Students launch the second unit with a Build Background Knowledge protocol, reading short informational texts and examining visual art to further develop their sense of the social and political context of the Harlem Renaissance. They explore the context of the Harlem Renaissance, noting how the Harlem Renaissance occurred during the Great Migration, Jim Crow laws, and the racial violence of post-Civil War America. Students read two short stories, “His Motto” by Lottie Burrell Dixon and “The Boy and the Bayonet” by Paul Laurence Dunbar. Students explore character, plot, setting, theme, language, and point of view in these short stories. Additionally, students discuss how both stories develop themes about working hard to achieve dreams and how community helps to bring out our best selves. For the mid-unit assessment, students examine the third part of “The Boy and the Bayonet” for how particular elements of a story interact and how the author develops and contrasts the points of view of different characters.

In the second half of the unit, students continue to explore the context of the Harlem Renaissance by analyzing how the theme of looking to the past for strength and hope connects examples of its artwork and text. Students begin this work by examining a model literary argument essay, discussing how three pieces of work from the Harlem Renaissance are connected by this theme. Next, students study the introduction, Proof Paragraphs, and conclusion of the model literary argument essay as they work collaboratively to plan and write their own pair literary argument essay. This pair essay explores the theme of how collaboration and community bring out the best in people. In the end of unit assessment, students independently write their own literary argument essay about how three works from the Harlem Renaissance are connected by the theme of dreams giving life meaning and purpose.

Can we “find fuel for the future in the past”? Poet Nikki Grimes asks this question in her poem “Emergency Measures,” the first in her collection One Last Word: Wisdom from the Harlem Renaissance. As Grimes does in her book, students will spend the module pondering the wisdom from works created during the Harlem Renaissance. First students will explore scenes and songs from a play, poems, and artwork to experience the explosion of creativity and ideas of collaboration and innovation. Then students examine political artwork and cartoons, informative articles, and short stories to explore the social and political context of the Harlem Renaissance. Finally, students explore the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance, turning back to Nikki Grimes and her collection of poems crafted with lines from Harlem Renaissance poets. Students consider whether they and contemporary writers, singers, and musicians truly can “find fuel for the future in the past.”

In Unit 1, students explore collaboration in the Harlem Renaissance, noting how the Harlem Renaissance was an explosion and confluence of art, music, and literature. Students first examine scenes and songs from the Broadway musical Shuffle Along, experiencing this celebratory text that transformed American musical theater and was created through the collaboration of Eubie Blake, Noble Sissle, F. E. Miller, and Aubrey Lyles. Students analyze how the musical and textual techniques in the play affect meaning and develop themes such as love persevering through tough times. Similarly, students explore the thematic connections of triumph over hardships in the poem “Lift Every Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson and the song and sculpture inspired by the text. Students then analyze iconic poems such as “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” by Langston Hughes, “Calling Dreams” and “Hope” by Georgia Douglas Johnson, and Claude McKay’s “I Shall Return.” In each of these poems, students analyze the structure, figurative language, and themes such as drawing strength from the past and overcoming adversity to fulfill one’s dreams. Students conclude their exploration of collaboration and cultural confluence in a collaborative discussion comparing McKay’s poem to artwork by Meta Warrick Fuller and Winold Reiss for thematic connections around drawing strength from and longing for home or Africa.

In Unit 2, students explore the social and political context of the Harlem Renaissance by reading short informational texts and examining visual art. Students learn how the Harlem Renaissance occurred during the era of the Great Migration, Jim Crow laws, and the racial violence of post-Civil War America. They then read two short stories, “His Motto” by Lottie Burrell Dixon and “The Boy and the Bayonet” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, analyzing point of view and the interactions between story elements, such as character, plot, and setting. Additionally, students discuss how both stories develop themes about working hard to achieve dreams and how community helps to bring out our best selves. Students continue their exploration of the Harlem Renaissance context by engaging with literary argument writing. Students examine a model literary argument essay then write pair and independent essays, discussing how three pieces of work from the Harlem Renaissance are connected by themes such as looking to the past for strength, collaboration and community to bring out one’s best self, and dreams giving life meaning and purpose.

