Tag: Historical perspective

Book Review: A Brief History of France: People, History, and Culture, by Cecil Jenkins

A Brief History of France: People, History, and Culture, by Cecil Jenkins (Philadelphia, PA: Running Press.  2011)

Reviewed by Dr. Thomas Hansen, Ph.D

In 15 information-filled chapters, Jenkins gives us a decent amount of French history in a short book.  Chapter One is called “Cro-Magnon Man, Roman Gaul and the Feudal Kingdom,” and the last chapter is called “France in the New Global Order.”  By chapter 6 we are already reading about Napoleon, so if that is any indication of the coverage here you know that means most of the book is about the last few hundred years and not about Cro-Magnons or Romans or Celts.  If you want more emphasis on those guys, you have to seek a different book.

Jenkins is a great writer, and he not only uses clever turns of phrase.  He also uses a great deal of humor and fun in his writing.  The book is enjoyable to read.  I hold a BA in French Language & Literature, but I found a huge amount of information here I had not expected and had not known about before reading the book.

The book is really quite funny, at points.  For example, on page 28, Jenkins explains, “Again, the old practice of dividing estates among the sons, which had created so many problems with the royal succession, caused continual private wars among the minor nobles who had often little else to do but strike knightly attitudes.”

This striking-a-pose reference is typical of the funny ways Jenkins tells us in more modern terms what went on in the French past.  See, also, the mention of Philippe IV’s “cold good looks (p. 33) and the “déjà vu all over again” discussion on page 72 and the bitchiness notes on page 75.

Without giving too much of the actual content away, I will say here that the framework of French history gives Jenkins a wonderful playground to exercise in.  He enjoys writing about this topic, obviously, and the reader will enjoy finding out about some of the more interesting and sometimes weird passages of time within the French world.’

Teachers of social studies and of history will probably like the book because of its approach and clever language.  More advanced students—especially those who know something of French history—may like this also.  It is not a very basic review of French history, however.  It does demand some overall familiarity with the topic so that the reader can follow what is happening.  I have read some other similar books recently on history of countries I knew little about and feel for those who read this one if they are not somewhat versed in French history.

This is a brief history, indeed, and best for those who need a good review and an exciting read about the topic.  I recommend the book especially for Francophiles who want another perspective.  This point of view is certainly refreshing.

Book Review: Britain Begins by Barry Cunliffe

Britain Begins by Barry Cunliffe (London: Oxford University Press.  2013)

Reviewed by Dr. Thomas Hansen, Ph.D

The author tells the story here of both England and Ireland because they cannot be separated easily.  Since the very beginning of humans’ time in that part of the world, both lands and cultures were connected.  It is that united history that leads the way in this incredible story of the sometimes icy, sometimes verdant northern reaches of civilization.

The reader will find here exciting and revealing chapters in the history of movements throughout the pre-historic, Celtic, Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Norman, and modern times of the isles.  There are clear and helpful illustrations, and there is enough information here to fill any semester-long course on the history of England, or rather Albion, as it was first called by those who were using formal language.

The author paints rich stories onto a canvas of what was once a chilly ice-covered region and which came to be a world power.  The author makes use of language, tools, science, history, and other major fields to tell about the different eras of the isles.

The years of the Celts are very intriguing ones, indeed.  Cunliffe speaks of the idea that there were two entirely distinct waves of movement among them—including Iberia, Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales (pp. 248-249).  He also speaks to the idea that the Celts started in the north and later in one era migrated as a large group southward to Brittany (p. 428).  He has a number of additional theories related to this and other good examples of “movement.”

Another very interesting idea is that language, culture, and tools were shared up and down the west coast of Europe and up between the isles—a sort of “Atlantic” civilization (p. 344) emerging over time among the Celts.  This explains linguistic and other hints pointing to migrations and movements up and down the coast—as opposed to some earlier notions of “Spanish” Celts trudging only northward to the further reaches of what came to be the UK.

Cunliffe talks about the notion of Celts moving southward—starting in Scotland and Ireland and coming down into Europe along the Atlantic.  The author uses many different sorts of proof to advance this theory, at the same time he asks additional questions.    

Teachers will be able to use this big book in a variety of ways.  First and foremost, it is important personal reading for any teacher interested in social studies in general and in the history of English-speaking people specifically.  Understanding the history of northwest Europe is helpful in understanding the intricate connections among the Celts and Europeans, the British and the Irish, and the Scandinavian and Germanic stock among the English.

Another important use is for helping students understand the power of “movement” among peoples, the conflicts created and agreements forged, and the resulting cultural and linguistic differences and similarities resulting from peoples coming into contact.  The notion of movement relates also to the traveling ideas, tools, traditions, names, weapons, foods, trades, and books, later.  Any standards and benchmarks related to movement are connected through teacher use of this book as a reference and resource.

Yet another good use of this volume is a textbook for a college-level course in history, of course.  Because it covers so very much information, it could also be used as a summer reading project for advanced rising college freshman students needing timely non-fiction reading. 

Those four uses of the book can be joined by another one I propose here: coffee table teaser.  It would be interesting to set this in plain view and see who would pick it up and want to start reading it.  It has a beautiful green cover.  There are in fact many photos, drawings, and illustrations inside.  The cover just might draw in some unsuspecting readers.

Book Review: !Brigadistas! An American Anti-Fascist in the Spanish Civil War edited by Miguel Ferguson, Anne Timmons, Paul Buhle, and Fraser Ottanelli

!Brigadistas! An American Anti-Fascist in the Spanish Civil War edited by Miguel Ferguson, Anne Timmons, Paul Buhle, and Fraser Ottanelli (Monthly review Press, 2022).

(Review by Anika Amin, St. Ann’s, Brooklyn)

 ¡Brigadistas! is a graphic novel about the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). It tells the story of three friends from Brooklyn, New York who travel to Spain where they join the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. The book was super descriptive and did not include unnecessary details. This made it comprehensive but still clear and intelligible. The moments about the effects of the war and the regular people it affected were extremely powerful. The descriptions of the war’s effects on children and people who were not soldiers made the graphic novel very impactful. There could have even been more of these moments included to reinforce the significance. Overall it was informative, clear, and very powerful. Although it was very clear, it could have made it easier to read if it had chapters or sections. Breaking up the text and providing landmarks throughout the story could have also made it easier to follow. Additionally, depending on the target age group, some of the terms and concepts could have been explained more to keep the writing flowing. Overall it was great to read and it presented important and difficult topics in an understandable way.

Book Review: The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood

The Sewing Girl’s Tale: A Story of Crime and Consequences in Revolutionary America by John Wood

Sweet (Henry Holt) uses the trial of the accused rapist, Harry Bedlow, of a seventeen-year-old seamstress named Lanah Sawyer in 1793 to analyze New York City’s social hierarchy during the early republic. Alexander Hamilton was part of Bedlow’s legal team. Bedlow’s      acquittal[1]  after the jury deliberated for only fifteen minutes sparked riots in the streets and ignited a vigorous debate about class privilege and sexual double standards. Sawyer received some justice when her stepfather won a civil suit against Bedlow and the family was awarded a significant sum. The book received a Bancroft Award from the American Historical Association.

Book Review: The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution by Benjamin Carp

The Great New York Fire of 1776: A Lost Story of the American Revolution by Benjamin Carp (Yale University Press, 2023).

In many ways, New York City was the strategic center of the Revolutionary War. During the summer of 1776, George Washington threatened to burn the city rather than let the British take it and shortly after the Crown’s forces took New York City, more than one-fifth of the city mysteriously burned to the ground. This book examines the Great Fire of 1776 and why its origins remained a mystery even after the British investigated it in 1776 and 1783. Benjamin Carp paints a vivid picture of the chaos, passions, and unresolved tragedies that define a historical moment we usually associate with “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Carp is a professor of history at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center. He is the author of Defiance of the Patriots: The Boston Tea Party and the Making of America and Rebels Rising: Cities and the American Revolution.

The Usage of Film in Teaching History through the Lens of the Civil Rights Movement

The Usage of Film in Teaching History through the Lens of the Civil Rights Movement

Elizabeth Sullivan

Film, in the wake of the 21st Century, has become a highly popular type of media to portray historical events. Society has evolved to a point in which it is a visual culture. No longer are we represented by oral and written means; visual communication is much more popular. Traditional school experiences juxtapose this idea. Students are still bound by books and written texts in order to receive information. Educators need to be willing to continue to learn how to introduce new modes of expression in their classroom.

Topics like the Civil Rights Movement are often whitewashed in educational texts. Because most films are produced outside of K-12 schooling environments, producers are able to recreate controversial situations, relationships, and people. This paper will provide summaries and analyses of three modern films depicting different aspects of the American Civil Rights movement. It will then discuss why showing these films in classrooms are worthwhile.

Introducing the films

Historical film projects have created controversial figures and taken controversial figures and turned them into likable characters. The Civil Rights movement has been portrayed in film time and time again, each with a slightly different take. The Help tells the story of a White woman in Jackson recording the stories of Black maids, and ultimately publishes them. This film creates white saviors, a specific character type in media, often seen in pieces that discuss issues pertaining to people of color. One Night in Miami focuses on four prominent Black men in the 1960s; Malcolm X takes the main stage. The film wrestles with Malcolm’s stiff exterior and anxious personal life. Selma tells the story of the Selma Marches in 1964. The film highlights Martin Luther King’s actions and how they led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Each protagonist in these three films is understood by audiences differently. How a Civil Rights activist is appreciated in film greatly depends on the general public’s pre-existing opinion of the character. Regardless of a production team’s goals, an activist’s infamy or other characteristics influence the audience.

The Help

The Help was directed by Taylor Tate and released in 2011, grossing $216 million worldwide and receiving positive reviews from critics.[1] The movie takes place in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s.[2] Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan, a new college graduate, wants to become a writer. She is given the chance to have a book published, but the story hinges on Black maids being willing to speak to her about their experiences working for White families. The issue lies in finding Black help that was willing to risk their livelihoods for Skeeter’s writing.[3] Minny Jackson begins to work for Celia Foote after being fired by a different White woman.[4] After gathering enough stories, Skeeter publishes her book, which is a massive hit. Skeeter chooses to stay in Jackson instead of moving to New York City with the promise of a job in a publishing agency.[5]

Hollywood has a tendency to find a newsworthy topic and exploit it; despite the Civil Rights Movement being a “hot” topic in America for decades, it was mostly left out of the film industry.[6] However, in recent years, stories about the era of civil rights have graced screens. The development of white savior stories has become prevalent in American films. These stories amplify (or overamplify) a white character’s influence regarding issues faced by people of color.[7] The white character rescues non-white characters, often learning more about the problem than they originally knew and evaluating how they contributed to the problem. It makes the white character appear as the hero of the story, despite the size of their role, or the danger the characters of color face fighting issues.

The Help created two white savior characters: Skeeter and Celia. The women become white saviors through different experiences. Skeeter is meant to be portrayed as a young woman who does a great service by exposing the nature of treatment White employers subjected their Black help to. She does this without realizing the importance of what she is doing. The film also emphasizes how she will be viewed in the White community, breezing past the reality Black women will face if the location of the book is revealed. Skeeter’s risks are overplayed (especially because she is promised a job if the book sells well) while the maid’s risks are underplayed, painting Skeeter ultimately as the hero of the film. This imagery is only furthered as Skeeter chooses not to accept her dream job working in a New York publishing firm to stay in Jackson and help the women who gave her stories for her book.

Celia is slightly different. She hires Minny after being unable to find help for her house. She wants to impress her husband and the women of Jackson. She treats Minny with kindness and does not seem to grasp certain societal expectations, like the help and employers eating at different tables and the help and employers not being “friends.” During one specific scene, Celia takes Minny by the arm, walks her into the house, and offers her a coke.[8] In another scene, Celia and her husband offer Minny a meal (prepared by Celia) at their dining room table.[9] The film alludes to the idea that because of Celia’s kindness, Minny’s problems are lessened or completely gone. This then creates the idea that a white woman’s kindness solves issues that are systemic racial issues, when in reality, Minny and the rest of the Black community face issues that could only be corrected through legislative changes.

However, different from most narratives, both of these characters are women. By regendering the white savior, two things occur. The first is the idea that they may not be able to be saviors because they also come from oppressed communities. Because they are not men, it is assumed they do not have the power to overcome societal beliefs regarding their own womanhood, let alone fight against anti-Blackness. The second is that they become harder to identify because of tropes surrounding what a woman is supposed to be and how she is supposed to act.[10] Both of these women hold stereotypical traits, such as kindness and empathy. Celia also yearns to be a mother, another trait that has been associated with femininity. Because they have “female” characteristics, audiences need to decipher what aspects are stereotypes and which are aspects of the white savior trope.

Despite having stereotypical personality traits, the women defy traditional womanhood in different ways, making it easy to see how they fill their white-savior roles. Skeeter is considered a tom-boy; she is a college graduate who does not plan to marry until she has established her career. She grew up in Jackson and, after graduating from college, returned, continuing to be well-liked until she gave a voice to Black maids.[11] Celia moved to Jackson and married her husband because of an unplanned pregnancy. She is also one of the loudest women in the movie, trying to push herself into Jackson’s social circle. Until hiring Minny, she did not have help in her house. Because of this, she is regarded as an outsider by most White women but yearns to be accepted.[12]

Ultimately, the regendering of the white savior in The Help created a character that was not as easily identified as in other films, such as Green Book and Hidden Figures. The two women appear as outcasts who do not fully understand societal roles, instead of two women extending a hand to the Black community in Jackson. The audience feels its heartstrings being tugged at as Celia is outcasted by other women in Jackson, both because of her own identity and because she hired Minny.[13] Skeeter is threatened by another White woman after realizing that the book featured her home.[14] If Skeeter and Celia had been written as male characters, it is much more likely that this character trope would be more apparent. As a result, Skeeter and Celia become characters that are endearing to the audience; the two women are effective in their roles of “hero.”

