Hello Everyone!<\/p>\n
Kristen here – and I’m honored to pen the final blog post for our Social Studies class. During yesterday’s walk to see archival content, the weather was gorgeous, warm and breezy with a hazy watercolor sky. Blooming trees and tulips reminded \u00a0me of Easter Sunday, which is coming up this next weekend. The promise of summer is in the air. The weather had me thinking about students in Prince Edward County, and how their school strike took place on Monday, April 23, 1951, almost exactly 74 years ago.<\/p>\n
Reading Students on Strike: Jim Crow, Civil Rights, Brown, and Me<\/em>, a memoir by John A. Stokes, really colored the world of Jim Crow laws in rural Virginia, and created context for the student boycott at Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, VA. I’ll be honest – even though I had learned about Brown vs. Board many times, I didn’t understand the nuance of all of the five different cases that were part of the suit. If only a few things had gone differently, Robert Russa Moton High School may not have been part of this historical landmark ruling that ordered the desegregation of schools. In 1951, \u00a0John Stokes was a teenager who lived on a farm and farmed with his ox, Ned. John was a boy scout and a hard worker, respected by his classmates and neighbors. Seeing the world through John’s eyes helped me understand what was at stake for him and for his classmates. Running water, central heat, and indoor plumbing – these basic utilities were missing from most black schools in rural Virginia in 1951. Planning, organization, and careful thought went into the strike, and students used the Manhattan Project as their inspiration for the layers of secrecy. Despite trying channels of diplomacy and outreach with community leaders, the students were turned down, and realized that the courts were their best option to improve the quality of their schools. Supporters of the strike paid a heavy price, with jobs lost and repercussions in town for parents depending on local businesses. Schools closed for 6 years in Prince Edward County, resulting in The Lost Generation– but Brown vs. Board enabled a better education outcome for all students, and a start to de-segregating young people based on race.<\/p>\n There are so many wonderful tie ins for this book that could be used with students. Students could be asked what they have in common with John Stokes– is anyone in their family a boy scout, or interested in farming or plants? I would ask them to make a T-chart (What I Think vs. What I Know) about what they think was true about schools in the 1950’s, and compare it to what we read about in the book. Students could compare their lives in school today with the daily life of the students at Robert Russa Moton High School, to talk about change over time.<\/p>\n This all leads me to my questions for our class. What is a way to bring the Jim Crow time period alive for students? Is there a way you could tie in a lesson about The Manhattan Project or The Lost Generation, each of which was featured in the book? How could you incorporate primary sources, including visual aids to help students understand what was at stake for this strike?<\/p>\n Thanks again for reading, and I look forward to seeing your responses!<\/p>\n -Kristen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello Everyone! Kristen here – and I’m honored to pen the final blog post for our Social Studies class. During yesterday’s walk to see archival content, the weather was gorgeous, warm and breezy with a hazy watercolor sky. Blooming trees … Continue reading