Students will investigate through primary and secondary sources the dynamics of the development of race relations in early colonial Virginia from court cases between 1640 to 1656. The story and cases of John Punch (1640), John Casor (1655), and Elizabeth Key Grinstead (1656) are known to be some of the first freedom suits in the Virginia colony. Students will then investigate slave codes from 1705 to determine how colonial officials justified the treatment of enslaved people.

This program examines the critical roles that Black servicewomen played in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II. Nearly 9,000 African American women served throughout the United States and in England under racially segregated and discriminatory conditions. Black servicewomen trained in all-Black units and were permitted only to compose a certain enlistment quota. They served largely in support roles and in positions of menial and manual labor. They were barred from the same advancement opportunities given to white women and almost entirely prohibited from serving overseas. And still, they served. Moreover, in their support of achieving Allied victory in 1945, Black women realized a link between promoting civil rights for African Americans in the Armed Forces and on the home front. 

This represents an entire unit designed to be cross curricular in nature for English 11 and VA/US History. The Historical Fiction Research Unit Google Doc can be found here and contains various links to additional resources to support this unit of study.The "before", "during", and "after" are included in each day for this series.  The unit will take approximately 12 days.

This program examines the contributions of American servicewomen to the Space Race. From the late 1950s through the 1960s, the United States engaged in the Space Race against the Soviet Union, each trying to become the first country to put a man on the moon. Early American astronauts were all men with a military background. NASA decided not to allow women to become astronauts during this period. Although they were excluded from space flight, women contributed to the Space Race in supporting roles, including Aerospace Nursing.

Students will complete an IDM (Inquiry Design Model) Lesson to guide them through the social and political discrimination, segregation, and violence against African Americans during the “Jim Crow Era.” They will evaluate the effectiveness of the Reconstruction Amendments based on three supporting questions that help guide them to constructing and providing evidence for a final argument that addresses the compelling question.