One Night in Miami

Starkly different from the two White women of The Help are the four men of Regina King’s One Night in Miami. More specifically, the four Black men in the film. Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown, and Cassius Clay (more famously known as Muhammad Ali) are the focus of this 2020 film. It was released directly to Amazon Prime Video streaming, receiving glowing reviews from critics and the general audience.[15]

The four men unite in Miami, Florida in 1964 to watch Cassius Clay box in the championship round.[16] After Clay wins, the men return to X’s motel room to celebrate. Instead of celebrating, the men have a serious night. Coming from different backgrounds (one activist, one football player, one singer, and one boxer) the men have curt conversations about the Civil Rights Movement and Black support of the movement. Paranoia, racism, and Islamophobia are all commented on in the film, as Malcolm criticizes his friends but also speaks to them about his decision to leave the Nation of Islam.[17]

Going into production, director Regina King had a unique problem. How does one create a positive protagonist out of a man disliked or misunderstood by many Americans? Malcolm X’s legacy is often misinterpreted or never properly learned. Media pushes X’s original ideas, many of which the Nation of Islam was responsible for propagating. The figure seen in much of American media is a representation of Malcolm X prior to his revelation about black and white segregation, “white devils,” and many of his polarizing ideas.[18] King directed a film that humanized X, showing anxiety, paranoia, and friendship as a way to create a likable (or at least neutral) film character.

Casual Islamophobia arises throughout the film as X’s friends Cooke and Brown try to discourage Clay from converting to Islam; Muslims do not drink, smoke, or “have fun.”[19] If a friend does not accept you for something as personal as religion, it makes an onlooker feel sorry. This usage of stereotyping lends itself to the audience feeling empathetic toward Malcolm X.

One Night in Miami was a refreshing media perspective of Malcolm X. The film shows how Malcolm was a polarizing figure but did not villainize him, which is an overarching theme across Hollywood film. The activist has been painted as one who advocated for violence, black-and-white separation, and the Nation of Islam. Time and time again, the media forgets that X gave up those ideas after his journey to Mecca to complete Hajj, an important Muslim pilgrimage. He gave a voice to “the subterranean fury, [gave] it a voice, not a gun… and [staved] off the rising violence with which he and every human being must struggle when men are brutalized by men.”[20] However, it is important to keep in mind that many audience members may not have this complex understanding of X and how his ideas evolved before his assassination. The movie ultimately portrays this; Malcolm Xnever advocates for the men to pick up arms and storm cities, he implores his friends to use their fame and resources as a voice for the voiceless.[21]

One Night in Miami also does an excellent job of portraying Malcolm X as the man most people know. Known for being strong-headed throughout his life, Malcolm X is presented as a man firm in his stances and was not afraid to tell someone if they did not align with what he thought was right. Because of this, he was often seen as judgmental towards his friends and American society.[22] He and Sam Cooke butt heads several times as Malcolm chastises him for not doing enough for the Black community and Civil Rights Movement. “…He longed for peace and believed it could only come when men were honest with each other.”[23]

This chastisement could turn audiences against Malcolm X, or there could be a moment of realization that he was not the man that the media at the time painted him as. Shortly after his assassination, James Loomis wrote to the editor of the New York Times explaining that Malcolm X was not the violent figure that White media made him out to be during his life. Loomis did admit that the activist was set in his ways; he set the way for future Civil Rights activists “much as the Old Testament laid the foundation for the New Testament.”[24] If a film viewer was somewhat familiar with X after his Hajj, they would understand, much as Loomis did, that X’s original separatist ideas were not the ideas that he died with. One Night in Miami portrays Malcolm X in a light that allows the audience to better understand his purpose, looking past the “harsh” exterior of his words.

Selma

Selma was directed by Ava DuVernay and released in 2014. It was popular with critics and well-liked by general audiences, grossing more than $66 million worldwide.[25] The film opens in 1963 with four girls running down a stairway. A bomb is set off, killing all four girls; the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing sets the emotional tone for the remaining film.[26] It then moves to 1965 in Selma, Alabama, where Black Americans are being turned away from voting. Martin Luther King Jr. was called down to help advocate for voting rights legislation that would protect Black Americans from poll taxes and tests.[27] After arriving in Selma, he quickly butts heads with local activist groups. There are several scenes in which King meets with President Lyndon B. Johnson to pressure him to pass voting rights legislation.[28] Eventually, King and other activists plan to walk from Selma to the state capitol, Montgomery. During the first attempt, protestors are brutally beaten by police officers and rush back to Selma to escape said violence.[29] During the second march, King decides to turn the group around to avoid traps set by police or White aggressors along the way.[30] Finally, backed by the state, King and thousands of protestors completed the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.[31] The movie closes with the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and King’s speech in Montgomery.[32]

King had relationships with powerful White individuals, such as President Johnson. Often, an activist who has this kind of support will be much more successful in their cause because it seems reasonable. Selma highlighted these relations, showing the president and his advisors in several scenes.[33] This association implies backing from the federal government. It creates a positive air around King, something that the audience can recognize and absorb.

Martin Luther King gathered more support than other activists during the Civil Rights Movement. As seen in Selma, King directs a group and few and far in between are the decisions made by the other members. Even fewer are activists not in King’s posse. Malcolm X, for example, was mentioned but never seen. [34] President Johnson makes a negative comment about X, saying King is better suited for the American people because he is not as radical.[35] The audience can speculate who Johnson means when he says “American people,” but if the president sees King as a more palatable Black activist, it can be assumed that America is synonymous with White and not all Americans. Little else is said about X; his ideas, policies, speeches, and actions are not mentioned. If an audience member has little knowledge about the other activist, it is likely that they would have a much more positive thought process about King and his actions from there on.

Selma, much like the other two films, casts its main protagonist in a neutral, if not positive light. However, part of this positive atmosphere around King may have been from the lack of other important stars in the Selma March. The film never refers to the other celebrities that came down to Alabama, many of whom were actors. The decision to not feature more of Hollywood in Selma enlarges the light shown on King.[36] This issue continues throughout the film; DuVernay wanted to create a “‘demonstration of our moral certainty’ – sacred art,” so, while she wanted to produce a history piece, she had other motives.[37]

By creating a piece about King and the people of Selma, the director chose to eliminate other aspects of the historical narrative.[38]  DuVernay does not change King’s actions, making him a historically accurate figure in the film, but she does omit aspects of events that bolster King’s role, which ultimately pushes him to the front of the film and enlarges his moral character.[39] Historians took issue with this because it “egregiously distorts a significant element of that history,” changing the emphasis each individual carried within the Civil Rights Movement.[40]

What does this all mean?

The film industry, after long avoiding The Civil Rights movement, has begun to produce film after film about it. The Help focuses on Skeeter, with Black maids as supporting characters despite their stories being the reason for her success. This paints Skeeter as the hero of the movie, emphasizing her role as a White savior. Minny is influenced by a second White savior, Celia, as the woman’s kindness seems to alleviate Minny of all problems. The two White women sneak under the radar as saviors because their gender makes their powerlessness evident. One Night in Miami attempts to show Malcolm X in a more humane light, in an attempt to make audiences more willing to understand him and his goals as an activist. The United States has a perverse idea of X; Regina King’s film attempts to display how X’s frustration and curt way of speaking was only because of his passion and desire to find equality and Black rights in America. Selma creates a reverent picture of Martin Luther King by maximizing his role in the Selma Marches in 1964. Differently from X, King already has a respected and positive legacy, making the production much more palatable to many more people. The four protagonists in these three films produce different reactions from an audience. The way a Civil Rights activist is able to be understood and appreciated in film greatly depends on the general public’s pre-existing opinion of the character of character-type.

Applying these films to teaching

            Film differs from written sources because it has the ability to bring people, places, and events to life. Too often educators rely on students being able to read well to understand the deeper nuances and feeling of the writer or the details being described. Choosing to present information through visual sources evens the playing field for many students because they do not need to rely on their reading skills. Using film provides a new way to learn; it provides auditory and visual learners a positive experience. Captions can provide students who are hard of hearing or in need of written reinforcement to read what is being said. Film has the ability to serve as a platform that benefits many types of learning.

            As mentioned in the previous section, the film industry has recently started to embrace the production of film that focuses on the United States Civil Rights movement and the treatment of People of Color in American history. Due to this, there has been an uptick in historically accurate films that celebrate influential members of the Black American community. Often, film directors have much more freedom than textbook creators do. Films are able to incorporate aspects of history that have been whitewashed or completely removed from educational sources. The United States has a heavy history of whitewashing curriculum related to the Civil Rights Movement. The three films described in the first section are films that I have deemed as accessible and useful to teaching. Each film provides viewers with a different understanding and line of inquiry regarding civil rights and the role in which people played in the movement.

             The Help conveys an important message about the white savior complex. Despite financially providing for the Black women who shared their stories with her, Skeeter would never have suffered the same backlash and potential violence that these women would have if it became apparent that these stories were from Jackson. Skeeter’s race keeps her away from loss of employment, finances, and the potential for violent retaliation. Class lectures or discussions about how history has shown that identities dramatically shape a person’s quality of life can be related to the way Black women were forced to work in harsh conditions and Skeeter was able to write about these experiences and create a best-seller. In addition to this, class discourse after viewing could include a conversation about the introduction of White characters in Black stories and the space they then take away from Black individuals. The Help serves as an introduction to race and the way it shapes experiences.

            One Night in Miami retells the story of Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Sam Cooke, and Muhammad Ali reuniting in Miami for the boxing match. However, the film does something that most media does not. Malcolm X has been villainized throughout American media. This film allows Malcolm to be seen as a person with emotions, fears, and friendships. This humanizing aspect disrupts the narrative that most textbooks create. Very rarely does media, especially literature, acknowledge Malcolm’s humanity. They paint him as a hard radical. This film could also be used as a segue into Malcolm X’s life and ideas after his hajj, a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

            Selma takes place in Alabama before the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed. It focuses on Martin Luther King Jr., but also incorporates activists that are taught about less often such as John Lewis. Showing this film allows students to understand that MLK did not act alone and was often called to areas to act as the face of a movement. The film also illustrates the violence against Black Americans and Americans that supported integration and equal rights. It does so in a matter that makes viewers understand the severity, but it does so with becoming too explicit. For instance, the film opens with the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing. It shows the four young girls that would be killed but the bombing does not show the individuals.

            As discussed, the usage of film can be an effective use of media in the classroom. It is used far too often; written sources are no longer reflective of today’s society. With the recent boom of media representing the Civil Rights Movement or racial inequality, it seems clear that film needs to be present in classrooms while teaching these events and concepts.

References

DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma. Pathé, Plan B Entertainment, Harpo Productions, Ingenious Media, Celador, Cloud Eight Films, 2014. 2 hr., 33 min. https://www.showtime.com/movie/3505943

“The Help.” IMDb. IMDb.com, August 10, 2011. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454029/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0. 

Horne, Gerald. “‘Myth’ and the Making of ‘Malcolm X.” The American Historical Review 98, no. 2 (April 1993): 440–50. https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/98.2.440. 

Housley, Jason. “Hollywood and The Civil Rights Movement.” Black Camera 19, no. 1 (2004): 7–8. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27761632.

King, Regina, director. One Night in Miami. Amazon Studios, 2020. 1 hr., 55 min. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.e8badd0e-9d87-114a-934b-54a31210c34f?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

Knapp, Jeffrey. “Selma and the Place of Fiction in Historical Films.” Representations 142, no. 1 (2018): 91–123. https://doi.org/10.1525/rep.2018.142.1.91. 

Loomis, James. “New York Times,” February 27, 1965.

“One Night in Miami…” IMDb. IMDb.com, January 8, 2021. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10612922/. 

Reed, Adolph. “The Strange Career of the Voting Rights Act.” New Labor Forum 24, no. 2 (2015): 32–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/1095796015579201. 

Seekford, Brett. “To Kill a Mockingbird, The Help, and the Regendering of the White Savior.” James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal 4, no. 1 (2016): 6–12. https://doi.org/https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/jmurj/vol4/iss1/1/. 

“Selma.” IMDb. IMDb.com, January 9, 2015. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/. 

Taylor, Tate, director. The Help. DreamWork Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Vintage, StudioCanal UK, 2011. 1 hr., 35 min. https://play.hbomax.com/page/urn:hbo:page:GYe7uAgqQlZyQwgEAAAAf:type:feature?source=googleHBOMAX&action=play

[1] “The Help,” IMDb (IMDb.com, August 10, 2011), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454029/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0. 

[2] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help. DreamWork Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Paramount Vintage, StudioCanal UK, 2011. 1 hr., 35 min. https://play.hbomax.com/page/urn:hbo:page:GYe7uAgqQlZyQwgEAAAAf:type:feature?source=googleHBOMAX&action=play

[3] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[4] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[5] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[6] Housley, Jason. “Hollywood and The Civil Rights Movement.” Black Camera 19, no. 1 (2004): 7.

