NAACP Chairman of the Board Julian Bond talks about the views of Martin Luther King, Jr., and his emphasis on improving conditions for the working class as a whole. Bond criticizes current abuses and denials of civil rights and quality-of-life issues, and considers the 2003 U.S. Supreme Court cases on affirmative action.
Professor Lawrence J. Vale shows provocative images from early advertisements to demonstrate some of society's long-held attitudes toward public housing and those who live in public housing. He analyzes government policies as they evolved to provide housing to 'reward people who are most deserving' of assistance, or to provide housing assistance as a 'coping mechanism.'
Economist and author Dr. Julianne Malveaux delivers the keynote address for MIT's Annual Breakfast Celebrating the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., contrasting the values and goals of the civil rights movement with enduring direct and indirect abuses and denials of civil rights.
Professor Eric Foner traces the development of the concept of "freedom" in the U.S., beginning with the nation's founding and continuing up to 2005 (the present day at the time of the lecture). He focuses on race relations and fights by minorities for civil liberties as focus points for the definition of freedom.
Professors Robert E. Looney and Executive Director of the Center for International Studies at MIT John Tirman discuss the economy of Iraq, including its past state, its current condition, and the possibilities for its future development. They examine the U.S.'s plans for economic reform in Iraq and their effects so far, and project that past and current conditions will lead to instability and further conflict in the country.
President Obama's new Summer of Service Initiative—United We Serve—calls on Americans to make community service part of their daily lives, and on June 25, The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership (JTHG) at Harpers Ferry National Historic Park unveiled a ground-breaking service-learning program in keeping with this initiative. Seventy students from Harpers Ferry Middle School launched their own historic research and preservation project: Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student. These students created six mini-movies examining the October 6, 1859, John Brown raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal. These videos are now on view at the historic site and online to help students from around the globe connect to that history.
Beginning in January, the middle school students conducted research, then wrote, edited, and designed their project. The use of iPods, cell phones, and YouTube engaged the students, and the project promoted both leadership qualities, collaborative learning, and critical thinking skills. As the project introductory video explains, "It's critical for students to be connected to stories in their own backyard . . . and technology immediately attracted them."
John Brown's raid was polarizing, and historians continue to reexamine its meaning and impact. In researching and developing their project, students explored these controversial interpretations, examining contradictory primary sources and interviewing historians and current residents of the area. They explored the contours of the narrative: John Brown and 21 supporters (both black and white and including two of his sons) planned to seize the arms stored at the arsenal, then retreat into the Allegheny Mountains and fortify a base to encourage, assist, and defend additional slave insurrections and escapes.
Brown was an ardent and militant abolitionist, and in 1837 he declared, "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery." He aided fugitive slaves, worked with free blacks to resist the Fugitive Slave Law, and fought against proslavery forces in the battles of Bleeding Kansas leading the Pottawatomie Massacre in 1856—his response to pro-slavery attacks on settlers in Lawrence.
After Harpers Ferry, Brown envisioned an interracial, utopian community in the mountains with shared labor, shared resources, and shared property. It was a tall order for the small band of 22 men and it failed—not surprisingly in view of the numbers of civilians and members of the armed forces of the U.S government arrayed against Brown and his men. Brown was tried and executed for treason, murder, and fomenting insurrection.
The aftermath of Harpers Ferry reverberated throughout the nation, and the middle school students explored various responses to define their own opinions. Abolitionists called Brown a martyr and grieved at his execution; proslavery southerners believed him a madman, symbolic of the North's egregious intentions toward the south. Moderate abolitionists rejected his violent tactics, but supported his ideals. Abraham Lincoln called him a "misguided fanatic."
The student's research led most to conclude that John Brown was neither good nor bad, but a man committed to a cause, and their videos chart the processes and the path toward their conclusions. They also demonstrate that a useful historical argument isn't confined to text-based narrative: rap, music, reenactment and dance are among other interpretive methods. Presentations such as John Brown: Children of the Raid are among the videos that demonstrates the unique perspectives of historical inquiry students brought to their examination of primary sources (with background music from the Harpers Ferry Middle School Concert Band).
As part of the project, students wrote a letter to Malia and Sacha Obama, daughters of President Barack Obama, explaining their project and inviting them to the project opening. Don't miss press releases, process videos, and other background materials about the project.
Of the Student, By the Student, For the Student is the outcome of a variety of collaborative efforts to make history relevant to young people. It is a program created, developed, and sponsored by The Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership created at the request of the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) and Harpers Ferry National Historic Park.
Colonial Williamsburg's Bob Doares looks at the variety of religious views held by North American colonists, including pilgrims, Puritans, and others. He discusses the state of religion and its connections with politics in England at the time, the tensions between religious groups in the colonies, and the gradual development of the idea of religious freedom.
The East Tennessee Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the unique history of Eastern Tennessee and its people. To this end, the society operates the Museum of East Tennessee History. Permanent exhibits include a historical overview off the area, addressing the Cherokee, frontier life, the Civil War, the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, the Tennessee Valley Authority, country music, and the Civil Rights Movement. The museum also presents a recreated early 20th-century streetscape, including period dentist and drug store settings and an original streetcar.
The society offers exhibits, period rooms, genealogy workshops, school tours and scavenger hunts, curriculum-based programs, curriculum-based outreach programs, and educator workshops and summer institutes. The website offers lesson plans and genealogy resources for use in the classroom.
The William H. Seward House preserves four generations (1816-1951) of artifacts of daily life; and presents the life of William H. Seward (1801-1872), Governor of New York, U.S. Senator, Secretary of State under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, abolitionist, and organizer of the Republican Party. Seward was involved in the writing process of, and signed, the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation. The 1816 structure itself is Federal and Tuscan in style.
The house offers period rooms, tours, and brown bag lectures. Advance notification is required for groups of 10 or more.
Mary McLeod Bethune achieved her greatest national and international recognition at the Washington, D.C. townhouse that is now this Historic Site. It was the first headquarters of the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) and was her last home in Washington, D.C. From here, Bethune and the Council spearheaded strategies and developed programs that advanced the interests of African American women and the Black community.
The site offers tours and educational programs.