Curated OER
African Studies Lessons Islamic Timeline
Students create an Islamic timeline. In this social studies lesson plan, students work in mixed-ability pairs in an attempt to match up eight maps, titles, and descriptions of key historical periods. Once they make all the matches...
American Battlefield Trust
United States Colored Troops
The debate over slavery contributed to the Civil War, but it didn't stop African Americans from joining the military. Academics complete a series of worksheets, read original letters, and analyze a photo of an African American soldier to...
PBS
Rosa Parks: Civil Rights Activist
Scholars examine the courageous efforts made by civil rights activist, Rosa Parks. Discussion questions and a brief writing assignment follows a short film. A photograph and a silent film delve deeper into Park's history and three...
City University of New York
African Americans and the Populist Movement
Why did the Populist Party fail to ally itself with African American farmers? To answer this essential question, class members investigate the Populist Era (188-1900) and read an article written by Tom Watson, a Populist leader.
National Woman's History Museum
Fannie Lou Hamer and Social Activism
Not all heroes wear capes. An impactful lesson focuses on the life and activism of Fannie Lou Hamer during the civil rights movement. Scholars read her speeches and other material, participate in group discussion, and complete a jigsaw...
National Woman's History Museum
Unsung Voices: Black Women and Their Role in Women's Suffrage
Reclaim perspectives often left out of the narrative about the suffrage movement with an activity that lifts up the voices of African American women. Using primary sources and biographical details of Fannie Barrier Williams' life, young...
Art Institute of Chicago
African Myths and Stories
Young historians discover African stories associated with a royal altar tusk from the Kingdom of Benin in Nigeria, read myths illustrated on the tusk, and write a story about the life of an oba using figures depicted on the tusk.
American Chemical Society
Norbert Rillieux, Thermodynamics and Chemical Engineering
The man who invented the earliest examples of chemical engineering was an American-born, French-educated, free man of color before the Civil War, and went on to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. There is something of interest for almost...
US House of Representatives
“The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood,” The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887
The reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...
National Woman's History Museum
Breaking Through Gender Roles: The Women of NASA
Whether recognized or not, extraordinary women were integral to breaking gender barriers and putting Americans into space. For Women's History Month, explore a series of video clips and biographical information that profile these...
Curated OER
Trey and Dave go to Africa: Music
Trey from Phish and Dave from the Dave Mathews Band took a trip to Africa to explore music, culture, and history. Your class watches this episode from VH1's Music Studio to understand how African culture and music have influenced modern...
Curated OER
Billie Holiday's Song "Strange Fruit"
Pupils analyze a variety of primary source materials related to lynching (news articles, letters written to or written by prominent Americans, pamphlets, broadsides, etc.) in order to assess the effectiveness of the anti-lynching...
Curated OER
The African Burial Ground
Students analyze African American burial grounds. In this African American history lesson, students draw conclusions about African American communities in early New York and consider how archeology made it possible to study the communities.
Curated OER
African American Community and Culture
Eighth graders explore the community of enslaved African Americans. In this American History lesson, 8th graders evaluate the importance of cultural expression in the black community. Students study the contributions made by the...
Curated OER
African American Soldiers in World War I
Eleventh graders analyze the fight of African Americans. In this American History lesson, 11th graders analyze the attitudes towards blacks in the military during WWI. Students debate the performance of the 92nd division.
Curated OER
Mapping the African American Past
Fourth graders explore the African Americans impact on New York. In this US History lesson, 4th graders examine an archaeological website. Students research the Five Points neighborhood.
Curated OER
African American Identity in the Gilded Age
Ninth graders examine the tension experienced by African-Americans as they struggled to establish a vibrant and meaningful identity based on the promises of liberty and equality in the midst of a society. In this American History lesson...
Curated OER
Famous African Americans Mini-book
Young scholars develop understanding of prejudice as they study famous African Americans. For this African American lesson, students become familiar with various African Americans and the obstacles they faced and overcame. Young...
Curated OER
African Americans in California’s Heartland – The Civil Rights Era
Events related to the Civil Rights Movement in Sacramento, California during the 1960s offer class members an opportunity to compare the nonviolent resistance approach favored by Dr. Martin Luther King and the NAACP with those of the...
Curated OER
New Voices for African Americans
Eleventh graders study Malcolm X and black power. In this African American lesson, 11th graders write a journal entry about black power and create a timeline of the events during the civil right movement.
Carolina K-12
Affrilachia
What makes a culture unique? Learners research life in the Appalachia region of the United States. Poetry, music, and oral history create Affrilachia, the term used to describe the lifestyle of the area. African-American mountain culture...
Atlanta History Center
What if YOU Lived During Jim Crow?
Young historians envision what life was like for African Americans living in the Jim Crow South through hands-on, experiential activities.
Maryland Department of Education
Our Children Can Soar
Amazing efforts of African American leaders are celebrated in a lesson on civil participation. The engaging resource focuses on primary and secondary sources to analyze the impact of African American leaders such as Ella Fitzgerald....
Curated OER
World War II Home Front
Eleventh graders examine the political demands put on one of four groups living in America during WWII. Each class member is asked to research and write a paper describing the homefront experience for women, Hispanics, African-Americans,...