[7] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[8] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[9] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[10] Brett Seekford, “To Kill a Mockingbird, The Help, and the Regendering of the White Savior,” James Madison Undergraduate Research Journal 4, no. 1 (2016): pp. 6-12, https://doi.org/https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/jmurj/vol4/iss1/1/. 

[11] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[12] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[13] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[14] Taylor, Tate, director. The Help.

[15] “One Night in Miami…,” IMDb (IMDb.com, January 8, 2021), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10612922/.

[16] King, Regina, director. One Night in Miami. Amazon Studios, 2020. 1 hr., 55 min. https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.e8badd0e-9d87-114a-934b-54a31210c34f?autoplay=0&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb 

[17] King, Regina, director. One Night in Miami.

[18]  Gerald Horne, “‘Myth’ and the Making of ‘Malcolm X,” The American Historical Review 98, no. 2 (April 1993): pp. 442-444.

[19] King, Regina, director. One Night in Miami.

[20] James Loomis, “Letter to the Editor – Death of Malcolm X,” n.d.

[21] King, Regina, director. One Night in Miami.

[22] King, Regina, director. One Night in Miami.

[23] James Loomis, “Letter to the Editor – Death of Malcolm X,” n.d.

[24] James Loomis, “Letter to the Editor – Death of Malcolm X,” n.d.

[25] “Selma,” IMDb (IMDb.com, January 9, 2015), https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1020072/.

[26] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma. Pathé, Plan B Entertainment, Harpo Productions, Ingenious Media, Celador, Cloud Eight Films, 2014. 2 hr., 33 min. https://www.showtime.com/movie/3505943

[27] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[28] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[29] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[30] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[31] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[32] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[33] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[34] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[35] DuVernay, Ava, director. Selma.

[36] Jeffrey Knapp, “Selma and the Place of Fiction in Historical Films,” Representations 142, no. 1 (2018): pp. 113.

[37] Jeffrey Knapp, “Selma and the Place of Fiction in Historical Films,”114.

[38] Adolph Reed, “The Strange Career of the Voting Rights Act,” New Labor Forum 24, no. 2 (August 2015): pp. 33.

[39] Jeffrey Knapp, “Selma and the Place of Fiction in Historical Films,” 92-94.

[40] Adolph Reed, “The Strange Career of the Voting Rights Act,” 34.

The Evolution of Disability Rights Movements: Great Britain and the United States

The Evolution of Disability Rights Movements: Great Britain and the United States

Joseph Staszak

“Know your limits, but never stop trying to break them,” said Kyle Maynard, a man born with congenital amputation, which means that his arms stopped forming at his elbows and his legs stopped forming at his knees. This however did not stop him from a motivational speaker, best selling author, entrepreneur, award-winning extreme athlete, and the first man to crawl to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro[1]. The rights of people with disabilities have evolved rapidly over the past hundred years, specifically in the last thirty years, both within the United States and Great Britain. These two movements have similarities connecting the two, but appear to develop independently of one another.

It is important to understand two different things when discussing the history of disability rights and the discourse as a whole. The first is the two different models of disability, one being the medical model of disability and the other being the social model of disability. The medical model contends that individuals with disabilities are broken and that they need to be fixed or cured, whereas this social model contends that individuals with disabilities are not broken but instead handicapped by their environment. An example of the medical model would be certain very dangerous medical procedures such as chelation.[2] Since there is no actual “cure” for autism these medical procedures can cause a lot of damage to the individual that is receiving them. An example of the social model would be if a building does not have a ramp or elevator for an individual who uses a wheelchair. These two models have been used to define “disability” throughout U.S. disability history and separate the latter stages of the movement.

The second thing is the language that is used throughout history is very offensive and outdated and while these words are used in this paper they are not meant to be used in a harmful and demeaning way, but instead to give the reader a greater context to the way the individuals with disabilities have been treated throughout history.

Historically disability history focuses on learning about the different laws and acts, and how these ideas progress. However, not much time has been spent looking more in depth into the larger discourse of disability rights as well as how this discourse progressed and how it led to effective change. This fostered interest in if there might be any connection or similarities between the way that the disability rights movement progresses in the United States to how it developed overseas, and more specifically in a country relatively similar to the United States, Great Britain. More specifically, how did the disability rights movement with the United States evolve? How did the disability rights movement in Great Britain evolve over time? And were there any connections between these two movements, and if so what are they?

There is not a large variety of literature about the history of the disability rights movements in both the United States and Great Britain as they are relatively recent movements, only having progressed in the last fifty or so years. There is some literature regarding theories of disability, and the normalcy of disability. People, such Elizabeth Barnes[3] who writes about the social model of disability, and Lennard J Davis,[4] who writes about how normalization of individuals with disabilities within society has led to positive changes being brought about. These books, along with speeches by famous disability rights activists such as Judith Heumann and the Netflix documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution, have all aided in the research process in defining the evolution of these movements and how they compare to one another.[5]

The disability rights movement in the United States has evolved much more rapidly than the subsequent movement in Great Britain, with landmark legislation such as the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) of 1975, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and many others coming before the major landmark decisions in the United Kingdom. The United States and Great Britain both see the beginning of their disability rights movements begin with a heavy focus on physically disabled veterans after World War two. However, the exposure of the Willowbrook Institution ushers in a new wave of disability rights within the United States, one that focuses on individuals with neurological disabilities, before the subsequent movement evolution inside Great Britain. The U.S. remains ahead of Great Britain with its evolution of disability rights for the remainder of the 20th century and into the 21st century.

This paper will begin to dive deeper into the progression of the disability rights movement within the United States and then look towards Great Britain and its evolution. It will discuss the different waves of the movement and how the discourse present in the United States during the 20th century leading up to the passage of the ADA. Next this paper will look at the way that the disability rights Movement within Great Britain develops, from mainly focusing on ex-service men with physical disabilities, to then sudden shift to focusing on individuals with more neurological and mental disabilities.

Disability rights movement within the United States

United States history is filled with many different rights movements that all seemingly overlap with one another. The Disability Rights movement is one of these, finding its beginning in the middle part of the 20th century, with a heavy focus on the veterans that had been disabled in World War 2. Laws and organizations form to help these individuals reintegrate back into society after the war and begin the normalization of individuals with physical disabilities, which leads to the eventual story of the Willowbrook institution. This story begins to shine the light on individuals with cerebral disabilities, such as autism, down syndrome, and many others. From the outcry of these individuals and more specifically their families the attention becomes on how they can be “cured” or “fixed” and brought back into society. It is not until these individuals begin to speak up on their own, that there is a real shift not only in policy but attitude and mindset within society. This continues with the discussion around independent living, which will begin the third and final era of disability rights within the United States, the self-advocacy era. This all culminates in the passing of the ADA in 1990, which marks a new beginning for individuals with disabilities in speaking up for themselves and how they can be integrated into society as a whole.

One of the key areas of overlap that the United States has in its disability rights movement with Great Britain is the early focus on veterans and ex-service men that had become physically disabled following World War two. This is where we see some of the first rhetoric of the medical model of disability, in an article published in the New York Times in 1946, Howard A. Rusk M.D. writes “Today public attention is focused on the young men of America who are returning from war disabled and handicapped. They number in the thousands.”[6] This highlights just how much of a focus this was during this time, it was a large part of the discussion happening, so much so that it was a full page article within the New York Times. Rusk makes it known how important it is to have systems in place that can help physically disabled veterans, who were the main group that was being advocated for during this time.

We see some of this help that had been put into place in the form of the Purple Heart Unit, also known as the Military Order of the Purple Heart, which is a national veterans organization. In an article about the Purple Heart Unit, the New York Times writes:

“The Military Order of the Purple Heart, nation-wide veterans’ organization, will embark on a peacetime program to speed veterans housing and to provide additional benefits for disabled servicemen, it was announced yesterday by the order’s new national commander Ray Dorris of Portland Ore…The housing program will take precedence over all other programs, Mr. Dorris said, adding that he would confer this week with Housing Expedite Wilson W. Wyatt and officials of the War Assets Administration in Washington on the granting of priorities on surplus equipment needed to complete the partially constructed housing projects.”[7]

This is one of the key organizations at the time putting a focus on helping disabled veterans. This is such a big and important undertaking that the organization is working with the U.S. government to try and get the necessary funding and supplies as quickly as possible. This is their paramount objective, surpassing all others, showing just how important the rights of the disabled veterans were during this time. After this there is a steady amount of legislation that is passed and signed to help disabled veterans, but the next evolution in the disability rights movement begins in the mid-1960s.

In 1965 Senator Robert F. Kennedy made an unannounced visit to one of the biggest institutions for individuals with neurological disabilities at the time, Willowbrook located in upstate New York. While there, Senator Kennedy observed some of the most inhumane and deplorable living conditions imaginable. After his visit to Willowbrook, Senator Kennedy testified at a committee hearing, which resulted in an investigation in the state institution. When speaking on the institution Kennedy had this to say “We hear a great deal these days about civil rights and civil liberties and equality of opportunity and justice … But there are no civil rights for young retarded adults when they are denied the protection of the State Education Law, which commands that all other children must receive an education.”[8] This was the first time that a major public figure spoke up in regards to disability rights in the United States. This would not be the last time that Willowbrook was public news, as around five years later a reporter named Geraldo Rivera ran a documentary that showed the deplorable conditions within Willowbrook. This would spark major outrage, and lead to a new nationwide conversation about the effectiveness and moral need for these large state institutions.

While it would take another five years for state institutions to begin to change with their unimaginable conditions, the interview of Bernard Carabello, this would mark the 1970s, the next evolution of the disability rights movement. The United States enters into its second wave of its Disability Rights Movement, which is the Parent wave, which sees the parents of the individuals with disabilities to be the advocates for their children, and puts the emphasis on helping and “fixing” individuals with disabilities. While this is a step in the right direction it still creates numerous problems and harmful stereotypes. The medical model of disability, which paints individuals with disabilities as “broken” and in need of being “fixed”, is still very much prevalent during this time. This period was very short as it only lasted a few years, but it is a crucial step in the evolution of the disability rights movement within the United States, as it moves the spotlight closer to the individuals with disabilities themselves which ultimately marks the final evolution of this movement.

While the independent living model was the first time that the idea of things such as civil rights would be discussed in regards to individuals with disabilities, a few years before this there was discourse around hiring individuals with disabilities into the workforce. In an article about how the year the employment market for individuals with disabilities is starting to become more normalized in society, Howard Rusk writes, “Throughout the country, community programs for the mentally retarded have been slowly demonstrating the truth of the slogan of the National Association for Retarded Children – ‘the retarded can be helped.”[9] While Robert Kennedy’s visit to Willowbrook was mainly about individuals living there and the inhumane conditions of the state institutions, this discourse is clearly more geared towards helping adults, people who are out of these state institutions, and how they can start to become included within society as a large.

This in turn would create a space for a lot of people such as self-advocates and the families of individuals with disabilities to begin talking about similar issues in regards to disabilities.  In their article Romel Mackelprand and Richard Slasgiver talk about the shift that occurred at the beginning of the 1970s, “The disability movement matures with the development of the independent living concept in the early 1970s. Initially led by people such Lex Frieden, Judy Heumann, and Ed Roberts, independent living applied the minority model as the foundation of the political process of gaining the civil rights of peoples with disabilities.”[10] These are just some of the prominent figures that come about and make names for themselves as Disability Rights activists during the early parts of the movement. The minority model, also known as the social model of disability, is something that is very important to modern disability rights activists, as it states that people with disabilities are not “disabled” by their bodies but by the “able-bodied” society that they live in. This is also referred to as the Social Model of Disability and provides a pivotal framework for discussing changes surrounding disability. This is the first large step into a new evolution of the disability rights movement, where the individuals with disabilities themselves are the ones advocating for change and what is best for them.

One of the major issues that was seen in these institutions was forced sterilization, in which individuals with disabilities were viewed by the public as not being able to contribute to society. An interesting case of this is seen outside of institutions, where parents of three kids all with disabilities are fighting to have them sterilized, however no hospital or medical facility near them would perform the procedure, since there were massive gains made by individuals in protecting others with disabilities from being forcefully sterilized. The parents took their argument to court and “thwarting them, either directly or indirectly, have been the tremendous gains made by the champions of individual freedoms and rights who have won many successes in trying to protect the mentally retarded who are capable of functioning independently in society.”[11] This is the perfect example of how the parent wave of disability and the medical model of disability which arose from the professional wave had very negative impacts on individuals with disabilities. This does however cause massive shifts that are happening during this time, as forced sterilizations, especially for those under the age of 21, were being rejected and more control and rights were being given to those with disabilities.

In the area of education, there are also discussions happening during the 1970s about making sure that students with disabilities are more included. In 1974 the New Jersey legislature began debating the idea of passing legislation that would improve the conditions of students with disabilities in schools. In an article published by the New York Times an unnamed author writes “But proponents of improved education for the retarded children contend that the special session also provides the lawmakers with an ideal chance to require local school districts to install programs for youngsters with severe mental handicaps.”[12] Here it becomes clear just how inclusive the conversation has become. In just a few short years the narrative has switched from individuals with disabilities needing to be kept aside and isolated, to know there is a push for them to become integrated into schools, and as this article states, the push is for even those with neurological disabilities as well as just physical disabilities. This highlights just how much it took for people to fight for more protections for students with disabilities, specifically within schools. 

