Students will learn the research process by researching an African American Hero. They will use the Oregon Library Information System's 4 step process:1. Plan2. Find3. Create4. Present

African Americans have a long history in Oklahoma. They first came to Oklahoma during the forced removal of American Indians because some tribes held African Americans as slaves. There were also African Americans who were American Indian and free. During the Civil War, many of these men in Indian Territory joined the war on both the Union and Confederate sides. Called Buffalo Soldiers, these African American servicemen played a vital role in Oklahoma and Indian Territory as well as in other regions of the West. Both the 9th and the 10th Cavalries and the 24th Infantry served in Indian Territory during the latter nineteenth century. Stationed at Fort Gibson, the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers Infantry Regiment (later supplemented with the 2nd Kansas) fought at Cabin Creek and at the pivotal engagement of Honey Springs in July 1863. After the Civil War ended in 1865, all of the slaves in the United States, including Indian Territory, were freed. Known as freedmen, many continued living among the Indians.

Noted Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr. recounts the full trajectory of African-American history in his groundbreaking series The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. The series explores the evolution of the African-American people, as well as the multiplicity of cultural institutions, political strategies, and religious and social perspectives they developed — forging their own history, culture and society against unimaginable odds.

Using video clips from The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross, this collection of lesson plans addresses a wide range of themes of the African-American experience from 1500 to the present.

Born into poverty in rural Georgia and raised under the shadows of Jim Crow segregation and the Great Depression, Alice Coachman fought through gender taboos and racial barriers to become a record-breaking track star. Then, in the 1948 London Olympics (the first to be held after WWII), she leapt to victory in the high jump and became the first Black woman in history to win Olympic gold. One of postwar America’s most high-profile athletes and the first African American woman to be spokesperson for a national brand, Coachman’s life and achievements were honored during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic games.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

This resource provides three modules on Black history in the United States. The modules discuss three historical eras, including the "plantation to ghetto, Civil Rights Era, and The Future and the Present." Each module includes text, images, and video.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves was a highly respected and wildly successful peace officer in Indian Territory for over thirty years, starting when he was first commissioned by federal Judge Isaac Parker in 1875. His life saw the enormous transformations that swept through the country during the Civil War, the days of the “wild west” in the federal territories, and the final settling of the frontier. The exploits of Deputy Marshal Reeves as he fought and captured hundreds of outlaws made him famous in his own time. This lesson tells the story of Reeves, his world, and his relentless pursuit of justice. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

In this early American history lesson, students are introduced to Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806), a free Black landowner from Maryland who found notoriety as a largely self-taught surveyor, astronomer, and natural historian. A friend and neighbor of the Ellicotts, an influential family of abolitionist Quakers, Banneker became a national figure in the young republic through his popular series of almanacs, and is remembered for his scientific achievements, public opposition to slavery (including a famous exchange with Thomas Jefferson), and role in surveying the boundaries of the District of Columbia.  The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Born to poor sharecroppers in Texas, Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) was the first African American woman aviator, earning an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. Throughout her career as a daredevil stunt pilot in thrilling airshows, she consistently defied expectations and broke through racial and gender barriers to dazzle audiences and inspire future generations of Black American pilots, aviators, and astronauts. This lesson tells the story of Coleman’s life in the wider context of the “barnstorming” early days of flight and the rising opposition to racial segregation exemplified by newspapers like the Chicago Defender.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

In this history lesson, students learn about the epic life and exemplary character of Biddy Mason, a woman who was born into slavery in the Deep South, walked to California as part of a pioneer caravan, fought for her freedom in court, and died a millionaire real-estate investor in Los Angeles. In addition to the highs and lows of Biddy’s dramatic life, this lesson asks students to study how she demonstrated the virtues of courage and charity, both in securing freedom for herself and her family and, later, using her fortune to invest in her community and provide relief to poor Californians of all races and religions.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

The Woodson Center Curriculum provides lesson plans, slide shows, and readings of significant moments in Black American history. Many of the biographies are of Black Americans often ignored by textbooks. The project seeks to highlight examples of excellence, resilience, and perseverance, in the Black community and among Black individuals while battling the realities of racism. 

