Teaching Resources - African American History

Each week I receive messages from EdInfo, an informational list that highlights new resources at FREE (Federal Resources for Educational Excellence). If you are interested in finding good resources for teaching and learning, this is a great list to join.

This week a number of really outstanding sites and materials were listed for African American history. Since I was moved when exploring them, I thought you might want to see them as well.

We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement
This site from the National Park Service shows 49 churches, houses, and other properties related largely to the post-World War II civil rights movement. The links to these properties consist of photographs and texts, and the exhibit offers a bibliography and links to websites relating to civil rights. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction.

In visiting the 49 places listed in the National Register for their association with the modern civil rights movement, as well as the Selma-to-Montgomery March route--a Department of Transportation designated "All-American Road" and a National Park Service designated National Historic Trail--two things will be apparent. First, although they had white supporters and sympathizers, the modern civil rights movement was designed, led, organized, and manned by African Americans, who placed themselves and their families on the front lines in the struggle for freedom. Their heroism was brought home to every American through newspaper, and later, television reports as their peaceful marches and demonstrations were violently attacked by law enforcement officers armed with batons, bullwhips, fire hoses, police dogs, and mass arrests. The second characteristic of the movement is that it was not monolithic, led by one or two men. Rather it was a dispersed, grass-roots campaign that attacked segregation in many different places using many different tactics. On this itinerary you will learn about the people and places associated with one of the most important chapters in our history.

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
From the American Memory Project at the Library of Congress, this site offers 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 photos of former slaves. The collection can be searched by name, city, state, topic, or other key words. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). This is heartbreaking and essential reading.

Drop Me Off in Harlem
This ArtsEdge site, a project of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, is a multimedia exploration of the Harlem Renaissance (1920s-1930s). Students can hear Langston Hughes read his poems, listen to Duke Ellington direct his orchestra, or watch "Shorty" George Snowden dance the Lindy Hop. An interactive map displays important cultural, social, and political establishments. Lesson ideas and learning activities facilitate an arts-integrated approach to the study of key works and themes that emerged.

Let Your Motto Be Resistance: African American Portraits
This site from the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution presents photos of 100 famous and influential African Americans, from with Frederick Douglass and to Wynton Marsalis. Each portrait includes a brief biography.

Exploring Amistad: Race and Boundaries of Freedom in Antebellum Maritime America
Mystic Seaport's site explores the Amistad Revolt of 1839-1842 and how we make history of it. It uses timelines, a library of historical documents, a discovery section and bibliography to teach about this watershed historical event, which set off a legal, political, and popular debate over the slave trade, slavery, race, Africa, and ultimately America itself.

This should be enough to get you started. If you are hungry for more, visit African Americans Teaching and Learning Resources.

Book Review - George Washington Carver: An Innovative Life

In February I wrote a post on African American Scientists and Inventors. Sadly, as I worked to describe books I share with my students, I realized that the list of titles numbered only five. I am happy to report the I have a new book to add to this list, and it is a remarkable addition.

While most people know that George Washington Carver was responsible for finding more than 300 uses for peanuts and more than 150 for sweet potatoes, there is much more to discover about one of the Tuskegee Institute's most famous professors. Did you know that George Washington Carver:

• was an artist and gifted painter (largely creating compositions of flowers and plants)?
• lived as a homesteader in western Kansas for about three years?
• sang and played the accordion?
• entered college at the age of 26, determined to study art?
• exhibited a painting at the World's Fair in Chicago?
• earned a Masters degree and became the first African American teacher at Iowa State?

I loved learning about the journeys in life that made George the man he was. Too often history is taught as a collection of names and dates, with little attention to the fact that extraordinary things are accomplished by ordinary people, often in the face of great adversity. History comes alive for students when we remember to focus on these individuals, and look at the events of time through the eyes of those who lived it.

This book is the latest addition to the Snapshots biography collection, a series that highlights important figures through accessible text that is supported by photographs, newspaper excerpts, journal pages, timelines and more. Elizabeth MacLeod has done a tremendous job of writing an engaging text that introduces readers to a George Washington Carver that just isn't described in most biographies for children. The quotes in the text are moving, and one can't help but cheer for George as the book marches on through events in his life, even though the outcome is known. From his birth to his death and the lingering impact of his work, MacLeod has written a book that celebrates and illuminates the life that was George Washington Carver's.

The dearth of well-written books for children on African American scientists and inventors is marked. This volume successfully begins the work of filling the void. My hope is that volumes on others of note, such as Benjamin Banneker and Lewis Latimer, will follow.

Teachers engaged in study of George Washington Carver should find that this text will make an engaging read aloud. Here is an excerpt.

George was a small boy and often sick, so he helped Aunt Sue with indoor work such as laundry, cleaning and cooking.

When George's chores were done for the day, he headed off to collect rocks, insects and plants. He carefully dug up flowers and replanted them in a secret garden he kept. There he watched over them, finding out how to make them grow better.

George also helped Aunt Sue with her vegetable and flower gardens. He gained a reputation for being able to make any plant grow and was nicknamed "Plant Doctor." Years later, George's love of plants would make him famous around the world.

This is a fine book that deserves a home in school and classroom libraries. I give it my highest recommendation.

Book: George Washington Carver: An Innovative Life
Author: Elizabeth MacLeod
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: February, 2007
Pages: 32
Grades: 3 and up
ISBN-10: 1-553379063
ISBN-13: 978-1553379065
Source of Book: Copy received from Raab Associates, Inc.

African American Scientists and Inventors

While writing my dissertation I agreed to research and write two chapters for a book on African American Scientists and Inventors. I adored the professor who asked me, and gladly embarked on a journey to research two men I knew little about, though could at least admit I had heard of them. They were Elijah McCoy and Charles Turner. The book was published by an academic press in 1996. Since then, it has done nothing more than collect dust on my shelf. This saddens me, because there are so many great stories of (mostly) men who overcame great diversity to give the world the benefit of their knowledge and creativity. It is unfortunate that there still remains a dearth of good children's books about these men. Of course, it is relatively easy to find material on George Washington Carver, but look beyond him and few others stand out.

Here, at least, are a few of the gems in my collection.

A Weed is a Flower: The Life of George Washington Carver by Aliki - The bold illustrations bring the text alive in a story that follows the life of the man who found more than 300 uses for the peanut. Did you know he also experimented with the sweet potato?

George Washington Carver: The Peanut Wizard by Laura Driscoll - This lovely addition to the Smart About Scientists series introduces Annie Marcus, who is just nuts about peanut butter! When Annie finds out that George Washington Carver was responsible for the popularity of peanuts, she picks him for her scientist report. This is a fine introduction to Carver's career and discoveries.

Dear Benjamin Banneker written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated Brian Pinkney - This beautifully illustrated volume provides a brief overview of the life and work of Banneker from his years as a tobacco farmer through to his decision to write an almanac.

Bug Watching with Charles Henry Turner by Michael Elsohn Ross - This entry in the Naturalist's Apprentice series introduces the life and work of entomologist Charles Henry Turner while including ideas for the reader to conduct his/her own bug investigations.

Onward: A Photobiography of African-American Polar Explorer Matthew Henson by Delores Johnson - This stunning book uses archival photographs from the early 20th century to tell the story of Matthew Henson, an African-American hired for the expedition to the North Pole as Robert Peary's manservant.