We continue to see the push for protections for individuals with disabilities at the state level, specifically in New Jersey. In his article titled Disabled Children Get New State Aid, Martin Whaldron writes, “This new policy is only one of several that reflect the quiet revolution underway in the state to protect the rights of New Jersey’s mentally ill, handicapped and ‘developmentally impaired’ residents. Some of these policies reflect an almost complete change in attitudes.”[13] This sudden shift in attitude comes from the work of many activists such but in particular, Judith Huemann is the most prominent of them, especially as she becomes famous for her work in New York City. She became famous for her self-advocacy in being the first person in a wheelchair to obtain a teaching license in New York, something that she had to fight very hard to get.

 There are also efforts at a national level as well to help give rights to individuals with disabilities, especially the right to education. In her article for the New York Times, Judy Glass writes about the changes that are arising out of the conversations about individuals with more neurological disabilities, such as learning disabilities. She writes, “Ten or 15 years ago, the term ‘learning disabled’ as a handicap was largely unheard of… five years ago, the learning disabled children were defined more by exclusion than by objective criteria.”[14] This is another example of the rapid change that occurred in this time frame, as the movement evolves more and more individuals begin to become involved in the movement. The term disability has not crossed over into the realm of education adding another step in ensuring the rights for those with disabilities.

There were also some setbacks that accompanied the disability rights movement, one of the biggest came in April of 1981, in which the Supreme Court ruled:

“that a Federal “bill of rights” for the mentally retarded enacted six years ago, did not oblige states to provide any particular level of care or training for retarded people in state institutions… In the case involving the retarded, the appeals court had ruled that the 1200 residents of Pennhurst, a state institution, were being deprived of their right to treatment.”[15]

This was a huge deal at the time as it further restricted the rights of individuals with disabilities who were still living within these institutions. These institutions were mistreating these individuals and with these laws saying that individuals with disabilities did not need to have their caretakers properly trained, it would only further their mistreatment. It is an unfortunate step backwards in this movement, but it contributes to the continued movement to get these institutions shut down and to get individuals with disabilities out of them and living on their own.

The representation of individuals with disabilities in public spaces went a very long way in helping the Disability Rights Movement within the United States. It gave those with disabilities someone that they could see themselves in, and feel like they were a part of society as a whole. This representation really started to take shape as we head into the late 1980s and early 1990s. One prominent figure at this time was Bob Dole, the Senate Republican leader who made it known that he was an individual with a disability, which was something that had not been discussed before.  In an article from 1986, Dole is quoted as saying:

“I can’t do buttons like you do, just feel and push them in there… I’ve got to be able to see the hole and sort of push the button in. The trouble is these buttons on this shirt are just about a fraction too high, so it’s very hard to do that. So every day you get a little test; you’re tested.”[16]

Dole at the time dealt with many physical disabilities, the main one being all the damage that he has suffered to his right arm. This was one of the first times that someone this prominent and well known within the United States government began advocating for himself as an individual with a disability. This is where we begin to enter into the final stage of the evolution of the disability rights movement, where these issues are not something that is being discussed within the federal government, and changes being implemented on a national scale, whereas before changes were often made on a smaller scale, either by state or even more local.

As the disability rights movement enters into its final stages there is now an even bigger push to help get individuals with disabilities normalized and integrated into society. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in late 1989 and was set into law in 1990. The New York Times wrote this when discussing the new act, “The act was considered by its supporters to be one of the most sweeping pieces of civil rights legislation in decades. It extended throughout private industry a prohibition against discrimination toward the disabled by government agencies and companies that receive government contracts.”[17] The ADA was a monumental piece of legislation in regards to the disability rights movement in the United States resulting in federal mandates that made every aspect of society more accessible to those with a disability. It comes after years of hard work by many people and paved the road for the future legislation that would be passed in the years to come.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) marked a true turning point in the American disability rights movement, as it is one of the first acts passed that was focused on helping individuals with disabilities be able to feel a part of larger society. Steve Holmes a writer for the New York Times, described the ADA in the following way:

“The public accommodations provisions of the law, the Americans with Disabilities Act, mean more than merely providing adequate parking spaces or ramps for the handicapped. Restaurants may have to provide Braille or large-type menus for the blind or visually impaired people,… space for customers with wheelchairs and ensure that their friends and family may sit with them.”[18]

These are some of the major changes that came about as a result of the ADA, and they highlight just how little people with disabilities were seen in society, and how powerful the ADA was in shining a light on them. We see things today such as ramps, handicap parking spaces, and other inclusive infrastructure and think of it as common and something that has always been there, but for many people it has not. This time back into the social model of disability, showing how an individual can be disabled and handicapped, because there is no ramp to help them access a building.

There were numerous people that played a large role in helping to get the act passed, many of whom were famous disability rights activists within the United States at the time, including a man named Justin Dart Jr. “Mr. Dart was best known as one of the primary forces behind the Amercians with Disabilities Act, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Georgre Bush with Mr. Dart as his side, in 1990.”[19] Justin Dart Jr. was one of the most influential Disability Rights activists within the United States, he was constantly arguing and advocating for the passage of this act. He became very well known among those serving during this time, simply for how much he was around and speaking with people about how important this act was.

Disability rights movement Within Great Britain

The disability rights movement within Great Britain is rooted in highlighting the conditions of the physically disabled, specifically wounded veterans. Much of the early discussion that takes place within Great Britain deals with this select group of people with disabilities. It was not until more recently that the conversation has shifted to be more inclusive of people with neurological disabilities, along with people with more visible physical disabilities.  The movement moved towards the focus on group homes, which were similar to the institutions within the United States, before leading to Great Britain’s own version of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Disability Discrimination Act in 2005.

An early example of Great Britain’s focus on veterans can be seen when the Parliament is discussing a new finance bill that would have been used to raise money in 1951, Lieutenant-Commander Braithwaite said that “it would also adversely affect disabled ex-service men.”[20] His argument was that the petrol tax that was included in the new finance bill would increase the cost of road transport, and would force more people into using public transport, which was used a lot by disabled individuals at the time. Also when discussing this bill Sir Ian Fraser said that disabled individuals should be excused from the extra petrol duty. This shows how much people were thinking about the physically disabled veterans, as a part of society as a whole, similar to the conversation in the United States.

            Disabled veterans dominated a lot of the early discussion of disability rights within Great Britain as they were the most visible individuals with disabilities that were actively trying to be included into society. When discussing the approach to the idea of the  economic situation post war, Mr. King of Southampton urged “for an increase in the basic rate for disability pensions of disability pensions for disabled ex-service men.”[21] This is a good start for the conversation about disability rights in Great Britain and provides a solid foundation for the future.

            The idea of working and labor was also something that came up in discussions when discussing how to best include them in the labor force. When discussing the idea of defense-workers, looking specifically at summer resorts during the winter time. There is a group of workers that were used to help advance the “national effort”. The argument that these disabled workers could be employed to help in other aspects of the country, was taken before the Ministry of labor, and the position of disabled men specifically was brought up by a man named Mr. E. Evans, stating that it can be difficult for them to find work at times.[22] Mr. Evans is one of the first people that begins to speak out for those with physical disabilities within Great Britain, that is not speaking solely for disabled veterans, advancing the disability rights movement further.

            The infantilization and idea that individuals with disabilities need to be helped and cared for by others, even when they may be perfectly able to take care of themselves, is something that is present. For example, the London times published a newspaper article entitled, Debate on employment of disabled and elder persons[23]. Having people with disabilities be associated with the elderly shows how they were seen by larger society. People with disabilities and specifically in this case, those with physical disabilities are seen as weak and in need of someone to be helping them at all times even though there are things that they still might be able to do by themselves. In this case a lot of them are former veterans, specifically men, so they would most likely still be in good physical condition, only needing help in the area of their handicap. This is a very early argument describing the Social Model of Disability, where the individuals themselves are perfectly fine, it is society and their environment that is handicapping them.

            At the start of the 1960s we began to see the conversation in Great Britain evolve to begin to include individuals with neurological disabilities, alongside those with physical disabilities. Similar to the pattern in the United States at this time, it appears that Great Britain thought its best course of action was to have these individuals placed into group homes. In March of 1961 there was discussion about the construction of a new home in Bognor Regis, near the southern British Coast. The issue that was brought up was about whether or not that project had been abandoned because two local private schools apparently rejected the idea as they felt that the location was too close to their location, and they did not think it would be able to be the proper size necessary.. When talking about the issue Mr. Kenneth Robinson, who was a representative in Parliament during this time had this to say “Projects of this kind are constantly being frustrated by local difficulties being raised about sitting. Is there nothing the Minister can do, perhaps in conjunction with the Minister of Housing and Local Government, in trying to influence local authorities to be a little more sympathetic towards this type of development.”[24] This shows some of the issues that the disability rights movement in Great Britain faced in its early stages, with many doubting if it was even necessary to have these group homes.

            Similar to the United States, in Great Britain these individuals with neurological disabilities are subjected to being separated from the larger part of society by being placed into these group homes. These group homes similar to the institutions in the United States seem to be mistreating the individuals with disabilities as well. Unfortunately, at this time individuals with neurological disabilities are seen as “rejects” and “outcasts”. This also led to the mistreatment of these individuals as they were seen as needing to be removed from society, including many horrible things being done to them such as Euthanasia.

One of the most prominent people in both England and the United States was C. Killick Millard, who was mainly working between 1930-1955 but was the main figure and was a very well known and respected doctor during this time. Ian Dowbiggin writes about Millaird describing him as having “dedicated much of his life to legalizing the right to die, he was likewise motivated by the conviction that an educated, rational and mentally competent person would consent to mercy-killing if suffering from a painful, terminal illness or disability.”[25] This gives insight into how individuals with disabilities were viewed as not able to be educated the same way as their non-disabled counterparts, and how having a disability was seen as something that would not make you of use to the larger part of society. This is another aspect of the disability rights movement in Great Britain that has a parallel to the United States, which is the way that both of these movements had a time where they looked to medical professionals for the answers.

One of the first major pieces of legislation to come from Great Britain in the realm of disability rights is the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act of 1970. This bill established welfare for those who were disabled or for those who suffered from chronic illness. This is an important part of the Disability Rights movement in Great Britain because while there may have been support for the bill, the speaker, who themselves identified as disabled, thought that the bill needed to be stronger. An article written in the London Times “Under the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act, 1970, builders had to provide access facilities where it was ‘in the circumstances both practicable and reasonable. There have been instances in the past 11 years when such facilities were not provided, mainly because nobody has enforced the law.”[26] The prolonged and delayed enforcement of laws is something that is far too common in disability law in particular, with vague and non-descript wording allowing companies and others to get away with not fully giving people with disabilities the accommodations they need. As mentioned in the London Times article it took almost eleven years for something to be done about this, and it is one of the reasons why disability rights are still an active fight.

Prolonged enforcement of laws and regulations can be tied back to an issue that was brought up almost twenty years prior to this incident, which involved giving disabled drivers a badge that would help identify them. In March of 1961, in response to the increasing parking problems of disabled drivers, a man named Mr Dobbs, who was a member of Parliament proposed “to provide a badge to be displayed by disabled drivers to help them and to assist police in using their discretion in dealing with traffic problems.”[27]It would take almost ten more years for this idea to become mainstream and implemented in the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act in 1970. The idea of these badges being used to assist police is very interesting because it speaks to a debate that is happening right now in the United States about how to best aid individuals with disabilities, specifically those with more “invisible disabilities” in regards to things such as traffic stops, and their interactions with police officers. For individuals with disabilities, especially those who may have neurological disabilities, understanding social cues and following directions can often be a tough task, and unfortunately in the United States, police officers can at times give conflicting directions. This can lead to individuals with disabilities being treated harmfully by police officers and not fully understanding why.

We began to see a mindset shift in Great Britain in the late 1990s and one example of this comes from a man Lee Duffin, who although he spent most of his life working in sales and marketing, joined a charity that helped young adults with disabilities to become more self-reliant and independent. Although his main job was fundraising, he said “I had no experiences in fund-raising or the mentally handicapped, but I was so impressed by the charity’s philosophy of helping the young adults to lead a fairly independent and fulfilled life that I wanted to help.”[28] This is a massive shift from just thirty years prior where individuals with disabilities, specifically those with neurological disabilities, were seen as needing to be kept away from society and kept in group homes. This comes in the years following the United States and the idea of independent living that was introduced by disability rights activists there.

As we enter into the 21st century we see the last of the group homes or “long-stay care homes” that were prominent in the late 60s and early 70s and began to become less prominent into the late 80s and 90s. The last of these homes shut down in Great Britain in 2004 and was a part of the effort to help people with disabilities become larger members of society. John Hutton the public health minister had this to say “people in Britain with learning disabilities were among the most socially excluded in the country. Only one of them has a friend outside the immediate circle of their family or paid-for carers.”[29] This is one of the biggest shifts and evolutions in the direction of fostering independence for those with disabilities. In 2001, there were an estimated 1.4 million people living with disabilities in Britain. Around this time as well, there were schools in Britain that received investments in communication aids for students who would need them. This is similar to what happens in the United States, which is that if schools receive federal funding that they have to provide students with the accommodations that they need.

In the United States the Americans with Disabilities Act (or the ADA) in the 1990s provided people with disabilities the rights to access society and for changes to be made to help them it is not until the early 2000s that Great Britain enacts something similar. In 2004 the British government passed the Disability Discrimination Act which acts similar to the ADA. it was described by the media as:

“The most significant aspect of the new provisions is the duty of service providers to make reasonable adjustments to any physical features that are a barrier to the enjoyment of goods and services by disabled people … includes widening a doorway; providing a permanent ramp for a wheelchair user; relocating light switches, for someone who has difficulty reaching;… and providing tactile buttons in lifts’.’[30]

This directly connects to what the ADA did for Americans with disabilities and relates back to the social model, contending that in order for individuals with disabilities to be included within society there needed to be changes made to the environment as well.

