university level
3-day Unit
"Civil Rights & Black Education in America"
Course Description:
This unit introduces students to key questions surrounding race and education in the United States in the period following the Civil War. Students examine how institutionalized segregation enforced racial barriers and educational inequality throughout the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The unit engages students with multiple perspectives by drawing on archival sources that preserve both Black and white voices, as well as both administrative and student experiences.
Students also explore the role Catholic institutions played in struggles over educational equality by focusing on congregations of Catholic sisters in St. Louis. This localized case study allows students to better understand the everyday realities of Black Catholics’ lives, while also demonstrating how St. Louis and its institutions reflected broader national trends in segregation and racial inequality.
This unit is designed for use in undergraduate or advanced college-credit survey courses in American history (such as United States History since 1865), and is also adaptable to more focused courses on race, gender, or religion.
It aligns with the St. Louis Catholic Archives Collective’s mission by modeling how local Catholic archival sources can be meaningfully integrated into established curricula. All archival materials used in this unit are drawn from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet Consolidated Archives.
Unit Breakdown
Pre-work: Student should come to class having completed 2 readings and a worksheet:
- Primary Source: 1942 Letter from Sr. Anna Joseph Becherer, CJS
- If students aren’t familiar with using primary sources yet, see “How to Read a Primary Source” activity & SOAPStone worksheet
- Academic article: Diane Batts Morrow, “‘Making A Way Out of No Way’: The Oblate Sisters of Providence Pursue Higher Education Under Jim Crow,” Journal of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium 12 (2019), 19-45.
- Complete the accompanying Discussion Question Worksheet
In Class:
- Introductory Powerpoint (15 mins)
- Discuss responses to the worksheet students completed for homework (35 mins)
Homework:
- Review the Segregation, Desegregation, and Global Catholicism in St. Louis exhibit
- Complete the accompanying Exhibit Review Worksheet
In Class:
- Warm Up: Discuss exhibit and review homework (10 mins)
- Group Activity:
- Individually, students read a selection of 1950s issues of the student-authored newspaper, St. Joseph Chatter. Remind students to think about what they have already learned about women religious and education and ask them to consider how the newspaper fits into this history. (10 mins)
- Divide students into small groups of 4-5. Instruct them to choose 2-3 articles to analyze in more detail. Each group will complete a worksheet that will guide their exploration into student life in segregated St. Louis and prepare a 10-minute presentation on their findings for the following day. (30 min)
Homework:
- Finish St. Joseph Chatter worksheet.
- Prepare to present findings to the class on Day 3 with a 10-minute presentation according to this rubric.
In Class:
- Class will be dedicated to group presentations. Each group will have ten minutes to present, and five minutes for questions. Presentations may be formal or informal, as long as students demonstrate an understanding of the material, the assignment, and the associated learning objectives. (45 mins)
- When not presenting, students should complete a Presentation Response Worksheet for each presentation.
- Introduce and discuss parameters of Reflection Paper Writing Assignment. (5 mins)
Lesson Plan by Deirdre Klena
