From Prejudice to Pride: An African-American Journey A Teacher Resource Guide to accompany the special temporary exhibit of the collections of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library.

IN CELEBRATION OF BLACK HISTORY MONTH...

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library (ALPL) will be exhibiting a photo- graphic display on African-American History, taken from the collections housed at the ALPL. The exhibit will be available for viewing from January 28-February 28, 2006 on the first and second floors of the Library Atrium. The exhibit covers a variety of topics relating to the history of African-Americans, including: plantation life, slavery and the underground railroad, family life, military service, arts and entertainment, politics and sports. This Teacher Resource Guide provides resources, activities and discussion questions to use in conjunction with the exhibit or in celebration of Black History Month.

In 1926, Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, OBJECTIVES LEARNING STANDARDS an African-American historian, writer, and educator, established Negro History Upon visitng this exhibit and The activities in this packet address the Week to honor the contributions of completing the activities in this following Learning Standards. African-Americans to American History. Resource Guide, students will be Language Arts Woodson chose February because the able to: birthdays of abolitionist Frederick Douglass State Goal 3: Write to communicate for a and President Abraham Lincoln fall in • Recognize the significant variety of purposes. this month. During the early 1970s, the State Goal 5: Use the language arts to ac- contributions African Americans have quire, assess and communicate information. name of the celebration was changed to Black History Week and, in 1976, it made to our state’s history. Social Sciences was expanded to Black History Month. • Explain the significance of Black State Goal 14: Understand political systems, Woodson is known as the “father of Black History Month. with an emphasis on the . History,” and his scholarly research and State Goal 16: Understand events, trends, • writings have made the study of Black Identify at least three significant individuals and movements shaping the history a legitimate and acceptable field of African Americans and their impact history of Illinois, the United States and academic inquiry. upon the history of Illinois. other nations. State Goal 18: Understand social stystems, • Critically analyze a historic pho- with an emphasis on the United States. tograph. Fine Arts • Recognize how historic artifacts State Goal 25: Know the language of the are powerful ties to the past and can be arts. State Goal 26: Through creating and per- used in the understanding and telling of forming, understand how works of art are historic stories. produced. State Goal 27: Understand the role of arts • Create a poem based upon their in civilizations, past and present. insights and feelings.

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum 212 North Sixth Street Springfield, IL 62701 www.alplm.org Illinois History Makers Throughout Illinois' long history, African-Americans have made significant contributions in all areas of our social, political, cultural and economic past. A few of those individuals are highlighted here; more are featured in the ALPL exhibit From Prejudice to Pride: An African-American Journey. Their stories are an inspiration and an integral part of our shared history.