Another piece of legislation that was passed in Great Britain that is similar to the ADA is the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which was passed in 2005. This act made it illegal to discriminate against individuals with disabilities within the workplace and to make the necessary accommodations to allow these individuals to succeed in the workplace. “Employing disabled people can attract disabled customers.”[31] This is a great way to think about how it feels to include individuals with disabilities within not only the workplace but society as a whole. Seeing people that represent who you are and how you view yourself is very important in helping people feel safe in society.           

Conclusion

            In conclusion, the disability rights movements of both the United States and Great Britain have some connections with one another but it was mainly the United States setting the precedent for and leading the way. Both of these movements have their foundations in the way that society began to see and treat veterans with disabilities following World War II. The care and thought that was given to these veterans opened the door for disability rights activists in each country to begin to further the conversation on disability rights. While the United States had its focused turn to institutions by parents, Great Britain began to look at group homes. In 1990 the United States passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, which provided comprehensive changes that would grant individuals with disabilities a chance to participate in society. 15 years later Great Britain would pass the Disability Discrimination Act, which would act similarly to the ADA. Ultimately showing how, even though the two movements evolve similarly over time, it is the United States that has its evolutions before Great Britain.

The significance of this capstone paper is that it allows for the start of a discussion on the history of disability rights not only in the United States but in Great Britain as well. It is important to just study the history of one nation’s evolution as it can close you off to possible ideas and changes that have been made in other nations that can be adopted in one’s own country. Individuals with disabilities have been mistreated throughout history in many different parts of the world and it is important to begin to understand how this happens and how different nations are able to move forward and away from this awful mindset and treatment of individuals with disabilities.

This capstone paper is significant for education as it allows for students to learn about a history and a movement that has rarely been discussed before. Much of the activism that occurs during the disability rights movement occurs during the late 1970s and 1980s, a time that is just now being discussed more and more in schools, particularly in secondary education. Individuals with disabilities have been treated inhumanely and as outsiders, but if we allow for their story to become a part of our taught history, we can work towards people accepting them for who they are. The disability rights movement also has connections to other historical events, including how the disability rights activists used tactics of other civil rights groups to help fight for their cause. There is also great opportunity for current events with this topic, as this movement is still going today, as many disability rights activists fight to have individuals with disabilities seen by the rest of society.

References

Alambritis, Stephen. “The Business View.” Times, March 4, 2008, 4[S3]. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0503625387/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=b85a4ad4.

“An equal workforce, not forced.” Times, October 17, 1985, 12. The Times Digital Archive (accessed September 25, 2022). -https://link-gale com.ezproxy.tcnj.edu/apps/doc/CS201822545/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=book—-mark-TTDA&xid=f91d7aa7.

Barnes, Elizabeth. The Minority Body a Theory of Disability. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

“Benefits defeats in Lords.” Times, May 22, 1990, 7. The Times Digital Archive (accessed October 17, 2022). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.tcnj.edu/apps/doc/IF0501825665/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=c3331e85.

Burch, Susan, and Ian Sutherland. “Who’s Not Yet Here? American Disability History.” Radical History Review 2006, no. 94 (2006): 127–47. https://doi.org/10.1215/01636545-2006-94-127.

Cragg, Stephen. “Legislation Update.” Times, September 7, 2004, 7[S1]. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0502698209/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=ec9de613.

Cooper, Jeremy. Law, Rights, and Disability. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2003.

Davis, Lennard J. Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body. London: Verso, 1995.

Dearlove, Desmond. “A fight for the right to work.” Times, September 10, 1992, 19[S]. The Times Digital Archive (accessed September 25, 2022). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.tcnj.edu/apps/doc/IF0503341113/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=36a91163.

Diane Henry, Special to The New York Times. 1977. “Parents of 3 Retarded Girls Fight Hospital Refusal to Sterilize them: Parents Press Bid to Sterilize Retarded Girls.” New York Times (1923-), Oct 02, 1. https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/parents-3-retarded-girls-fight-hospital-refusal/docview/123174722/se-2.

“Diary Of Next Week’s Events.” Times, July 8, 1961, 11. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS184901864/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=5718e179.

Dowbiggin, Ian. “‘A Prey on Normal People’: C. Killick Millard and the Euthanasia Movement in Great Britain, 1930-55.” Journal of Contemporary History 36, no. 1 (2001): 59–85. http://www.jstor.org/stable/261131.

Evans, Richard. “Law will ensure access for disabled in new buildings.” Times, June 2, 1981, 3. The Times Digital Archive (accessed October 17, 2022). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.tcnj.edu/apps/doc/CS50694338/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=7a585a9f.

Frean, Alexandra. “Care homes for the mentally disabled to shut.” Times, March 21, 2001, 4. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0502655359/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=caf8b513.

From Our Correspondent. “Assisting The Disabled.” Times, December 4, 1951, 5. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS85675396/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=8da0813e.

Heumann, Judith. Being Heumann. S.l.: WH. Allen, 2021.

Hobson, Rodney. “Working at a different pace.” Times, July 31, 1990, 17. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/IF0503253499/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=476c1f07.

“House Of Commons.” Times, June 6, 1951, 4. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). —-https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS67456198/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=f90b3-07e.

“House Of Commons.” Times, November 7, 1951, 7. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). —-https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS117788007/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=20fbf67

Howard A Rusk, MD Formerly Chief, Convalescent Services Division, Office of, Air Surgeon. 1946. “Hope for our Disabled Millions: They can be Rehabilitated, Says a Physician, if we Apply Methods used in Restoring Handicapped Veterans. our Disabled Millions our Disabled Millions.” New York Times (1923-), Jan 27, 1946. —-https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/hope-our-—-disabled-millions/docview/107574818/se-2.

Howard A. Rusk, M.D. 1964. “Hiring the Retarded: ‘ 63 Marked Employment Turning Point for Mentally Handicapped in the U.S.” New York Times (1923-), Jan 06, 121. —-https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/hiring-ret—-arded/docview/115529793/se-2..

John Sibley. 1965. “Kennedy Charges Neglect in State Care of Retarded: KENNEDY ASSAILS CARE OF RETARDED.” New York Times (1923-), Sep 10, 1. —-https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/kennedy-charges-neglect-state-care-retarded/docview/116840893/se-2.

Jonathan Fuerbringer Special to The New York Times. 1986. “To Dole, it was an Education to Get Past Disability.” New York Times (1923-), Jun 16, 1. —-_https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/dole-was-education-get-past-disability/docview/110931546/se-2.

Judy Glass. 1980. “New Efforts to Assist ‘Learning Disabled’ Debated Across L.I.: New Efforts to Assist ‘Learning Disabled’ New Efforts to Assist ‘Learning Disabled’.” New York Times (1923-), Nov 23, 4. —-https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/new-effor—-ts-assist-learning-disabled-debated/docview/121268082/se-2.

“Legal Appointments.” Times, May 7, 1985, 29. The Times Digital Archive (accessed September 25, 2022). https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.tcnj.edu/apps/doc/CS486772903/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=boo——kmark-TTDA&xid=28b1fa67.

Linda Greenhouse, Special to The NewYork Times. 1981. “Justices Restrict A ‘Bill of Rights’ for the Retarded: High Court Calls U.S. Law Only Advisory for States Release of Retarded People ‘Findings’ in ‘Bill of Rights’ Court Restricts ‘Rights’ of Retarded Right to Refuse Medication.” New York Times (1923-), Apr 21, 2. —–https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/justices-restrict-bill-rights-retarded/docview/121615394/se-2.

Mackelprang, Romel W. and Richard O. Salsgiver. “People with Disabilities and Social Work: Historical and Contemporary Issues.” Social Work 41, no. 1 (01, 1996): 7-14. —https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/people-with–disabilities-social-work-historical/docview/215272364/se-2.

Martin Waldron. 1978. “Disabled Children Get New State Aid: Disabled Children are Getting New Help from the State.” New York Times (1923-), Mar 05, 3. —-https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/disabled-children-get-new-state-aid/docview/123790595/se-2.

Noyes, Hugh. “Disabled peers put aid plea.” Times, April 10, 1970, 1. The Times Digital Archive (accessed October 17, 2022). —- https://link-gale-com.ezproxy.tcnj.edu/apps/doc/CS17134218/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=8a9252f9.

“Parliament.” Times, August 3, 1951, 3. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). Retrieved from  —https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS50547971/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xi—d=92465—-b0b.

“Purple Heart Unit To Act On Housing: Order Back Speed-Up Of U.S. Efforts To Aid Veterans–Also To Help Disabled Men.” 1946. New York Times (1923-), Sep 08, 40. –https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/purple-heart-unit-act-on-housing/docview/107403078/se-2.

Special to The NewYork Times. 1974. “Improved Education Urged for Retarded: Disparities seen Resulting.” New York Times (1923-), Jun 23, 78. —–https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/improved-education-urged-retarded/docview/120059739/se-2.  

Steven A. Holmes. “Sweeping U.S. Law To Help Disabled Goes Into Effect: Gains Seen For Millions Statute May Force Businesses To Alter Buildings And Offer Specialized Services Sweeping U.S. Law To Help Millions Of The Disabled Goes Into Effect New Anti-Bias Legislation Could Bring Changes To Many Businesses.” Jan 27, 1992. New York Times ——https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/sweeping-u-s-law-help-disabled-goes-into-effect/docview/109037130/se-2.

Stevenson, Richard W. “Justin Dart Jr., 71, Advocate for Rights of Disabled People.” New York Times (1923-), Jun 24, 2002. —https://ezproxy.tcnj.edu/login?url=https://www.proquest.com/historical-newspapers/justin-dart-jr-71-advocate-rights-disabled-people/docview/92295369/se-2.

“Subsidy Rate In Airport Charges.” Times, March 7, 1961, 4. The Times Digital Archive (accessed November 21, 2022). —-https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CS67723367/TTDA?u=tconj_ca&sid=bookmark-TTDA&xid=7df135cc.

Walker Alan and Peter Townsend. 1981. Disability in Britain: A Manifesto of Rights. Oxford: Martin Robertson.

[1] GDA Podcasts, GDA Podcasts, April 26, 2017.

[2] NHS, “Treatments That Are Not Recommended for Autism,” NHS choices (NHS, December 16, 2022),

[3] Elizabeth Barnes, The Minority Body: A Theory of Disability (Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press, 2018).

[4] Lennard J. Davis, Enforcing Normalcy: Disability, Deafness, and the Body (London: Verso, 1995).

[5] Crip Camp: A revolution, Netflix, 2020.

[6] Howard A Rusk, “Hope for our Disabled Millions”, New York Times, January 27th, 1946.

[7] “Purple Heart Unit To Act On Housing: Order Back Speed-Up Of U.S. Efforts To Aid Veterans–Also To Help Disabled Men.”, 1946, New York Times.

[8]John Sibley, “Kennedy Charges Neglect in State Care of Retarded. September 10, 1965. New York Times

[9] Howard A. Rusk, “Hiring the Retarded”, January 6, 1963, New York Times.

[10]Romel W. Mackeprang, and Richard O. Salsgiver, “People with disabilities and Social Work: Historical and Contemporary Issues”.1996, Social Work.

[11] Diane Henry, “Parents of 3 Retarded Girls Fight Hospital Refusal to Sterilize Them”, October 2, 1977, New York Times.

[12] “Improved Education Urged for Retarded”, June 23, 1978, New York Times.

[13] Martin Waldron, “Disabled Children Get New State Aid”, March 5, 1978, New York Times.

[14] Judy Glass, “New Efforts to Assist ‘Learning Disabled’ Debated Across L.I.” November 23, 1980, New York Times.

[15] Linda Greenhouse, “Justices Restrict A ‘Bill of Rights’ For the Retarded”, April 21, 1981, New York Times

[16] Jonathan Fuerbringer, “To Dole, It Was An Education to Get Past Disability”, June 16, 1986, New York Times.

[17]Richard, “Justin Dart Jr., 71, June 14, 2002.

[18]  Steven A. Holmes, “Sweeping U.S. Law To Help Disabled Goes Into Effect: Gains Seen For Millions Statute May Force Businesses To Alter Buildings And Offer Specialized Services Sweeping U.S. Law To Help Millions Of The DisabledI Goes Into Effect New AntI-Bias Legislation Could Bring Changes To Many Businesses.” Jan 27, 1992, New York Times.

[19] Richard W Stevenson, “Justin Dart Jr., 71, Advocate for Rights of Disabled People”, June 14, 2002.

[20] “House of Commons”, Times, June 6,1951, The Times Digital Archive.

[21] “House of Commons”, Times, November 7, 1951, The Time Digital Archive.

[22] “Parliament”, Times, August 3, 1951, The Times Digital Archive.

[23] “Diary Of Next Week’s Events”, Times, July 8, 1961, The Times Digital Archive.

[24] “Subsidy Rate In Airport Changes”, Times, March 7, 1961, The Time Digital Archive.

[25]Ian Dowbiggin, “A Prey on Normal People”, Journal of Contemporary History, (2001), 65.

[26] Richard Evans, “Law will ensure access for disabled in new buildings”, Times, June 2, 1981, The Times Digital Archive.

