Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Part 1, Chapters 1-2

Reading Check

1. What were the “Jim Crow” laws?

2. Other than driving the vehicle, what was the bus driver’s main job in Montgomery?

3. Which Supreme Court case was “a solid punch to Jim Crow?”

4. Who was Claudette named after?

5. Which disease did Delphine fall ill to?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Summarize the incident in which Claudette learns that she is not allowed to touch a white person.

2. Why was riding the bus “humiliating for [B]lack passengers?” How did the bus drivers sometimes mistreat Black passengers?

3. What did Claudette learn about race relations in her school? What did she think about this information?

4. What was Claudette’s life like in Pine Level? Did she enjoy school?

5. Identify some of the racist experiences that Claudette experiences after moving to Montgomery.

Paired Resources

“Jim Crow Laws”

• This article from History explains the laws that codified segregation in the South.
• This information connects with the theme Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Based on the text, as well as the above resource, in which ways did Jim Crow affect the daily lives of the Black community in Montgomery, Alabama?

“Montgomery”

• The US Civil Rights Trail shares notable landmarks in Montgomery that were important to the civil rights movement.
• As a background to the city, this source connects with all three themes of Phillip Hoose’s text: Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice, The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo, and Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, how has the response of Montgomery’s city government to civil rights leaders changed over time?

Part 1, Chapters 3-4

Reading Check

1. What does Claudette Colvin refer to as a “turning point” in her life?

2. What profession did Claudette become inspired to pursue?

3. What does Claudette say was “on [her] mind” (Chapter 4) the day she refused to give her seat up on the bus?

4. What sentence did Claudette repeat as the police officers dragged her off the bus?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Where did Claudette attend high school in Montgomery? What were her first days like?

2. Who was Jeremiah Reeves? What crime was he accused of, and how did the Black community in Alabama respond to his arrest?

3. Who was Miss Geraldine Nesbitt? Describe how she impacted Claudette’s life.

4. Who was Mrs. Hamilton? How did her presence factor into Claudette’s act of resistance?

5. What did the police do with Claudette after she was arrested?

Paired Resources

“Our History”

• This page from the NAACP’s site offers a concise history of their work.
• The goals of the NAACP connect with the themes Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice and The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo.
• Based on the text, as well as the above resource, what was the role that the NAACP played in supporting Black communities across the US?

“Alabama Executes Jeremiah Reeves After Police Torture Him Into False Confession”

• The Equal Justice Initiative connects the Reeves execution to a pattern of racial injustice in the US.
• The turmoil in the wake of Reeves’s trial and execution was an example of The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo as well as Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Based on the text, as well as the above resource, how was Reeves’s execution a catalyst for the civil rights movement in Montgomery?

Part 1, Chapters 5-6

Reading Check

1. What did Jo Ann Robinson threaten to do if the buses did not comply with the demands?

2. Which influential civil rights leader made his “debut” with his involvement in Claudette’s case?

3. Which civil rights leader did Nixon ask to get Claudette engaged with at the NAACP?

4. How did Claudette pay for her lawyer?

5. What statement does Claudette make about her hair and segregation?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who was Jo Ann Robinson? Describe her motivations and focus for activism.

2. Summarize the meeting that took place prior to Claudette’s trial. Who attended, and what was the outcome?

3. Who was Fred Gray? Why did he see Claudette’s case as an important opportunity?

4. What charges did Claudette face? How did the judge rule her case?

5. Why was it “shrewd” of Judge Eugene Carter to drop two of the three charges against Claudette?

6. Who was Mary Louise Smith? How did the Montgomery civil rights community compare her to Claudette?

Paired Resource

“Klux Klan in Contemporary Alabama”

• This entry in the Encyclopedia of Alabama documents the history of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in the state.
• The KKK was one of the sources of Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, what was the effect of the KKK in Alabama? Consider the references that Claudette makes throughout the account.

“Montgomery Bus Boycott”

• This entry from Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute summarizes the whole of the Montgomery bus boycott and mentions Claudette Colvin.
• The boycott exemplifies the themes Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice and The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo.
• Using both the text as well as the above resource, compare and contrast the role of Claudette in the Boycott.

Part 1, Chapters 7-8

Reading Check

1. What did the leaflet on December 2, 1955, urge the Black community of Montgomery to do?

2. At which moment was Martin Luther King Jr. most angry in his life?

3. How long did the bus boycott in Montgomery last?

4. How did Brown v. Board of Education inspire Gray during the bus boycott?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Compare and contrast Claudette and Rosa Parks’ protestations on the bus. How were they treated and charged differently?

2. How does Hoose describe Rosa Parks? Identify the physical and characteristic attributes he notes about her.

3. What unexpected event happened to Claudette? Describe how her family responded.

4. Why did Claudette move to Birmingham? How long did she stay and why?

5. What was the Montgomery Improvement Association? Who was their leader and what was their goal?

6. What did Fred ask Claudette to do? Did the unexpected event from question 3 affect her response?

Paired Resource

“Claudette Colvin Interviewed by Great Big Story”

• Hoose shares an interview with Claudette on his website.
• Claudette shares her experience as it relates to the themes Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice, The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo, and
• Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Does Claudette share any new or different information in this interview from Hoose’s account?

“Montgomery Improvement Association”

• Stanford University’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute also provides this overview of the Montgomery Improvement Association.
• The work of the Association relates to the same themes of Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice, The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo, and
• Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Based on the text as well as the above resource, how did the Association support the participants of the Boycott?

Part 2, Chapters 9-10

Reading Check

1. Which amendment was crucial in helping “dismantle legal segregation?” (Chapter 9)

2. Which civil rights leader did segregationists think was behind convincing the Black community in Montgomery to boycott?

3. What was the official name of the case that finally deemed segregation on public buses unconstitutional?

4. Why did one of the plaintiffs drop out of the case?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Who was on the White Citizens Council? What was their goal, and which major politician joined their efforts?

2. What was the strategy of the city’s defense in the trial? Identify the type of information Knabe tried to get from the plaintiffs.

3. How did the Justices rule in the case? What was their reasoning for the ruling? How did the Supreme Court rule?

Recommended Next Reads

The Boys Who Challenged Hitler by Phillip Hoose

• Hoose’s 2015 nonfiction account uses primary sources, including interviews, to share the story of a group of Danish boys who protested Nazi occupation during World War II.
• Shared themes include Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice.
• Shared topics include nonfiction accounts, uncovering unknown stories, and standing up against injustice.
• The Boys Who Challenged Hitler on SuperSummary

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom by Lynda Blackmon Lowery

• Lowery’s 2015 nonfiction account is an autobiographical recollection of her participation in the Selma Voting Rights March of 1965.
• Shared themes include Perseverance Through Hardship and Injustice, The Importance of Questioning The Status Quo, and Internal Prejudices in 1950s Black Montgomery.
• Shared topics include nonfiction accounts, the civil rights movement, Alabama, and teenage activism.
• Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom on SuperSummary