Home > Pushing Towards Civil Rights > The Shelleys & the Right to Fair Housing

The Shelleys & the Right to Fair Housing

In this video, students learn about J.D. and Ethel Shelley and their fight against restrictive housing covenants. Unable to purchase the house of their choice because of an agreement among homeowners to not sell to people of color, the Shelleys took their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Their actions changed accessibility to housing for millions of Americans.

Video

Learning Objectives

  • Describe the Shelleys' actions and their impact on civil rights and fair housing
  • Identify forms of civic action used to create change
  • Engage in directed discussion
  • Analyze the video’s topic and connect it to current events

Overview

In this video, students learn about J.D. and Ethel Shelley and their fight against restrictive housing covenants. Unable to purchase the house of their choice because of an agreement among homeowners to not sell to people of color, the Shelleys took their case all the way to the Supreme Court. Their actions changed accessibility to housing for millions of Americans.

Access engaging resources with an iCivics account!

Create your free iCivics account and discover standards aligned lessons and games that meet all of your instructional needs. Our nonpartisan classroom resources engage students with complex concepts in ways they can understand and relate to.

Tags

Pedagogy Tags
History Connection
Tech Options
Web browser
Integrations
PDF
State standards icon

View state standards alignment

Search State Standards

Use the Scope & Sequence to help you plan your iCivics classroom experience!

Whether you enjoy finding opportunities within a well-structured sequence of resources or prefer looking around for pieces and bits that can be jigsawed together, our Scope & Sequence documents are a perfect reference point for planning. Scope & Sequence documents are available for elementary, middle, and high school classrooms and list all of our resources in one place.

View the Scope & Sequence