Young historians investigate the often-hidden history of free and enslaved African American women before the Civil War. Using a collection of primary and secondary sources, including speeches, diaries, and poems, they evaluate the often...

Votes for women! Young scholars use images to explore the suffrage movement and its impact on the United States. Historians work in groups or pairs to interpret the photograph, complete a worksheet, and discuss how their opinions of the...

Before her career as a Supreme Court Justice, the Notorious RBG was a legal activist for women's rights. Using a letter from then-Professor Ginsburg, young historians carefully examine a letter from Ginsburg to a member of Congress...

Uncle Sam wants you to integrate the military! The activity uses images and documents to help scholars understand the integration of African Americans into the mainstream military. Academics analyze a series of military photos and...

It's the American way to put one foot in front of the other and march. Using images of protests from the civil rights and women's suffrage movements, young historians analyze similarities between the two watershed moments of social...

A 67-page packet provides instructors with a complete course in the history of Jazz. Lessons look at the roots of jazz in early 20th century African American communities in the southern United States and continues to the New Orleans...

Most have heard of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and Rosa Parks, but few recall Elizabeth Jennings, Samuel W. Tucker, or Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher. Young historians research and then develop a presentation about the contributions of...

A two-part lesson introduces young historians to the work of famous African American inventors. Groups first research and develop a presentation of an inventor that includes biographical information and information about one of their...

A lesson about the Manhattan Project will explode young physicists' understanding of the racial attitudes in the United States during and after World war II. Groups select an African American scientist or technician that worked on the...

A two-part lesson asks young scientists to research the contributions of African American scientists at Bell Laboratories. After presenting their findings, class members watch two demonstrations that introduce them to total internal...

Americans tend to lock their heroes in history, holding these icons to a particular event or time. Jackie Robinson is such a hero, remembered by most for becoming the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. Young historians...

What does race have to do with COVID vaccine hesitancy? That is the question young scholars pursue in a video lesson that looks at the impacts of such things as the Tuskegee Experiment, the unauthorized use of Henrietta Lacks's cancer...

Class members come together to study Amanda Gorman's poem "New Day's Lyric." After a close reading of the poem, learners watch a video of Gorman reading her poem, and then craft additional lines for the poem where they offer suggestions...

Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B" is featured in a lesson that asks pupils to first read a biography of Hughes and list things about his life they think are important. The class then reads the poem and compares what they learned...

An out-of-this-world resource introduces young scientists to four African American astronauts: Michael P. Anderson, Ronald E. McNair, Guion S. Bluford Jr., and Jeanette J. Epps. Groups read biographies of these individuals and prepare...

Four lessons make up a poetry unit that introduces high schoolers to spoken and written poetry. Class members also examine poems as social commentary and connect these poems to various novels and plays. A great way to incorporate poetry...

Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is the focus of a lesson plan that asks readers to consider how the poem is a critique of slavery. Groups comprise a list of words and phrases they notice as well as...

It was not just the states of the Deep South that practiced segregation. Young historians investigate the history of segregation and desegregation in Oklahoma. They begin by reading, annotating, and analyzing an article about the impacts...

To learn more about Nelson Mandela, young historians watch a 20 minute video that traces his life from boyhood in a small South African village, to his work as an activist opposed to Apartheid, his imprisonment, and to his leadership as...

Introduce young historians to primary source analysis with a lesson that teaches them how to use a four-step process to analyze a photograph of a 1913 Suffrage Parade. Groups practice the process and share their observations with the...

Ada Limon's poem, "A New National Anthem," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the US national anthem and the extent to which Key's vision applies to all Americans. After watching a video of Whitney...

A two-part lesson focuses on the contributions to the fields of astronomy and astrophysics of two African Americans: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. George Carruthers. In part one, scholars learn about Benjamin Banneker by examining his...

Chances are good that young scholars have heard of the Tuskegee Airmen but few would predict that these pilots had their own support in the form of the Tuskegee Weathermen. These Black meteorologists were recruited and trained to provide...

The history of science instruction at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) is the focus of a lesson plan that explores the early challenges these institutions faced in accessing equipment for their labs and instructors...