’s opponents.

http://www.mecca.org/~crights/cyber.html

This title is pretty self evident. The Tour provides photographs and commentaries at a selection of key points in the Civil Rights history.

http://www.seattletimes.com/mlk/movement/PT/phototour.html

This collection of photos belongs to the Seattle Times. It is a photo documentary of key events in the career of King and the Civil Rights movement. It is a resource with huge potential.