Peters LLC in . He specializes In 1942, Washington married Nan- Politics in environmental, consumer affairs, and cy Dorothy Finch. The couple had no estate law. He was managing partner children and later divorced. At the time of the Chicago-based law firm of Jones, of his death in 1987, he was engaged to Roland Burris was born in Centra- Ware & Grenard, one of the largest Mary Ella Smith. lia, Illinois. He graduated from South- minority law firms in the country prior Washington’s long career began in ern Illinois University in Carbondale to his move to Buford and Peters. 1952 as an Assistant City Prosecutor. with a degree in political science in In 1965 he was elected as an Illinois 1959 and then studied at the University State Representative for the 26th District of Ham- and served until 1976. He moved on burg in Harold Washington was the first Afri- to the Illinois Senate, serving there from Germany can-American . His 1977 to 1980. He ran for Chicago for a many accomplishments included: Mayor in 1977 but received only 11% year. He • Creating the Ethics Commission of the vote. He then ran for Congress earned • Issuing an Executive Order increas- in the 1st District and served from 1981 his law ing minority business contracts to 1983. In 1983, Washington won the degree at • Opening government with a Free- Democratic primary, prevailing over the Howard dom of Information Executive Order incumbent mayor, Jane Byrne. He won Uni- • Leading the fight for Ward redistrict- the general election and was inaugurat- versity ing to provide more Black and Hispanic ed at Navy Pier on April 29, 1983. He in 1963. In 1963, Burris’s career representation was reelected in 1987. began with a position as a national • Fighting for equal provision of pub- On November 25, 1987, Harold bank examiner for the U. S. Treasury lic services; neighborhood street, curb Washington died of a heart attack at his Department. He was the first African- and gutter repair desk in his Chicago office. Thousands American to be a bank examiner in the • Encouraging neighborhood festivals of Chicago residents attended his wake United States. From 1964 to 1973 and projects in the lobby of City Hall. He is buried he was vice President of Continental • Leading the movement for Illinois’ in Oak Woods in Chicago. Illinois National Bank in Chicago. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday The Chicago Public Library system a member of Illinois Governor Dan bill. named Walker’s cabinet, he served as Director The youngest of four children, their of the Department of General Ser- Washington was born at Cook County new vices in 1973. He was elected as state Hospital in Chicago on April 15, 1922. central comptroller in 1978 and served three He attended schools in Chicago, but branch terms. Again he made history, this time did not receive a high school diploma build- as the first African-American elected to until after his military service. He was ing for state office. In 1990, he was elected decorated for bravery for his service in Mayor attorney general for the state of Illinois World War II. Washington graduated Wash- and served from 1991 to 1995. He ran from Roosevelt College (now Roosevelt ington, for three times, but University) in 1949 and earned his law and was unsuccessful in his bids. Since leav- degree in 1952 from Northeastern Uni- the Loop College, located in downtown ing public office, he now works as an versity in Evanston. Chicago, was renamed Harold Wash- attorney with the law firm, Buford and ington College as a memorial to him. 2 successful in the theater and performed Arts & Entertainment in many legendary Broadway produc- tions. She broke the stereo-typical In 1962 she was invited to a GWENDOLYN BROOKS portrayal of African-Americans with Library of Congress poetry festival by Gwendolyn Brooks was born on her role of a widowed housewife in the President John F. Kennedy. She taught June 7, 1917 in Topeka, Kansas. She Golddiggers (1933). The performance at many colleges, including Columbia moved to Chicago as a child and stayed earned her the title of “The New Negro College Chicago, Northeastern Illinois there until her death on December 3, Woman” by the African-American University, Elmhurst College, Columbia 2000. Her fame was primarily for her press. As her fame grew, President and University, Clay College of New York poetry, but she also wrote a novel, an Mrs. Roosevelt invited her to sing at the and the University of Wisconsin. autobiog- White House in 1933. She was named Poet Laureate of Il- raphy, and It is said that that George Gersh- linois in 1968. She received many other other works win thought of Etta as he wrote the awards, including the Frost Medal, the of prose. Her character of “Bess” in Shelley Memorial Award, an American poetry was and wanted her to star in the play in Academy of Arts and Letters Award, first published 1935. She declined the role because a National Endowment for the Arts in 1945 and she sang contralto and the role was for award, fellowships from the Academy in 1949, a soprano. She relented, taking the role of American Poets and the Guggenheim her book of in 1942 for which she became famous. Foundation, and from 1985 to 1986, poetry, Annie She went on to perform at many inter- she was a Consultant in Poetry to the Allen, won a national concerts and music festivals, Library of Congress. Pulitzer Prize, and her last performance was at a Dan- The Illinois State Library in Spring- the first won by an African-American ish concert in 1952. field was renamed the Gwendolyn woman. In 1933, she married Claude Bar- Brooks Building in 2003. Her poetry was based on the poor nett, founder of the Associated Negro and the people of the South Side of Press. They were married for 33 years Chicago. She began her work as a ETTA MOTEN BARNETT and traveled extensively in the 1950’s columnist for an African-American as members of the U.S. delegation to Etta Moten Barnett was born in newspaper, the Chicago Defender. The , where in 1957, she interviewed Texas on November 5, 1901. She style of her poems went from traditional a young Martin Luther King, Jr. on the married in the 1920’s but was later ballads to sonnets to using and occasion of Ghana’s independence from divorced. She and her three daughters rhythms in free verse. One of her most Great Britain. She served as a delegate moved in with her parents in Kansas so famous poems, “We Real Cool,” which for the U.S. at other ceremonies of in- she could attend college at the Univer- is considered more “blues and rhythms,” dependence for the countries of Nigeria, sity of Kansas where she majored in is used in many school textbooks. She Zambia, and Lusaka. voice and drama. A recital performance was considered by many as a leading She received many accolades in- her senior year earned her an invitation artist in the Black Arts movement. cluding honorary degrees from Spelman to join the celebrated Eva Jessy Choir According to editor, Elizabeth Al- College, Lincoln University, and the in New exander of the American Poets Project, University of Illinois. Other honors York, “she is nothing short of a technical included for Contributions to Ameri- which she virtuoso. That technical virtuosity was can Music by Atlanta University and a did upon matched by a restless curiosity about life scholarship in her name for minority gradua- all around her in all its explosive variety. students at the Chicago Academy for tion. By turns compassionate, angry, satiric, the Performing Arts. Etta Moten Bar- She and psychologically penetrating, Gwen- nett lived in Chicago until her death on became dolyn Brooks’ poetry retains its power January 3, 2004. to move and surprise.” 3 KATHERINE DUNHAM returned to the United States in 1967. of Fame, twelve-time NBA All Star, She changed her focus again and moved Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, Katherine Dunham was born in to East St. Louis, Illinois to become an and one of the fifty Greastest Players in 1909. She grew up in Chicago where artist-in-residence at Southern Illinois NBA History. He is still active in pro- she was influenced at an early age by University in Edwardsville. She began fessional basketball in managerial roles. her prox- a decade of work with neighborhood imity to and youth groups focusing on turn- the theater ing “hostility and anger into dance and and enter- Jesse Owens was one of the expression.” Among her many honors tainment. greatest track-and-field athletes of all she has received are the Kennedy Center Her desire time. Born in 1913 in Alabama, he Honors in 1983, the Scripps American to dance was the son of a sharecropper and the Dance Festival Award in 1986, the and per- grandson of a slave. Owens began Dance Magazine Award, the plaque form began competing at Ohio State, where he d’Honneur Haitian-American Chamber early, established a world record in the of Commerce Award, and the SIU however running broad jump and in the 100- Distinguished Service Award and her her family meter dash. He gained his greatest induction into the Black Filmmakers urged her fame at the Hall of Fame. The theater and arts to seek a career in teaching rather than Olympic building at Southern Illinois University dancing. Although she stayed with her Games Edwardsville has been named Dunham dance studies, she majored in anthropol- in Berlin Hall in her honor. ogy at the . As a where he result of her education in anthropology, won four and interest in dance, she searched for gold med- a way to combine the two fields. At Sports als in the the same time, she founded a company 100- and called, “Ballet Negre and the Negro ISIAH THOMAS 200-meter, Dance Group.” She eventually complet- Born in Chicago in 1961, Isiah the running ed a Ph.D. in anthropology and dance Thomas made a name for himself as broad jump, and as a member of the at the University of Chicago. a basketball player. Growing up in four hundred meter relay team. In Dunham explored the ritual dances, Illinois, each event he either set a world or music, and rhythm of the drums in he played Olympic record. His success helped Jamaican culture. She changed Ameri- for St. counter Adolph Hitler's German su- can dance by incorporating African and Joseph premacy theory of the "Master Race." Caribbean elements into her choreog- (West- Later, Owens played an active raphy. With her use of the culture, chester) role in youth athletic programs and geography, community, and rhythm as High ran his own public relations firm. part of the dance, she established herself School. Relocating to Chicago, he worked as as one of the creators of dance as part of He then a board member and director of the anthropology. played at Chicago Boys’ Club. In addition, he She appeared in seven films and Indiana served as the Sports Specialist of the choreographed many more. She left Univer- State of Illinois Youth Commission. Hollywood to establish the Katherine sity. Drafted in 1981 by the Detroit In 1976, President Ford presented Dunham Dance Company, where black Pistons, Thomas eventually played in Owens with the nation's highest civil- dancers could emphasize their own 979 pro games. He helped Detroit ian honor, the Medal of Freedom. culture through dance. win back-to-back NBA Champion- Owens died in 1980. In 1965 she was named advisor ships. Individual honors include the to the cultural ministry of Senegal and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall

