Author: Daniel Shogan, Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History Students will learn about the 1883 Massacre in Danville, Virginia as an example of violence against African Americans. Within the context of the massacre, they will be shown primary documents from the event. These documents will provide the students with not only a lens into the Danville of the nineteenth century, but also provide them with an opportunity to think critically about the documents. After careful discussion of the events and outcomes of the massacre, the students will be given vocabulary worksheets that help to define and underline the most important elements of the narrative.

In this learning experience, the students will complete a primary source inquiry into the impacts of Reconstruction on Black experiences in Virginia and the South. The students will use the Claim-Evidence-Reasoning structure to defend one of two claims.Students will analyze sources that depict/detail Black experiences and perspectives before, during, and after the Reconstruction. This learning experience will be most effective after students have been introduced to the what and when of Reconstruction.