Gilded Age Walking Tour Project

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Kathryn Shaughnessy

NHPRC QIH Assignment Title:

Gilded Age Walking Tour Project

 NOTE: This assignment was created by the participant educator named below as part of the Queens Immigration History curriculum development project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission division of the National Archives (grant #DH-50022-16).  For more information on this grant project, please visit the Queens Immigration History website  at https://queensimmigrationhistory.wordpress.com     

NHPRC QIH Assignment Creator:

Created by NHPRC Teacher Participant/Creator Julia Ng-Karpieszuk (C2, July 2018 – June 2019). Julia teaches at Edward R. Murrow High School in the Midwood area of Brooklyn. Edward R. Murrow High School is highly rated and the most diverse school in NYS with the largest ISS population. Julia is currently teaching 10th grade ICT classes and AP United States History. She has participated in Gilder Lehrman and National Endowment for the Humanities seminars. 

Summary/ Description Overview:

Created by NHPRC Teacher Participant/Creator Julia Ng-Karpieszuk for AP US History; Adaptable to other grades. Group assignment designed to have students make connections between primary resources, historical and neighborhood sites, and the values and persons associated with the Gilded Age. The 3-part culminating project includes a research presentation, a walking tour map, and a creative work. 

Purpose/Learning Goal

  • To apply historical thinking (complexity, causality, change over time, contingency, context). 
  • To create a project that connects US history to city and neighborhood history.

Task/Assignment/Activity

In this assignment, students work in groups of 3-4 to complete the group project, which is worth 100 points. Students visit 5 neighborhoods together, and visit 1-2 sites in each neighborhood that reflect the values of the Gilded Age:

  • BIG BUSINESS -- The Financial Center (Wall Street/Banks/Federal Hall/NYSE – And for immigration: Brooklyn Bridge/Tammany Hall)
  • IMMIGRATION -- The Lower East Side (Tenement Museum/The Pickle Guys/Katz’s Diner/Bloody Angle – Tea Houses/Yonah Schimmel (best old fashioned knish!!!!)/China Town/Orthodox Church/Synagogues/Little Italy/Ferrara’s Bakery) Now is your chance to get good food! Plan accordingly!
  • TECHNOLOGY -- Midtown (Grand Central Station, Flat Iron Building, Empire State Building, Central Park)
  • CULTURE (Education/Art/Literature)  --  Museum Mile (5th Avenue museums – the Met, Frick Museum, Guggenheim), Rockefeller Center (may be fun if you are going over the holidays!), Carnegie Hall
  • YOUR OWN PICK  --  One other neighborhood of your choice that fills into one of the categories above (somewhere in Brooklyn/Queens/Harlem) that reflects the values of the Gilded Age  -  (Green-Wood Cemetery, Coney Island, historic places in Gravesend, etc.)

 

PART I (for PowerPoint) [55 points total]

Make a power point presentation of your tour.  Label slides clearly so that your viewer knows which valus/neighborhood/site you are presenting. 

  • Make 2 informative slides for EACH neighborhood about the relevant historical information of each location. Your slides should include details with specific dates, persons, and anecdotes (stories that relate to the historical sites that you’ve researched) (15 points)

  • Include at least 2 PRIMARY SOURCES (in the total project, NOT TWO FOR EACH LOCATION) 

  • The primary sources can be quotes/document excerpts, etc. that relate to any of the neighborhoods/sites you visit. What is the connection between the primary sources, the historical sites, and the Gilded Age? Do not regurgitate encyclopedia information! (20 points)

  • Include photos of yourselves in each of the locations. Take a photo of your group in the location that shows a “snap shot” of Gilded Life. Feel free to dress the part! (10 points)

  • Have a slide with all your group member names.

  • Have a slide at the end of the whole presentations with the bibliography of sources you used, MLA format. (10 points)

PART II Create your Walking Tour Route [15 points]

  • Create an interactive Google Map that outlines the route for your walking tour that includes all the Landmark/places you went to visit. 

  • You should include a 2-3 sentence description of each landmark and a picture of your group at this location (it can be the same images you use in the PowerPoint).  (15 points)

PART III:  Pick TWO of the following activities to go with your Power Point [15 pts. each/30 total]

  • Write a song/poem that embodies the Gilded values of the neighborhood. Bonus points if you make it a video (song/poem must be 2-4 minutes long)

  • Theatrical video of your group acting out a Gilded Age experience (video must be 3-5 minutes long)

  • Write a 2-paragraph review of ONE site and how it reflects the values of the Gilded Age (architecturally or an exhibit – cite examples).

  • Sketch an image, create a collage, or make a sculpture - reflecting an aspect of this location that exemplifies the Gilded Age.

  • ALL ARTWORK MUST BE ORIGINAL

Examples from APUSH:

  • Amazing rap: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zT8S-EfnAVo

  • Amazing Skit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2YWkCIMXXQ&feature=youtu.be

  • Amazing instruction video about the bridge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trlhiT_HNK4

 

Required Resources

PPT: These following websites might be helpful to help you look for primary sources.

Walking Tour: Use the following website to assist you with creating your Google Map. 

 

More Resources from the NHPRCQIH LibGuide:

DPLA  Tab –  in addition to Primary Resource sets, and Exhibits, this guide offers directions on searching the items 

 

Assessment/Rubric

Ng-Karpieszuk: Guilded Age Walking Tour Project rubric 

 

Attribution:

This NHPRC Teacher Participant assignment was created by Julia Ng-Karpieszuk

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States

 

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