4 procedures became standard for inter- Medicine nal surgeries. DR. DANIEL HALE WILLIAMS Daniel Hale Williams was born on Armed January 18, 1856 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. In 1880, he entered what is now known as Northwestern Services Uni- ELLSWORTH DANSBY versity Medical Ellsworth Dansby, of Decatur, School. Illinois, was always interesting in fly- program and was the second black Upon ing. He read everything about flying, person in the nation to be allowed gradua- and as a child, he threw himself from entry to the Air Corps. He began as tion, he a steep hill on a frame made with a technical school instructor and after opened bedsheets. When he was 12, he flew World War II started, he was pro- his own alone at an airstrip while his parents moted to flight status. medical were gone. Throughout high school, During World War II, Dansby office in Dansby won trophies for his design became the first African-American Chicago, and construction of aircraft and master sergeant and one of the Illinois. Williams quickly gained a power structures. “Tuskegee Airmen,” the nation’s first reputation for professionalism and Dansby wanted to enroll in black military fighter pilots. Later, he was appointed as a surgeon on the further training after high school, but was named to the Decatur Board of staff of the South Side Dispensary and his entrance was prohibited to any air Education and the Board of Directors then a clinical instructor in anatomy schools because he was black. How- of the Decatur/Macon County Op- at Northwestern. In 1889 he was ap- ever, in 1941 he was able to enlist portunities Corporation. Ellsworth pointed to the Illinois State Board of under a new U.S. Army Air Corps Dansby died in 1989. Health. On January 23, 1891 Daniel Hale Williams estab- lished the Provident Hospital More History Makers and Training School Associa- LOUIS ARMSTRONG ERNIE BANKS tion, an interracial hospital meant to serve members of ALBERTA HUNTER LENNY MOORE the community as a whole. The school also trained Black LORRAINE HANSBERRY JOSHUA JOHNSON nurses and utilized doctors of all races. MAHALIA JACKSON BOB LOVE Williams is also known as the first American to JOE LOUIS OTIS B. DUNCAN perform open heart surgery when, in 1893, he opened JERSEY JOE WALCOTT WES HAMILTON the chest of a stab wound victim and sutured his peri- SUGAR RAY ROBINSON cardium (the sac surround- ing the heart). The patient recovered completely and Williams’

