Civil Rights in America

National Museum of American History
Smithsonian Institution
14th Street and Constitution Avenue
Washington, DC 20013
(202) 357-2700

Instructional Unit:
The exhibit "Fields to Factories" is composed of artifacts and information explaining the migration of the African-Americans from the South to the North from 1915 to 1940. The comparison of life in the South to the North cannot be more vividly contrasted than with the artifacts. The tools used during this timeframe not only depict the type of job and lifestyle these people held, but also the primitive conditions to which they were subjected. The artifacts and documents illustrate the shift in lifestyle the former slaves had to adjust to when leaving the agricultural south and fitting into the new industrial surroundings in the North, where both the technology and culture were vastly different from what they were accustomed to.

Curriculum Unit:
Grade 7
Social Studies

Objectives:
1. Students will place major events in the history of African-Americans into the proper timeframe.
2. Students will recall three significant circumstances surrounding each influential event..
3. Students will read a short story and novel by Mildred Taylor depicting life of African-Americans in the South during the Depression.
4. Students will identify parts of the exhibit which represent each period of time.
5. Students will classify the exhibit components according to timeframe and circumstances.
6. Students will become familiar with specific vocabulary pertaining to the African-American experience in America.
7. Students will activate prior knowledge and formulate educated opinions about life in the South and the North for African-Americans.

Pre-Visit Activities:
Have students read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor. Students will examine photographs of artifacts from the exhibit and discuss how they were used and which characters might have used them in Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Label the photographs and display. Students will answer questions using their knowledge from the novel unit in anticipation to what the information at the exhibit will explain.

On-Site Activities:
Students will be ushered through the exhibit in small groups with a teacher there to explain each display. As students view each area and ask questions, they will note the artifacts and listen for information with which to complete the anticipation guide.
Several docents will be available to answer questions from the group.

Follow-Up Activities:
Students will be asked to write an essay about one of the following topics:

1. Which method from the following list do you think is the most effective for fighting racism and why? Strikes, boycotts, marches, voting, litigation...
2. Imagine life 100 years from now. What could we possibly be doing in the 1990's that might be considered wrong or unconstitutional in the 2090's?

Students will work through activities specified by the teacher found in the museum's teacher's guide containing pre-visit and post-visit activities.
Students will use photographs of the work by artists Jacob Lawrence, Frederick Brown, and Earle Richardson and interpret the theme of each painting according to the aspect of African American life it portrays.
Students will make their own drawing depicting one scene from the exhibit.

Appendices:
None

Bibliography:
Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C. Exploring African American Heritage at the Smithsonian - Field to Factory Afro American Migration, 1915-1940.
Taylor, Mildred. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry.
Teaching Tolerance: A Time For Justice (Video) and America's Civil Rights Movement

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