[27] “Launchers For Research in Space”, Times, March 14, 1961, The Times Digital Archive.

[28] Rodney Hobson, “Working at a different pace”, Times, July 31, 1990, The Times Digital Archive.

[29] Alexandra Frean, “Care homes for the mentally disabled to shut”, Times, March 21, 2001, The Times Digital Archive.

[30] Stephen Cragg,“Legislation Update”, Times, September 7th, 2004, The Times Digital Archive.

[31] Stephen Alambritis, “The Business View”, Times, March 4, 2008, The Times Digital Archive.

Lesson Based on the Movie Glory

Lesson Based on the Movie Glory

John Staudt

“Let the black man get upon his person the brass letter, U.S., let him get an eagle on his button, and a musket on his shoulder and bullets in his pocket, there is no power on earth that can deny that he has earned the right to citizenship.” – Frederick Douglass

Assignment:

  • Read the packet prior to our class viewing of the Edward Zwick’s film Glory (1989)
  • Highlight/underline and annotate the most important points; be sure you review the questions before we view the film.
  • Pay attention and answer the questions in the time allotted following the end of the film.

Background: The issues of emancipation and military service were intertwined from the onset of the Civil War. News from Fort Sumter set off a rush by free Black men to enlist in U.S. military units. They were turned away, however, because a federal law barred Negroes from bearing arms for the U.S. Army. The Lincoln administration was concerned that the recruitment of Black troops would prompt the Border States (Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri) to secede. By mid-1862, however, the escalating number of former slaves (contrabands), the declining number of white volunteers, and the needs of the Union Army pushed the Government into reconsidering the ban. As a result, on July 17, 1862, Congress passed the Second Confiscation and Militia Act, freeing slaves who had masters in the Confederate Army. Two days later, slavery was abolished in all the territories of the United States. In the Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, President Lincoln announced that Black men would be recruited into the U.S. Army and Navy. Abolitionist leaders such as Frederick Douglass encouraged Black men to become soldiers to ensure eventual full citizenship (two of Douglass’s own sons enlisted). By the end of the Civil War, roughly 188,000 Black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers and another 19,000 served in the Navy. 40,000 Black soldiers died over the course of the war. There were 80 Black commissioned officers; 21 Black soldiers and sailors won the Medal of Honor by the time it ended. Black women could not formally join the Army but served as nurses, spies, and scouts, the most famous scout being Harriet Tubman. In addition to the perils of war faced by all Civil War soldiers, Black soldiers faced additional problems stemming from racial prejudice. Segregated units were formed with Black enlisted men commanded by white officers. Black soldiers were initially paid $10 per month from which $3 was automatically deducted for clothing, resulting in a net pay of $7. In contrast, white soldiers received $13 per month from which no clothing allowance was drawn. In June 1864, Congress granted equal pay to the U.S. Colored Troops.

The film: Glory tells the story of the 54th Colored Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the most celebrated regiments of Black soldiers that fought in the Civil War. Known simply as “the 54th,” this regiment became famous after the heroic, but ill-fated, assault on Fort Wagner, South Carolina. Leading the direct assault under heavy fire, the 54th suffered enormous casualties before being forced to withdraw. The courage and sacrifice of the 54th helped to dispel doubt within the Union about the fighting ability of Black soldiers and earned this regiment undying battlefield glory. Of the 5,000 Federals who took part, 1,527 were casualties: 246 killed, 890 wounded and 391 captured. The 54th lost a stunning 42 percent of its men: 34 killed, 146 wounded and 92 missing and presumed captured. By comparison, the Confederates suffered a loss of just 222 men. Despite the 54th’s terrible casualties, the battle of Fort Wagner was a watershed for the regiment. Civil War scholar James McPherson states, that the “significance of the 54th’s attack on For Wagner was enormous. Its sacrifice became the war’s dominant positive symbol of Black courage. Their sacrifice sparked a huge recruitment drive of Black Americans. It also allowed Lincoln to make the case to whites that the North was in the war to help bring a “new birth of freedom” to all Americans.

Questions – Answer all questions in complete sentences on a separate sheet of paper:

  1. List 2 reasons why men joined the 54th?
  2. Why do you think the white officers volunteered to lead them?
  3. Why do you think Colonel Shaw wants his regiment to lead the deadly assault on Fort Wagner?
  4. In the scene just before the final attack, Shaw approaches a reporter and says, “Remember what you see here.” Write a brief newspaper entry including a headline, dateline, photo (or drawing, engraving, map, etc.) and caption, and a brief (3-4 sentences) description stating what the reporter saw at the Battle of Fort Wagner.

In-class group activity: We will divide randomly into 4 groups. Each group will be assigned one of the images below. Your group will determine how the image represents the significance of the 54th’s achievements and legacy. Each group will then report back to the rest of the class.

Further reading:

Russell Duncan. Blue-Eyed Child of Fortune: The Civil War Letters of Robert Gould Shaw. This book contains a 67-page biography of Shaw as well as 300 additional pages featuring the various letters Shaw wrote to family members, some of which are read in the movie.

Joseph T. Glatthaar. Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers. Paperback. Louisiana State University Press (April 2000).

David Blight’s article, “Race and Reunion: Soldiers and the Problem of the Civil War in American Memory” (6, no. 3 [2003]: 26-38).

A: Storming Fort Wagner. Lithograph by Kurz & Allison, 1890

Image B: Civil War photograph of Sergeant-Major Lewis H. Douglas, one of the first troops of the 54th to climb over the walls of Fort Wagner during the attack.

Image C: Augustus Saint-Gaudens (one of the premier artists of his day) took nearly fourteen years to complete this high-relief bronze monument, which celebrates the valor and sacrifices of the Massachusetts 54th. Colonel Shaw is shown on horseback and three rows of infantrymen march behind. This scene depicts the 54th Regiment marching down Beacon Street on May 28, 1863 as they left Boston to head south. The monument was unveiled in a ceremony on May 31, 1897.

Image D: One of the 54ths casualty lists with the names of 116 enlisted men who died at the battle for Fort Wagner. National Archives, Records of the Adjutant General’s Office, 1780’s-1917

Teaching with Documents: The 1892 Lynching of an African American Man in New York State

Teaching with Documents: The 1892 Lynching of an African American Man in New York State

Alan Singer and Janice Chopyk

The National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama memorializes the over 4,000 African Americans murdered by vigilante terrorism in the American South between the end of Reconstruction in the United States in 1877 and 1950 and the more than 300 victims of racial terrorism in other states. Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia were the worst offenders, but there were also significant numbers of vigilante murders of African Americans in Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, and West Virginia. Eight hundred steel columns hang from the ceiling at the Memorial, each with the name of a county where a lynching occurred with the names of victims engraved on it. The only lynching in New York State during this period occurred in the town of Port Jervis, Orange County in 1892. Port Jervis is located on the Delaware River at the border of New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. At the end of the 19th century, it was an important stop on the Delaware and Hudson Canal for barges transporting anthracite coal to Philadelphia and New York City from Scranton area coal mines and on the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad.

In his new book, A Lynching at Port Jervis: Race and Reckoning in the Gilded (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022), Philip Dray documents racial violence in Port Jervis about sixty-five miles northwest of New York City. The story of what happened to Robert Lewis, a 28-year-old African American teamster and coach driver on Thursday June 2, 1892 was largely told through the eyes of white residents and white-owned newspapers. Unfortunately, there are no sources that address the Black perspective on the lynching of Lewis by a white mob. A coroner’s inquest was held with witness testimony, but there is no surviving transcript. At least one witness, Officer Simon Yaple, is known to have named some of the members of the murderous mob, but none were ever tried or convicted of crimes.

Robert Lewis, described in the press as a powerful man of about five feet seven and 170 pounds, was accused of assaulting and sexually abusing a 22-year-old white woman named Lena McMahon on a riverbank where the Cuddeback Brook meets the Neversink River before it flows into the Delaware River just south of Port Jervis. Participants in the mob attack on Lewis claimed that before he was murdered, Lewis confessed to the assault and implicated McMahon’s white boyfriend, Philip Foley as an accomplice. Lewis was then lynched on East Main Street, now U.S. Route 6.

Lena McMahon reported to authorities that she was approached by a heavy-set Black man with a light complexion who she did not know, although he appeared to know her. In her testimony about the assault, McMahon claimed that she was “terribly frightened” because her assailant had an “evil look in his eyes” and that after she rebuffed him he grabbed her shoulder and covered her mouth in an attempt to keep her from screaming. Local boys interrupted the attack on McMahon and her attacker, presumably Lewis, picked up fishing gear and left the scene. While McMahon initially reported that the man who attacked her was a “tramp,” one of the boys later identified Lewis as the assailant.

Robert Lewis was seized by a posse on the towpath of the D & H Canal while riding on a slow moving coal barge, not a very likely escape plan and Lewis made no effort to avoid capture. He had fishing gear with him and said he was planning to spend the night fishing. Sol Carley, part of the posse that captured Lewis, claimed that he questioned Lewis while they were bringing him back to Port Jervis. According to Carley, Lewis confessed to what had taken place, but claimed that Foley, who he knew from the hotel where he previously worked, told him McMahon would be receptive to a sexual encounter and if he wanted a “piece to go down and get it.” Lewis seemed to think that the entire situation could be resolved if they questioned Foley and Lewis had a chance to speak to McMahon’s father.

The initial police plan was to bring Lewis to the McMahon home to see if she could identify him, although Lena McMahon continued to maintain her attacker was a stranger, probably a tramp, who was camping in the woods. This plan was interrupted when a rumor spread that Lena McMahon had died from her wounds, dooming Robert Lewis. A crowd of over 300 white men was gathered in downtown Port Jervis. Upon hearing the rumor, it was transformed into an uncontrollable mob and murdered Lewis. Port Jervis’ small African American community, in defiance of white authority, insisted on a proper funeral for Lewis and contributed funds for burial at Laurel Grove cemetery, while at least some whites tried to steal souvenir relics from his body.

Students can read, compare, and discuss newspaper coverage of the events in Port Jervis. In the age of #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, it is difficult to dissect aspects of events that took place over a hundred years ago, especially where the surviving documentation is sporadic and clearly biased. How much of Lena McMahon’s story should be believed? Does questioning her account reflect what we now recognize as gender bias? On the other hand, how much of her story was colored by racism? We know from similar accusations made by white women against Black men that led to the arrest and imprisonment of the Scottsboro Boys and the murder of Emmett Till, that in a climate of intense racism, white women protected their reputations by fabricating stories of disrespect or assault. It is hard to believe that Robert Lewis did not know that a “confession” meant a death sentence. A compelling question for students to consider is: What do the events in Port Jervis and the newspaper coverage tell us about race and racism in New York State during this period? Teachers should alert students that there are overtly racist comments in the newspaper articles, but that “negro” was in common usage at the time to describe the group of people we now call African American and was not a racist term.

Documenting the Lynching of Robert Lewis at Port Jervis, New York

A. LYNCHED AT PORT JERVIS. ROBERT JACKSON, A COLORED MAN, HANGED BY A MOB. New York Times, June 3, 1892           

Robert Jackson, a young colored man, was lynched in this village to-night, receiving swift retribution for an assault committed this morning on Miss Lena McMahon, daughter of John McMahon of this place. The crime occurred on the outskirts of the village, near the banks of the Neversink River. Two young negroes and a crowd of children were near by, but when the former tried to interfere Jackson kept them at bay with a revolver. He made his escape without trouble. Miss McMahon was left in an insensible condition. Her injuries may prove fatal. A posse started in pursuit of Jackson as soon as news of the assault spread . . . The capture of the fugitive was finally made at Cuddebackville, a small village on the Delaware and Hudson Canal about nine miles from Port Jervis, by Sol Carley, Duke Horton, and a man named Coleman. Jackson had borrowed a canal boat at Huguenot, and had reached Cuddebackville, when he was overtaken by the three men. On the way back to this village he confessed the crime, and implicated William Foley, a white man, who, he said, was in the conspiracy against Miss McMahon. Foley has been paying attention to the girl contrary to the wishes of her parents, and the feeling against him in this community is such that, should he be taken, a fate similar to that which has overtaken Jackson would probably be meted out to him. The news of the capture of Jackson soon spread through the town, and a large crowd of men collected about the village lock-up, awaiting the arrival of the prisoner. The word was whispered through the crowd “Lynch him, lynch him!” The suggestion spread like wildfire, and it was evident that the fate of the prisoner was sealed. On his arrival at the lock-up Jackson was taken in hand by the mob. The village police endeavored to protect him, but their efforts were unavailing. It was at first proposed to have Jackson identified by his victim before hanging him, in order to make sure of his guilt. With this object in view the mob tied a rope around his body and dragged him up Hammond and down Main Streets as far as the residence of E. G. Fowler, Esq. By this time the mob had reached a state of uncontrollable excitement, and it was decided to dispatch him without further ceremony. A noose was adjusted about his neck and he was strung up to a neighboring tree in the presence of over 1,000 people. For an hour the body hung from the tree, where it was viewed by crowds . . . Public sentiment on the subject of the lynching is divided, although a majority approve and openly applaud the work of the lynchers, declaring that a terrible warning was necessary to prevent future repetitions of the same offense.

Questions

  1. Where and when did these events take place?
  2. Who was Robert Jackson?
  3. What was Robert Jackson accused of?
  4. What happened to Robert Jackson?
  • What is the attitude of the New York Times toward these events? What evidence from the text supports your conclusion?