5 Discussion Questions The following questions can be used before, during or after your tour of the ALPL exhibit From Preju- dice to Pride: An African-American Journey.

1. Visit the exhibit From Prejudice to Pride. How is the title of the exhibit reflected in the photographs on display? Use examples from the exhibit to support your answer. 2. Choose three individuals featured in the exhibit From Prejudice to Pride. Write an essay on the importance of these individuals to African-American history. 3. Identify an African-American prominent in today’s society (Jesse White, Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey are a few examples). Write an essay on his/her life, career, achievements and significance. 4. How might the individuals in this exhibit have paved the way for today’s influential African-Americans? Name specific individuals or events in your answer.

Activities The following activities can be used before, during or after your tour of the ALPL exhibit From Preju- dice to Pride: An African-American Journey.

1. Use the Photograph Analysis Sheet in this packet to analyze photographs in the exhibit From Prejudice to Pride. 2. Create a class binder on Illinois’ African-American History Makers. Have each student choose an individual featured in the exhibit and write a biographical essay about their life. Find pictures or quotes, or create a drawing of or about that person to make the essays colorful and eye catching. Gather your class essays together in a binder for your classroom. 3. Watch clips from movies featuring African-American actors over several decades. How are African-Americans portrayed in films? Has their portrayal changed over time? 4. Create a mural or collage depicting famous African- Americans and their role in Illinois History. 5. Create a “Today in African- American History….” calendar. Research important dates in African-American history and record them on a calendar for your classroom. 6. Create a trivia quiz for your classmates from the African- American Chronology at http://www.illinoishistory. gov/lib/GenPrideAfAm.htm. 7. Organize a Black History Month event at your school.

6 Analyze a Photograph The exhibit From Prejudice to Pride: An African-American Journey utilizes photographs from the collections of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. To fully understand the exhibit, it is important to know how to "read" a historic photograph. In this activity, use your powers of observation and interpretation to examine a photograph from the exhibit.

Name______Observation Study the photograph carefully. Fill in the chart with the appropriate information

People Objects Activities

What is the subject of this photograph?

Inference Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this photograph.

1.

2.

3.

Knowledge Why is this photograph important to history?

What do you know about this time period or event?

Questions What questions does this photograph raise in your mind?

What resources would you use to fi nd the answers to them?

Activities Write a diary or journal entry or write a newspaper article as a companion to the photograph. Bring a photograph to class and ask your classmates to analyze it. What does it reveal about you and your family history?

7 From Prejudice to Pride: An African-American Journey Poetry in the Exhibit

MATERIALS We Real Cool • 15-20 index cards per group by Gwendolyn Brooks • Marker or pen • Paper The Pool Players Seven at the Golden Shovel PROCEDURE

We real cool. We • Divide students into groups of four or five. Left school. We • Visit the exhibit From Prejudice to Pride: An African-American Journey. • Identify one student to be the recorder. This student will carry the Lurk late. We index cards. Strike straight. We • As the group views the exhibit, ask them to identify words that de- scribe the exhibit or their feelings upon viewing the exhibit. Be sure to Sing sin. We choose nouns, adverbs and adjectives. The recorder will write each word Thin gin. We on one index card. • Once the group has come up with approximately twenty words, have Jazz June. We the students lay the cards out on the floor and arrange them to create a Die soon. free-form poem. They do not need to use all the words. • When the group is satisfied with their poem, ask them to copy it onto paper and read it aloud for the rest of the class.

Online Resources

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum http://www.alplm.org

African-American Chronology http://www.illinoishistory.gov/lib/GenPrideAfAm.htm

African-Americans in Illinois http://www.illinoishistory.gov/lib/AfAmHist.htm

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum 212 North Sixth Street Springfield, IL 62701 www.alplm.org