From: Steward, Celeste <csteward_at_aclibrary.org>
Date: Fri, 29 Jul 2011 12:43:10 -0700

Hi, Tony--

Interesting question...but I suspect it doesn't have a simple answer. I ask ed my teenaged daughters what they learned of Jim Crow in elementary school history lessons. They didn't know about Jim Crow laws until high school. I n grammar school, they learned of Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Bu t elementary school classrooms here only scratch the surface of civil right s.

In California, 4th graders spend much time studying the missions and U.S. e xploration. In fifth grade, it's all about colonial America and in sixth, t hey do ancient cultures. I grew up on the East coast and I don't recall le arning much about California missions. (It was all about the Puritans for u s Yankees.)

When my kids were in middle school, they learned more about the Holocaust a nd world history.

In fourth grade, my youngest daughter was very interested in the civil righ ts era. She did a lot of research on her own. Most of what she learned was through discussions at home, online resources and library books. I think we still have an old scrapbook she created as a tribute to her hero MLK Jr.

I do think the theme of racial equality comes out of discussions of literat ure and films too. As a parent, I have learned that you can't feed children the entire story (about deep subjects) until they have enough maturity to handle it. My youngest daughter who is about to enter her sophomore year sa id she felt the civil rights discussions during freshman year made a bigger impression than they would have years ago.

My oldest daughter has just completed AP U.S. History (or A-PUSH as the kid s call it) and she thoroughly enjoyed it. It was as if the world had opened up for her. We had some exciting discussions about a number of topics, inc luding civil rights.

Perhaps one needs to take history in stages to truly appreciate its many le ssons.

Celeste Steward, Librarian IV Collection Development Alameda County Library Fremont, CA


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From: Tony Abbott
 Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 4:38 AM To: CCBC message posting Subject:
 Teaching Civil Rights

I'm interested in how the Civil Rights era is taught in American schools in all parts of the country. The large time period is roughly post-Civil War to the mid-sixties, but I'm specifically interested in the years from 1920 on, the modern Jim Crow era. First of all, is it covered? When does it emer ge? (I remember my daughter learning about the Holocaust in 4th grade, so i t presumably starts then, but perhaps sooner?) Does the topic come out in d iscussions of literature (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Watsons Go to Birmingh am, 1963) and history (Dr. King, Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin) or one more than the other? Is it a special topic, not always addressed? Anything from anecdotal notes to curriculum information is great. Having visited middle s chools whose students of all races have never heard the term Jim Crow, I ju st want to get something of a handle on this. Thank you.

Tony Abbott

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Received on Fri 29 Jul 2011 12:43:10 PM CDT