Create a curated library of books related to Black History Month using Epic! for adult learners to read. Then have students reflect on what they read,

BlackPast.org provides free access to documents, transcripts, timelines, videos, and lesson suggestions. With over 6,000 pages of information, BlackPast.org is the single largest free and unrestricted resource on African American and African history on the Internet today. Through this knowledge, the site aims to promote greater understanding to generate constructive change in our society.This resource highlights teacher-developed lessons for using BlackPast.org in the classroom and links to different sections of the BlackPast.org website.

Having experienced the profound racial disparities in the rural South firsthand, writer and education reformer Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) dreamed of a school-building project for Black communities that could help begin to lift them out of poverty. In this history lesson, students examine Washington’s collaboration with philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), and learn how Washington’s hopeful dream slowly became the reality of nearly 5,000 new schools. Built in large part by the communities they served, Rosenwald schools were a ray of hope in the face of poverty and racial discrimination.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

Having experienced the profound racial disparities in the rural South firsthand, writer and education reformer Booker T. Washington (1856-1915) dreamed of a school-building project for Black communities that could help begin to lift them out of poverty. In this history lesson, students examine Washington’s collaboration with philanthropist Julius Rosenwald (1862-1932), and learn how Washington’s hopeful dream slowly became the reality of nearly 5,000 new schools. Built in large part by the communities they served, Rosenwald schools were a ray of hope in the face of poverty and racial discrimination.The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

This lesson provides an overview of the life and work of African American economist Glenn Cartman Loury, one of America’s most provocative thinkers on issues related to race, poverty, and social policy. A technical economist by training, Loury is usually identified as a Black conservative, though his worldview has undergone a series of transformations since he first emerged as an outspoken Reaganite in the 1980s. Born and raised in a working-class neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, Loury rose through the ranks of elite academia to become the first Black tenured professor of economics at Harvard in 1982, doing groundbreaking work on “social capital.”The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all. 

Economist, cultural historian, social theorist, and unwavering critic of misguided social policy and self-important intellectuals, Thomas Sowell is celebrated as one of America’s greatest writers for his insistence on telling unpopular truths. He’s the author of over 50 books, countless essays and articles, and 19 scholarly papers in economics. But his ideas have also been shaped by his own life story, one that took him from rural North Carolina to the streets of Harlem, from the Marine Corps to the halls of academe, and from Marxism to classical liberalism. It’s a journey that might surprise Sowell’s critics – and that students of all ages will find compelling, empowering, and a wonderful introduction to a brilliant mind. Made possible in part by the generosity of the Arthur N. Rupe Foundation.  The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

The popular economist Walter E. Williams was one of the most prominent libertarian commentators on issues of race, poverty, and prosperity, spreading his message through a weekly syndicated column, scholarly publications, and a variety of media appearances. Born and raised in the Philadelphia projects, Williams overcame personal and political barriers on his journey from blue-collar kid working odd jobs to a distinguished writer and professor. Prolific and provocative, Williams appealed to both specialists and lay people, and his great love was teaching economics. Throughout his life, a network of devoted friends, family, mentors, and colleagues made his success possible. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

These drama activities based around the lives of Crispus Attucks, Biddy Mason, Elijah McCoy, and Bessie Coleman complement our Black History lessons on these figures. Students will script, stage, imagine, and improvise in a series of prompts perfect for theater classes or any other learning context in which creativity and performance are emphasized. This package contains four documents, each containing multiple activities based around the life experiences of these remarkable Americans. The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.

On March 5, 1770, five men were shot dead by British soldiers on King Street in Boston. This event became known as the Boston Massacre, and helped kindle the fire of the American revolution. The first man to fall in this event was Crispus Attucks, a sailor and escaped slave of mixed African and American Indian ancestry. Patriot activists held up Attucks as a martyr for the cause of liberty, and generations of Americans followed suit; almost a century later, abolitionists made Attucks into a symbol of Black civic identity. But who was he, really? This lesson tries to establish the facts about his life from the scant remaining evidence.

The Woodson Center's Black History and Excellence curriculum is based on the Woodson Principles and tells the stories of Black Americans whose tenacity and resilience enabled them to overcome adversity and make invaluable contributions to our country. It also teaches character and decision-making skills that equip students to take charge of their futures. These lessons in Black American excellence are free and publicly available for all.