B. Mob Murder at Port Jervis, Brooklyn Eagle, June 3, 1892, pg. 4

A negro was hanged by a mob in Port Jervis on Thursday night. He was charged with the crime of violence on a white girl, who is now said to be lingering between life and death. The crime was committed. The victim of it and two other witnesses charged the commission of it on a negro called by the name of the one who was lynched. The accused criminal was caught a long distance from the spot, while trying to run away. He was not, however, taken for identification before any of the persons who had accused him. A rumor prevails around Port Jervis that, after all, the wrong negro was captured and killed. Negroes are not easily distinguished from one another, unless by marks of identification carefully registered on scientific examination and then carefully compared when any man to whom they presumably refer is apprehended. There is very little doubt that the negro who was killed was the man who committed the crime, but there is some doubt that he was. That doubt, however slight, should harrow the memories and consciences of the men who lawlessly destroyed him. Aside from this fact, the offense of which the negro was accused but not convicted does not carry the punishment of death in this state by law. http://www.bethlehemchurch.com/admin/Law has found that capital punishment in cases of violence against women has been inflicted on innocent persons. The accusation is easily made. It is hard to disprove. A predisposition to believe it exists when it is brought against the lowly and the humble, the obscure or the repulsive. The pardoning power is not seldom required to rectify the errors of courts and juries in cases of violence to women. On these accounts the punishment has been reduced below the death penalty, to give time and government a chance to correct the wrongs of law. The event at Port Jervis, Thursday night, was a disgrace to the State of New York. The heinousness of the offense may explain but does not excuse the popular violence. This is supposed to be a government of law. Citizens are supposed to be law abiding. Moral culture and obedience to law are supposed to be an insurance that communities will not take the law in their own hands in any cases, and especially in cases which excite and inflame them. It may be roughly said, so far as lynch law is concerned in New York State, that the greater the provocation the less the excuse. The crime of which this negro was guilty cannot be overcharacterized, but there are worse crimes than it, by the definition of the law of the State of New York. A worse crime is murder. Murder is the destruction of a human being without warrant of law, with malice and premeditation, and not in self defense. The hanging of the negro in Port Jervis on Thursday night mates with that definition of the crime of murder. It was murder.

Questions

  1. Are there features in the Brooklyn Eagle article you would identify as racist? Explain.
  2. Compare coverage of the events in Port Jervis as reported in the Brooklyn Eagle the New York Times. How is it similar or different?
  • In your opinion, are there errors of fact in the Brooklyn Eagle account? Explain.

C. Port Jervis Disgrace, The Daily Standard Union, June 3, 1892, pg. 2

Port Jervis has not added to her good name by the brutal murder of a negro, who was, no doubt, no less brutal than the white men who took the law into their own hands and inflicted the death penalty without sentence. Has the Empire State fallen so low that criminals cannot be punished by due process of law? . . . There is no reason why a Northern State inhabited by justice-loving people, should be Southernized by a few misguided men in a country town. A heinous crime was charged against the negro, but there was no sworn evidence that he was the guilty person. Sympathy was strong for the young woman who, it is said, suffered from the negro’s violence, and this sympathy was proper and creditable; but it does not justify killing by mass meeting. It is to be hoped that every one of the men who actually took part on compassing the negro’s death will be apprehended and made to feel the hand of the law he has outraged.”

Questions

  1. How is coverage of the events in Port Jervis in this article from the Daily Standard Union, a Brooklyn, New York newspaper, similar to and different from coverage in the New York Times and the Brooklyn Eagle?
  • What is conspicuously missing from this excerpt from the article? In your opinion, what does that suggest about the viewpoint of the Daily Standard Union about the events?

D. Local Newspaper Coverage

Port Jervis Union: The Excitement in this village over the lynching of the negro, Robert Lewis has abated somewhat but further developments are awaited with the most intense interest. Attention is now centered upon the work of the coroner’s jury which was empanelled yesterday and whose duty it is not merely to investigate the manner of Lewis’ death but if possible to trace out the leaders and instigators of mob violence and to fix upon them the responsibility which belongs to them. Public sentiment and the honor and fair fame of the village demand that an earnest effort be made to do this. Now that the excitement attendant upon the awful events of Thursday has partially subsided a decided reaction has taken place in public sentiment and there are few who do not deplore and condemn the work of the mob. It is now generally admitted that the ends of justice would have been fully satisfied by leaving Lewis to be dealt with according to the regular forms of law, while our village would have escaped the world-wide notoriety which now attaches to it as the scene of one of the worst manifestations of mob-violence which has occurred in recent years. To be known as a community controlled and dominated by lawless elements is a penalty which we must now pay.

Middletown Daily Press: What a hard question to decide: the right or the wrong of Thursday night’s outrage in Port Jervis. One man, a father, and a county official, said: “It’s all right for some of us to moralize. But put yourself in that father’s place.” Another man, also a father: “Those men are worse than the negro. No matter how heinous the crime, can any human being think of a life being tugged along through public streets by a howling, half mad crowd which handled the rope, without saying ‘They’re brutes, and God does not sanction their work.’”

Middletown Argus: That the punishment so summarily meted out to the black ruffian who made Lena McMahon victim of his lust was more than merited, there is no division of sentiment . . . Lewis might better have been left to be dealt with by court and jury, inadequate though his punishment, if convicted, would be, but informal as was his exit from it, no one will say nay to it that the world is well rid of him.

Newburgh Daily Journal: The outbreak in Port Jervis is wholly without justification . . . The mob’s crime was an attack upon the cause of law and order. It remains with the criminal authorities to deal with the perpetrators of this crime as the law provides.

Questions:

  1. The Port Jervis Union is a weekly newspaper. This issue was published two days after the events and coverage is on page 3. What is the primary focus of the article? What does this suggest about local attitudes toward the event?
  • What are the attitudes toward the events in Port Jervis expressed in newspaper coverage from neighboring towns?

E. The Dangers of Lynching (Editorial). New York Times, June 4, 1892

A considerable number of persons, some of them possibly very worth citizens in a general way and others pretty certainly nothing of the kind, united on Thursday in Port Jervis to hang a negro who had committed a criminal assault upon a white girl. The feeling that actuated the mob was doubtless the same that is cited as defense for like lynching in the Southern States. It is that the penalty prescribed by law is not sufficient for the offense which is punished by lynching. It is not to be denied that negroes are much more prone to this crime than whites, and the crime itself becomes more revolting and infuriating to white men, North as well as South, when a negro is the perpetrator and a white woman the victim . . . It is unlikely that such a change in the law would diminish the number of lynchings. These are commonly committed by crowds which are animated by so furious an indignation that they would not wait for the law to take its course, even though the punishment were capital and certain, but would insist upon themselves doing their prisoner to death rather than to wait for months, or even weeks, to have him done to death by the law. This lawless temper is not commendable, and it ought to be discouraged by the law. Although it is probable that the good citizens of Port Jervis sympathized with the mob when they first learned of its murderous work, it is also probable that they are by this time ashamed of it and of their sympathy with it, and regard the lynching as more of a disgrace to the town than the crime it avenged, for which only a single brute was responsible . . . [I]t is admitted that the mob, misled by one of the rumors that spread in times of excitement, came very near hanging the wrong man, and this is a danger that always attends the unlawful execution of justice . . . [T]he lynchers by their precipitation seem to have operated a defeat of justice almost as great as if they had hanged the wrong man. The negro not only confessed his crime, but declared that he had been instigated to commit it by a white man whom he named. . . . The greater criminal, if he be a criminal at all, is likely to go scot free because the people of Port Jervis have hastily and carelessly hanged a man who, if he had been spared, might have proved a valuable witness. This is a danger of lynching that the lynchers have incurred which they themselves must confess to be a serious drawback to the success of their method of doing justice.

Questions

  1. How does the New York Times describe the people who participated in the lynching of Robert Lewis?
  2. In the opinion of the New York Times, why is the incident regrettable?
  • What evidence, if any, does the excerpt from the editorial suggest about the biases of the Times?

F. VERDICT AT PORT JERVIS, No One Held Responsible for the Lynching of Lewis. The Aspen Daily Chronicle, June 15, 1892, pg. 3

The coroner’s inquest over the lynching of Bob Lewis, the negro, terminated at 4:30 o’clock yesterday afternoon. The jury, after being out one hour, rendered the following verdict: “We find that Robert Lewis came to his death in the village of Port Jervis on June 2, 1892, by being hanged by some persons or person unknown to this jury . . . The thinking public doubts Miss McMahon’s story, as it also does Foleys . The circumstances are to conflicting. If the young woman had practically no knowledge of her surroundings from Wednesday to Thursday morning, then she must have been crazy. Not a living female would or could be hired to stay over night in Laurel Grove cemetery, as she stated she did. The stormy weather and the delicate physique of the girl would knock that story in the head. It is a fact that when Foley was arrested on the morning succeeding the assault of Miss McMahon, he trembled like a leaf and had to be supported. There is something back of the whole affair and those facts are held by Squire Mulley justice of the peace, who refuses to allow the contents of Foleys blackmailing letters addressed to Miss McMahon, to appear in print. Mr. Mulley says that the investigation of Miss McMahon and Foley will be strictly private.

Questions

  1. What was the verdict of the coroner’s inquest?
  2. What is the attitude of this newspaper to stories of the incident?
  • This article appeared in a Colorado newspaper. What does that suggest about reaction to the lynching?

G. MISS M’MAHON WRITES A LETTER, SHE EXPLAINS WHAT HER RELATIONS WERE WITH FOLEY. New York Times, June 25, 1892:

To the Editor of the Daily Union:

Sir: As my name has been so freely circulated throughout the press of the country during he past few weeks in connection with the infamous scoundrel, Foley, who has been airing his ignorance and viciousness in frequent letters from the county jail, that I wish, once for all, in justice to myself, to refute and brand as malicious falsehoods the statements this person has seen fit to utter. I first became acquainted with Foley when he assumed to be a gentleman, through the introduction of a mutual friend. He paid me attention, and I was foolish, as other young girls have been, to believe in his professions of friendship, and when I, in the indiscretion of youth, had some trifling difficulty with fond and loving parents who endeavored to give me wise counsel and advice, resolved to leave home, this inhuman monster egged me on and endeavored to carry into execution his nefarious scheme to ruin and blacken my character forever. When I discovered “the wolf in sheep’s clothing,” the true character of the parody of manhood, I at all risks and perils resolved to prosecute him as he so richly deserves. That resolution I still maintain, and I wish to assure the public that the maudlin, sentimental outpourings from this person, who, relying upon the fact that I was once his friend, has seen fit to make me the victim of extortion and blackmail, have no effect whatever on me, and it will not be my fault if he does not receive the punishment he so richly deserves. There is nothing to prevent this man writing letters, and I do not consider it either wise or discreet to pay any attention to them. I simply desire to say that his insinuations and allegations are falsehoods; that my relations with him have been those only of a friend. God only knows how much I regret that. I cannot have my reputation as an honest, chaste, and virtuous girl assailed by this villain without a protest, and I ask all right-thinking people who possess these qualities to place themselves in my position and then ask if they would act differently than I have done. The evil fortune that has overtaken me has been no fault of my own, and I trust that the light of truth will reveal this man as he truly is, the author of all my misfortune. I do not intend to express myself again to the public concerning this matter, nor pay any attention to what this man may say or do. All I desire is peace, and the consideration and fair treatment that should be extended to one who has suffered untold misery, and whose whole life has been blighted by one whose heartlessness and cruelty is only equaled by his low cunning and cowardice. LENA M’MAHON.

Questions

  1. Who is Lena McMahon?
  2. What prompted her to write this letter?
  3. What is missing from the letter?
  • What does the missing part tell us about events in Port Jervis?

H. Port Jervis Lynching Indictments. New York Times, June 30, 1892
The Grand Jury of Orange County to-day indicted nine persons in the Port Jervis lynching case. Two of these were officers of the village . . . Five of the indictments are for assault and the rest for riot.

Arrested for the Port Jervis Lynching. New York Times, July 1, 1892
Bench warrants for the arrest of five men indicted by the Grand Jury, and alleged to have been in the party who lynched the negro in this place, were issued to-day . . . The indictment is regarded as the weakest that could have been made.

Port Jervis Lynchers Not Indicted. New York Times, September 30, 1892
The Orange County Grand Jury reported to-day to Judge John J. Beattie. They said they had not indicted the Port Jervis lynchers of the colored man Robert Lewis. The reason was that the Port Jervis people had failed to give the evidence necessary to indict.

Questions

  1. What was the final resolution of the Port Jervis lynching?
  • In your opinion, what does this tell us about race and justice in New York in this period?

References      

Dray, Philip. 2022. A Lynching at Port Jervis: Race and Reckoning in the Gilded (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2022).

Disciplinary Literacy, Trade Books, and Culturally Responsive Teaching in Middle Grades Social Studies

Disciplinary Literacy, Trade Books, and Culturally Responsive Teaching in Middle Grades Social Studies

Dr. Caroline Sheffield & Dr. Jeremiah Clabough

Disciplinary literacy, which emphasizes teaching students the skills and strategies used by practitioners, has become more prevalent in U.S. schools over the last 15 years. Therefore, teachers need to be deliberate as they assist students to think and write like practitioners (Shanahan & Shanahan, 2008). The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) has placed an emphasis on disciplinary literacy in its College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies State Standards (NCSS, 2013a).

