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Lesson Plans

Inquiry-based lesson plans exploring a small number of sources over one or two class periods

17th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans

Resistance in the Colonial Caribbean

Map of Barbados with place names and small illustrations, including pigs and cattle, men leading camels, and a white man on a horse chasing and firing a gun at two Black men.

Dr. Christopher Fletcher, Newberry Library
June 11, 2024

17th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Early European Travel in Illinois: Land, Animals, and the Environment

Engraved illustration of a bison standing in a wooded landscape with a stork or pelican and an opossum nearby.

Dr. Danielle Alesi
May 28, 2024

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Women of the Great Migration, Part II: Women Journalists

Eighteen well-dressed African American women posing for a picture. They sit and stand in three rows in an alleyway between a fence and a building.

Freda D. Brown, 2024 DAR Fellow
May 6, 2024

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Women of the Great Migration, Part I: Letters from the South

Colored glass slide showing 15 Black women working at sewing machines in a large hall. Completed dresses hang on the walls around them.

Freda D. Brown, 2024 DAR Fellow
May 6, 2024

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Lesson Plans, Middle School

The Chicago Defender as the North Star

Approximately 30 Black men in suits and ties sit at two long tables in a small, well-decorated room. Most have reading material in front of them. Two stand at a rack of newspapers on the side of the room.

Freda D. Brown, 2024 DAR Fellow
May 6, 2024

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Elementary School, Lesson Plans

The Carrington Store

Black-and-white photograph of a two-story building standing alone and fronting a street with horse drawn vehicles. The first floor has a covered awning over the sidewalk labeled "E.H. Carrington Groceries" and has advertisements for a variety of products. Six well-dressed people stand under the awning.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
January 31, 2023

20th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Blockbusting

Single page of cursive text in pencil. The text describes the author's experiences and advocates for better housing access for African Americans in Chicago

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
December 16, 2022

15th Century, Classroom Materials, College Prep, Lesson Plans

Contexts for the Book of Margery Kempe

Colored drawing of a nun (St. Bridget) writing at a writing desk. An angel whispers in her ear while a monk prays next to her. Above her head is a dove descending from a burst of light representing the Holy Spirit. On either side of the dove are depictions of Jesus Christ. On the left, God the father (an older man with a beard) holds him after he was taken down from the cross. On the right, the Virgin Mary holds him as a baby. All the figures are white.

Joe Stadolnik, PhD
December 5, 2022

19th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans

Perspectives on the United States

Title page of book printed on birch bark. Title readings "The Red Man's Greeting, 1492-1892 by Chief Pokagon." In the lower right corner is an image of a white man standing on a beach with many other white men behind him. They carry flags and crosses and are disembarking from a boat." The image is captioned "Landing of Columbus."

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 6, 2022

20th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Women’s Suffrage

Illustration of a woman (Lady Liberty) sweeping across the United States west to east. The illustration suggests women’s suffrage extended gradually across the United States over decades before the 19th Amendment was ratified in August 1920.

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
April 6, 2022

18th Century, Classroom Materials, High School, Lesson Plans

Native Nations in an Age of Empire and Revolution, 1750-1783: Assessments

Rachel Banke, PhD
March 23, 2022

19th Century, Activities, High School, Lesson Plans, Middle School

Civil War Letters

Hilary Mac Austin and Kathleen Thompson
February 28, 2022