In Unit 3, students explore the contemporary legacy of the Harlem Renaissance by examining short informational and literary texts, visual art, and performances to further develop their sense of how the Harlem Renaissance continues to impact us today. To develop their background knowledge about this legacy, students analyze Nikki Grimes’ poem “Emergency Measures,” original artwork associated with the poem, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s ballet, “Uptown,” which was inspired by the people, places, art, music, and writing of the Harlem Renaissance. Then students study several of Nikki Grimes’ poems in conjunction with the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance, learning how Grimes uses lines from poets such as Langston Hughes and Georgia Douglas Johnson to create her own poems which develop themes similar to those of the Harlem Renaissance but in a contemporary context. Students continue their exploration of the legacy of the Harlem Renaissance by creating a museum exhibit, which includes three pieces from the Harlem Renaissance and one contemporary piece that they have studied or created themselves. Students write a curator’s statement explaining how the works are connected by theme and create labels discussing the details of structure, language, and theme in each piece. Students practice and revise the presentation of their curator’s statements and labels preparing for the Harlem Renaissance museum, in which students contribute to making a better world by sharing these important works with their community.

In this activity, students watch the ASHP documentary Up South: African-American Migration in the Era of the Great Warwith documents and exercises designed to support and reinforce the documentary's key concepts of Jim Crow, lynching, sharecropping, migration, and life in northern cities. At the end of the activity, students complete a short writing task on how life changed and how it stayed the same for migrants, and how they tried to improve their lives in the North.

In this activity students examine documents from the period of the First Great Migration of African Americans to the North. As they look at the documents, they take notes to build a character of a migrant. Then they create a scrapbook that shows their characters' personal journeys and experiences during the Great Migration. This activity can be part of a unit that includes the film Up South: African-American Migration in the Era of the Great War. Students will need art supplies such as construction paper, tape or glue, scissors, and markers to make the scrapbooks.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Great Migration. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Discusses the history of the African American community in Hartford, Connecticut, in terms of the migration of former slaves to the city right after the end of the Civil War. Also discusses a second wave of migration as African Americans moved north from the rural south to Hartford in the 1890s at the onset on the Great Migration.

Essay focussing on African American Christianity from emancipation to the great migration. Site offers photos, student discussion guidelines, historian debate and links to related material.

Background information on the African American troops in the 369th Infantry accompanied by teaching activities that allows students to analyze photographs and use the information in many curricular connections.

An analysis of the reasons why blacks moved north around the time of World War I. An article by Emmett J. Scott (1873-1957), who for a time served as Booker T. Washington's personal secretary, is linked to this resource.

Collection of 11 primary resources exploring the migrations made by African Americans in the 20th Century and the effects they had. Includes text links, notes and questions for discussion.

U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Identify the factors that prompted African American and European immigration to American cities in the late nineteenth century
Explain the discrimination and anti-immigration legislation that immigrants faced in the late nineteenth century

The Unladylike2020 Collection honors the centennial of women's suffrage. These digital resources present the rich history of 26 little-known Progressive Era women, diverse in profession, race, ethnicity, geographical and class backgrounds, sexual orientation and gender expression, who broke barriers in then-male-dominated fields. Touching on topics such as the labor movement, immigration, politics, civil rights, and women's suffrage, these resources develop students' historical thinking skills and help them make connections between past and present. In This Collection: Video (70), Media Gallery (2), Webpage (2), Interactive Lesson (7), Interactive (7) for Grades 6-8, 9-12

Professor Kate Rushin describes the Harlem Renaissance as a large social and cultural movement fueled by many factors in this video from A Walk Through Harlem.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the impact of women blues performers. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.