Lesson Plan, Activity, Video, Collection Primary Sources: School Segregation
- Grade Level 3rd-5th Grade
- Time Period Late 1800s
Introduction
This set of resources explores primary sources related to school segregation, focusing on the Tape v. Hurley case of 1885. Through lesson plans, historical articles, and activities, students will investigate how sources from the past reveal societal values and attitudes regarding school segregation and civil rights.
LESSON PLAN
Asian American Education Project: Lesson: Activity 4: Analyzing Primary and Secondary Sources in Redefine American Unit
PRIMARY SOURCES
California Digital Newspaper Collection: “Board of Education…Chinese Mother’s Letter” article from Daily Alta California v38 No. 12786 (April 16, 1885)
VIDEOS
PBS: Activity 1: “The Fight Against School Segregation” including excerpt from Asian Americans
For more information about Mamie Tape, see:
LOC: “Before Brown v Board of Education, There was Tape v. Hurley” (May 5, 2021)
New York Historical Society: Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion exhibit: “We Have Always Lived as Americans”
Essential Questions
What can sources (e.g., photographs, advertisements, letters, news reports) from the past teach us about
what life was like at the time?
What are things to notice in the sources to reveal that information?
What do they tell us about what people thought and valued?