            Emphasizing disciplinary literacy means social studies teachers need to give careful thought and consideration in designing learning experiences to develop their students’ historical, civic, economic, and geographic thinking skills (NCSS, 2013a). For some, this will mean redefining their classroom practices. Incorporating disciplinary literacy practices is complicated by the fact that many students are not reading on grade level.

Our intervention is centered on using trade books focusing on civil rights activists that address the racial discrimination Black Americans faced immediately after the U.S. Civil War. Students read excerpts of the trade books and additional sources as a whole class and in groups. They utilized these texts to answer analysis prompts where they used evidence to support their arguments. In this article, we share both our intervention and the successes from the project.

Culturally responsive teaching

The demographics in U.S. public schools have dramatically changed in the 21st century. White majorities in schools have given way to student populations that are more diverse. This is due in part to immigration patterns to the United States. With the changing demographics in the United States, social studies teachers need to reconsider how they design classroom instruction. One approach is to incorporate culturally responsive teaching, which is defined by Geneva Gay (2000) as “using the cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse student to make learning encounters more relevant to and effective for them” (pg. 29). Additionally, culturally responsive teaching emphasizes the need for high expectations and academic achievement for culturally diverse students, which reflects the empowered school culture described by Banks (2019). 

Gay (2000) calls for teachers to scaffold and connect ethnically and culturally diverse students with the curriculum of the varied academic subjects. Doing so helps teachers to achieve the transformative approach to multicultural education described by Banks (2019). In the transformative approach, “the structure of the curriculum is changed to enable students to view concepts, issues, events, and themes from the perspective of diverse ethnic and cultural groups” (Banks, 2019, p. 64). If social studies teachers are to move beyond the additive and contributions approaches to multicultural education, it is necessary to consider how to incorporate the experiences and viewpoints of minorities beyond a single month in the year (King & Brown, 2014). In the social studies, this would entail using a variety of resources to authentically represent different groups’ values and perspectives throughout the curriculum. Texts that reflect students’ cultures act as mirrors. This allows students to see themselves in their U.S. history curriculum (Bishop, 1990).

There are several key components of culturally responsive teaching for social studies teachers to consider. Effective instruction in the social studies includes primary and secondary sources that allow students to analyze different groups’ perspectives and beliefs about historical and contemporary issues. Doing so provides students with the information to develop a nuanced understanding of an issue and helps to prepare them to work with people from different backgrounds in our pluralistic democratic society (Banks, 2019; Gay, 1994). By focusing on their culture through reading assignments, students can also analyze and critique historical and contemporary power structures in U.S. society and thus equip them with the knowledge to take civic action to address social, cultural, economic, and political inequities (Ochoa-Becker, 1996). One of the approaches to addressing ethnic and cultural diversity in the classroom identified by Gay (2000) is the use of trade books as instructional tools.

Using trade books in the social studies

            The term trade book refers to books, other than textbooks, that are available in retail establishments. Trade books include informational texts, picture books, and graphic novels (McGowan & Guzzetti, 1991). Not only are trade books more engaging than the typical social studies textbook, but they are also better written (Palmer & Stewart, 1997). Trade books highlight individuals and events frequently excluded from traditional textbooks (Chick, 2008). Trade books are not shallow in content and difficult to read (Berkeley et al., 2016; Tracy, 2003).

Trade books enable teachers to focus on a specific individual or event in depth. Diverse perspectives can be accessed by using several trade books in a curated text set about a specific event or time (Palmer & Stewart, 1997). The diversity of available trade books, in content, format, and readability, offers teachers an opportunity to select texts that best match their students’ reading and learning needs (Liang, 2002; Saul & Dieckman, 2005).

For social studies teachers, trade books offer students a chance to step into a new time or place (Beck & McKeown, 1991) to meet lesser-known historical figures and make emotional connections to the events depicted (Chisholm et al., 2017). It is through this emotional connection that trade books can be used as tools to develop students’ historical empathy skills, which is the effort to better understand historical figures, their actions, decisions, and lived experiences (Endacott & Brooks, 2013). Trade books also offer social studies teachers a way to teach disciplinary literacy by requiring students to analyze for perspective, bias, and purpose (Shanahan & Shanahan 2008).

            As mentioned previously, in culturally responsive pedagogy, teachers employ varied sources that celebrate the history and lived experiences of the culturally diverse students in the classroom. Trade books are an excellent way to do this. For students of color, historical figures who look like them are often portrayed as victims, with little agency and impact on U.S. history (King, 2020). This is not the mirror we want our students to see. To counter this image, teachers should use texts that present people of color impacting their world. This is the framework we utilized to design our study.

Project background and setting

We designed a year-long project for the 2021-2022 academic year in which a sixth-grade teacher would use trade books to thematically teach the concept of civil rights in the United States from Reconstruction to the present. We envisioned thematic teaching to be the examination of a specific concept, in this case civil rights, while still teaching U.S. history chronologically. Thus, the thematic teaching approach was embedded into the existing content taught in the grade level. We chose to focus on the civil rights theme because we wanted students to recognize that the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s did not exist in a vacuum. There were events, individuals, and groups who strove for civil rights long before Dr. King.

We determined that trade books would be an effective way to address this theme, as there are books written for young people that address all of the eras of U.S. history. Many of them highlight the struggles and achievements of culturally diverse individuals. To identify high quality trade books aligned with the sixth-grade curriculum and the civil rights theme, we first referred to the NCSS Notable Trade Book lists. All trade books were read, evaluated with regard to both project goals and text quality, and were agreed upon by the two researchers and the teacher.

The thematic teaching through our project was conducted at the Academy (a pseudonym), a new public charter school located in a medium-size city in the Southern United States. At the time of this project, there is only a sixth-grade class of 100 students at the time of our project. The Academy’s mission statement is clearly aligned with the principles of culturally responsive teaching. The school mission is socially justice oriented, seeking to empower their students to be agents of change.

Black students represent 93% of the Academy’s sixth grade class. The remaining 7% include students who identify as Latinx, white, and Asian. The social studies teacher, Ms. Edwards (a pseudonym), identifies as a white female and has more than ten years of experience teaching social studies in both middle school and high school settings. We should acknowledge that both researchers identify as white, one a white male and the other a white female.

            The learning activities were co-constructed with the participating teacher. The three of us crafted an instructional plan that was both reflective of content that addressed the state standards, incorporated the selected trade book, reflected both the school’s mission, and the teacher’s understanding of the students’ learning needs. We helped the teacher monitor student work and aided with instruction, when requested. Based on the fact that the students’ completed work when we were present did not greatly differ from their work when we were not in the classroom, we posit that our participation in class instruction had little impact on the students’ performance.

Intervention

This paper explores the results of the first two eras addressed in curriculum: Reconstruction and the Progressive Era. The trade books chosen for these units included Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s (2019) Dark Sky Rising: Reconstruction and the Dawn of Jim Crow and Walter Dean Myers and Bonnie Christensen’s (2008) Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told. Dark Sky Rising, a non-fiction chapter book, is written for the young adolescent reader and contains numerous primary sources embedded into the narrative. It explores the rise and fall of African American civil liberties during the Reconstruction era. Ida B. Wells: Let the Truth Be Told (Myers & Christensen, 2008) is a 2009 NCSS Notable Trade Book. It is a picture biography of Ida B. Wells’s life and includes her childhood, education, work as a journalist and suffragette, as well as her efforts fighting the lynching of Black Americans.

We used the trade books as anchor texts in the two units. In the Reconstruction unit, Dark Sky Rising (Gates, Jr., 2019). was used to explore literacy tests, poll tax, Plessy v. Ferguson, and Jim Crow segregation laws designed to keep African Americans second-class citizens in the latter 1800s. During the second unit, students read the trade book Ida B. Wells (Myers & Christensen, 2008) and watched videos about Wells to examine how violence was used as a tool to maintain white hegemony in the South.

Excerpts from Dark Sky Rising (Gates Jr., 2019) were used due to the book’s length. A whole class read-aloud strategy was used for both Dark Sky Rising (Gates Jr., 2019) and Ida B. Wells (Myers & Christensen, 2008). Students also did partner readings of sections from both trade books. They worked together to complete tasks that required them to synthesize information found in the trade books to explain how policies were created to disenfranchise African Americans and how violence was used to maintain these social inequalities.

Findings

There was evidence that two years’ worth of disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the students’ literacy skills. It was apparent in the interactions between the teacher and students that there was also a discrepancy between expectations in the middle school and the elementary school. Students were initially resistant to reading informational texts, synthesizing information, and writing to convey their understanding. Over the course of the year, the students’ resistance was reduced, and their work reflected improved literacy skills.

It was clear that they were not used to completing tasks like the ones assigned. Their written responses were short and rarely in complete sentences (see Figure 1):

Figure 1: Student Example 1, Impact of Plessy vs. Ferguson

Despite the brevity of the students’ answers, the majority of students’ responses were correct, indicating that they were able to successfully read the trade books and articulate responses to questions focusing on the obstacles African Americans faced.

There were encouraging signs from the first two handouts that with simple modeling from the teacher and researchers, some of the students included references from the trade book and primary sources to support their arguments. Students would add the page number where they found their answers to the questions (See Figure 2):

Figure 2: Student Example 2, Impact of Poll Taxes and Literacy Tests

By the end of the first two units, almost all students were consistently using evidence from sources to support their arguments, and they were doing so in complete sentences. Additionally, students made subtle thematic arguments regarding how different civil rights activists worked to address racial discrimination.

One other item of note was that in addition to strengthening students’ disciplinary literacy and historical thinking skills, they also started to discuss historical figures in three dimensional terms. Often, middle school students see historical figures as dead characters who lacked hopes and dreams (Clabough et al., 2017). These students started talking about the historical figures, Frederick Douglass from the first project and Ida B. Wells from the second project, in three dimensional terms in the second unit’s summative assessment. That assignment tasked students with drawing a Janus figure for Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells while also answering questions about these two individuals’ backgrounds and advocacies. The trade books and resources selected through the first two units were designed to highlight how and why both historical figures advocated for civil rights.

The students’ writing showed tremendous progress within the course of a month. Most were writing in complete sentences by the end of the Janus figure activity (See Figure 3):

Figure 3: Student Example 3, Janus Figure Assessment

 The majority of the students cited evidence at the end of the sentences from the trade books and the resources used. The students consistently wrote about Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells in three dimensional terms by capturing events in their childhood and family life, as well as their values and beliefs about civil rights issues.

Thematic vs. chronological teaching

            When social studies teachers talk about thematic teaching, they often speak of a dichotomy between chronological instruction and thematic instruction (Turan, 2020). Our work in this project suggests a different approach, one where teachers do not have to sacrifice chronological teaching to embrace thematic instruction. The units highlighted in this project were taught in a chronological order. However, they both included a focus on the struggle for African American civil rights, using the selected trade books as anchor texts. As demonstrated in their Janus figures, the students were able to make thematic connections between the two individuals. The theme was not diluted by teaching the units chronologically, and the chronology of the content was not lost in examining a theme. This project demonstrates that, at least in thematic teaching, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Trade books in middle grades social studies

            Social studies education has long embraced using trade books as instructional tools. There are quite a few articles describing the potential benefits of using trade books in the middle grades social studies class (Clabough & Sheffield, 2022; Wilkins et al., 2008). However, there is little research within the last twenty years that outlines how these potential benefits play out in the middle school classroom.

We found in our work at the Academy that using the trade books was an effective method to engage students in disciplinary literacy. The students demonstrated the ability to gather information from sources and draw informed and supported conclusions. They also began to employ historical empathy, a highly complex skill, with regard to the African American leaders studied in the Reconstruction and Progressive Era units. The results from this project indicate that the articles extolling the potential benefits of trade books in the social studies classroom were well-founded.

Culturally responsive trade books in social studies

Students need opportunities to explore their culture in meaningful ways (Gay, 2000). The exploration of culturally responsive trade books offers students a way to empathize with varied groups’ lived experiences, which is also an important aspect of historical empathy (Endacott & Brooks, 2013). Additionally, drawing on trade books that address diverse cultures helps to cultivate an inclusive learning environment that values all students.

The sixth-grade students were actively engaged in our project through class discussions during read alouds and group work analyzing trade books and supplementary sources. The content being explored focused on African Americans’ lived experiences with racial discrimination. Students were able to see how historical figures analyzed public policies and took civic action, thus demonstrating for the students the practical necessity of being able to complete complex reading tasks. Finally, students gained the skills needed as future democratic citizens to take civic action as change agents to address social injustices (NCSS, 2013b).

Conclusion

            During our time with the students at the Academy, the importance of starting small with building students’ disciplinary literacy skills and giving them space to grow became increasingly obvious. Within a month, the students went from writing sentence fragment responses in the first two tasks to consistently articulating their answers in complete sentences with references to support their arguments. This transformation was accomplished from support and modeling by the teacher and researchers. The exploration of culturally responsive trade books also allowed the students’ historical empathy skills to be strengthened as they could articulate historical figures’ values, beliefs, and advocacies. Social studies teachers need to strive for students to engage in disciplinary literacy in order to examine the experiences and achievements of marginalized groups and to explore complex topics within the U.S. history curriculum. Avoid the assumption that just because students are not reading on grade level, or struggle with writing, that they cannot engage in historical analysis. The students’ growth and engagement with the content that we observed in the first month of school suggests that with the right support, students can successfully grapple with complex historical content.

References

Banks, J. (2019). An introduction to multicultural education (6th ed.). Pearson.

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