Education,
Invention, and Collective Power
Primary
learning topics:
þ
The
role of African-Americans in increasing their socio-economic position and
associated power
þ
Efforts
to educate African-Americans post-slavery
þ
Women
and minorities using collectivism to organize and gain power
þ
Inventions
which reshaped American society
Note: The following is an excerpt in part from Ladner's and DiGeronimo's Launching Our Black Children for Success. It is not listed as a part of any reading
assignment, but can instead be used for informational purposes regarding
African-Americans and education pre- and post-slavery.
Most
early efforts to educate blacks were initiated by various churches in the hopes
of enabling slaves to read the Bible and experience the power of salvation of
Jesus Christ. Southern states,
however, were vehemently opposed to teaching slaves to read and write. In fact, it was illegal. Many slaves taught themselves to read at
the risk of inhumane punishment or perhaps even death. Southern plantation
owners knew the opportunities for social and economic advancement that education
provides. They feared that if slaves
could read and write, they would be able to elevate themselves and perhaps lead
a movement that would take blacks from the poverty associated with slave status
to a free people and that might even overpower landowners.
Immediately
following the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, various church denominations
and groups like the Baptists, Methodists, and the American Missionary
Association (AMA) founded schools for the children of ex-slaves throughout the
South. In fact, the AMA founded more
than five hundred schools for freed slaves in the decades following the Civil
War. These schools were open to all
students and often operated as integrated institutions during the
Reconstruction period. But despite these
efforts, the traditions of racism, white hostility towards blacks, and the
instability of the black minority to protect itself after Northern troops went
home disadvantaged the former slaves from the start.
As the South recovered from the
effects of the war and developed public school systems, the AMA concentrated on
improving and expanding colleges for black in the South. Many of the private institutions known as
historically black colleges and universities began as AMA schools. They include what were traditionally regarded
as elite liberal arts schools, including Atlanta University, Dillard
University, Fisk University, Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), Howard
University; Huston-Tilloston College, Le-Moyne College, Talledega College,
and Tougaloo College. (Ladner
and DiGeronimo, pg. 125-126).
Northern religious organizations also
promoted the education of blacks after the Civil War. In 1704 a member of the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts established the first schools for
black in
Begin Mary McLeod Bethune: Teacher with a Dream
by reading Lavere Anderson. A student can enjoy this inspiring biography
at 1 chapter per day.
Introduce the
Women’s Suffrage Movement with Zibby Oneal’s A Long Way
to Go. This fact-based piece of
fiction can be enjoyed at one chapter per day.
Note: be sure to read the prologue
in conjunction with chapter 5. As time
and interests dictate, also consider reading You
Want Women to Vote, Lizzie Stanton? by Jean Fritz
and/or Learning About Fairness from the Life of Susan B. Anthony by Kiki Mosher.
Return briefly
to Kallen’s The
Harlem Renaissance for an introduction to several literary and musical
voices of this period in history.
|
Day 1 |
pgs. 30-35 |
|
Day 2 |
pgs. 36-41 |
Begin learning
about the inventions of African-American scientists and other historical
contributions by reading Jan Matzliger’s story, Shoes for Everyone by Barbara
Mitchell. This tale can be read at 1
chapter per day.
Read the 1st
half of Leonard Everett Fisher’s Alexander
Graham Bell.
Read the 2nd
half of Leonard Everett Fisher’s Alexander
Graham Bell.
Note: this particular
version of
Read McKissack and McKissack’s George Washington Carver
according to the following schedule:
|
Day 1 |
pgs. 5-12 |
|
Day 2 |
pgs. 14-27 |
Read
approximately ½ of Wendy Towle’s The Real McCoy.
Read the
latter half of The Real McCoy.
Learn about
the woman considered the 1st African-American millionaire by reading
Madam C.J. Walker by Marlene
Toby. A student can digest this
biography at 1 chapter per day.
Read Barbara
Mitchell’s We’ll Race You, Henry Ford, according
to the following schedule:
|
Day 1 |
pgs. 7-20 |
|
Day 2 |
pgs. 21-33 |
|
Day 3 |
pgs. 33-41 |
|
Day 4 |
pgs. 43-55 |
Use pages
10-13 of Feinstein’s The 1910’s as a foundation for
understanding working conditions in the early 1900s and the reasons behind the
formation of employee labor unions.
To Ask and
Think About: How might Franklin
D. Roosevelt’s battle with polio have helped him better understand the
plight of people who are poor or deprived in some way? Why were
Japanese-Americans imprisoned during World War II? In
Genesis , we see the discord
between Joseph and his brothers as Joseph reveals the signs to his brothers
that he is the chosen one of the group.
Given that Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson were considered better
baseball players in their day than Jackie Robinson, how might they have
about Jackie being the first chosen to enter Major League baseball? What about Jackie’s character made him an
excellent choice?
Enjoy
Robert Cwiklik’s A.
Philip Randolph and the Labor Movement according to the following
schedule:
|
Day 1 |
pgs. 5-11 |
|
Day 2 |
pgs. 11-17 |
|
Day 3 |
pgs. 18-24 |
|
Day 4 |
pgs. 24-28 |
To Ask and
Think About: What
childhood and young adult experiences in the life of Mary McLeod Bethune
helped her make a decision to teach? Why were
women interested in voting? 1
Corinthians 12:14a,19 speaks of our significance
as a portion of God’s body in serving one another. How did the work of the
great scientists and inventors studied in this section impact the
lives of generations after them?