Pauli Murray

The life story of Pauli Murray was recently highlighted by the New York Historical Society.  The child of an interracial couple growing up in North Carolina, Pauli understood the cruelty of the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws.  She graduated high school at fifteen and enrolled in Hunter College in New York City, a racially integrated school.  While attending Hunter College, Murray began cutting her hair short and wearing pants instead of skirts.  She began to see herself as a man.  She spent hours at counseling due to mental breakdowns.  There were very few supports for anyone who did not align with society's expectations at the time.  As a poor woman of color she saw firsthand how race and gender dictate the way people are treated in society.  

In 1938, she enrolled at Howard University to continue her education.  While attending Howard University she formulated the concept of Jane Crow to describe the double discrimination of black women.   A turning point in her life was when she was appointed the first African American Deputy Attorney General for the state of California.  Her experience as Attorney General brought her into contact with many civil rights leaders and inspired her to write a book on the complexities of legal segregation. 

Mamie Johnson

 Mamie Johnson played baseball for the Indianapolis Clowns in the Negro Leagues.   In 1953, at the age of 18, she was scouted by the Clowns.  She was one of only three women to play professional men's baseball. The integration of the Negro Leagues and the Major leagues shortened her career to three years.  Her inspirational story is written in a novel entitled A Strong Right Arm by Michelle Y. Green.  In 2008, Major League Baseball arranged a Negro League Draft in which all surviving Negro Leagues players were drafted by Major league teams.  Johnson was drafted to the Washington Nationals.  

Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin's record was recently expunged. Read about Colvin and Elizabeth Jennings who were both anti-segregation pioneers who are often overlooked.

1938 Pecan Sheller Strike

Studying labor strikes is very important part of American History.   In 1938, twelve thousand pecan shellers went on strike for three months in San Antonio, Texas to protest poor working conditions and low pay.    The mostly Hispanic women worked ten hour days and were paid three dollars weekly.  At the time, company owners preferred human shellers over mechanized shelling for the sake of profit.  After 37 days of protests, both strikers and pecan shelling companies agreed to arbitration.  The three person board ruled in favor of the strikers, ordering higher wages and officially acknowledging the International Pecan Shellers Union.  

Virtual Unsung Heroes Lecture: Segregated Military Units

 Click here to register

Monday November 8th, 2021

7PM

Book Review: Hunt for the Bamboo Rat

Discussing the role of imperialism in American history is crucial to understanding the development of our country in the late eighteenth century.  Lessons involving the acquisition of Alaska, the annexation of Hawaii and the Spanish American War usually revolve around the morality behind colonial empires and the dangers of imperialism. The Hunt for the Bamboo Rat is useful tool when teaching Japanese imperialism. The story of a Zenji Watanabe provides an insiders view of the occupation of the Philippines prior to Pearl Harbor and after. It delves into the struggle behind an oppressive colonial power. The novel includes secret surveillance, the bombing of Corregidor and a brave Hawaiian who perseveres through brutal treatment.

Teaching Tip: If you enjoyed reading When My Name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park, you will be sure to enjoy this historical fiction as well.

Rock Springs Massacre 1885

Thousands of Chinese immigrants worked on the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860's.  The money earned in America was ten times more than what they could earn in China at the time.    Following the completion of the railroad most Chinese immigrants went to work for coal mining companies.  They were willing to work for lower wages than other miners, which fueled the anger between themselves and white miners.  On the morning of September 2nd, 1885 approximately 125 armed white miners viciously attacked the Chinese residents of Rock Springs Wyoming.  Chinese men were dragged from their homes and beaten while others were shot on site.   After the Chinese were gone the homes left standing were looted.  According to  Britannica.org 28 Chinese immigrants died  and 15 were injured.  Hundreds of Chinese miners were forced to abandon their homes and resettle.  

Teaching Tip: Compare the Tulsa Race Riot to the Rock Springs Massacre. It is a lesson worth discussing.               

Abolitionist: David Ruggles

David Ruggles was born in Norwich, Connecticut in 1810.  He believed that abolitionists should not just philosophize about the day slavery would end, but strive to help all the victims of human bondage. At the age of eighteen he opened a grocery shop in New York in order to further the anti-slavery movement growing in the Northeast.   The grocery shop circulated books and Anti-slavery publications for African-Americans who were denied access to the New York public libraries.  In addition to his anti-slavery book store, he served as a conductor on the Underground Railroad.  He helped to bring at least six hundred enslaved people to freedom.  His support for abolition made him one of the most hated abolitionists in New York.  

Tien Fuh Wu

Tien Fuh Wu grew up  in Zehjiang, China in the late 1800's.  She was forced to work in a brothel to pay off gambling debts her father generated.  By the age of ten she was sent to San Francisco to continue her life of servitude and physical abuse.  In 1894 she was rescued by a local missionary, who worked to free the imprisoned women.  Her body was covered with burns, cuts, and bruises from years of abuse.  After being rescued Tien Fuh Wu served as a translator for the mission that once rescued her.  She helped Donaldina Cameron liberate Chinese women in San Francisco from a vicious system of servitude.   

Book Review: When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohammed and Victoria Jamieson

   

Kenya is home to the Dadaab Refugee Camp.  It is the home for thousands of refugees that fled Somalia during the Civil War in 1991.   The camp struggles with famine, drought and poverty.  The graphic novel When Stars Are Scattered by Omar Mohammed and Victoria Jamieson, describes Omar Mohammed's experience in Dadaab.  Omar spent fifteen years in this "open prison." This is a great novel to teach students appreciation for what they have and to never lose hope even in the darkest times.             

Book Review: Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz

Teaching the Holocaust can be a very difficult subject to discuss and teach in the classroom.  I often share images of the concentration camps and use document based questions.  Reading and analyzing the young adult novel Prisoner B-3087 by Alan Gratz also conveys the depth of horror. The book includes the starving ghettos, horrific concentration camps, gas chambers, brutal train rides, and unfathomable torture.  This book is a great springboard to a discussion on morality and the dangers of following a ruthless dictator.

Zitkala-Sa

Zitkala-Sa was a Native American advocate, teacher, musician, and civil rights leader.  She  graduated from an Indian boarding school in 1895 where she was taught a new language, a new religion and given a new name.  She was forbidden to speak her native language and stripped of her native heritage.  She was “lost” between two worlds that did not accept her.  After graduating, Zitkala wrote articles exposing the horrors of the Indian boarding schools and  the complex culture that was forcibly erased by the United States government.  At the pinnacle of her career she wrote a successful play called The Sun Dance.  It was the first operetta written by a Native American.  Lastly, she fought to raise awareness about many issues related to Native Americans.  As a member of the National Council of American Indians she helped pass the Indian Citizenship Act in 1924. This historic journey is written and illustrated in Red Bird Sings: The Story of Zitkala-Sa by Gina Capaldi.

The Case for a More Diverse Curriculum

The struggle to have one’s voice heard is not new.  America was founded upon the philosophy that a voice in government is a basic right.  Historically, however, that right was denied for many groups of people.  Over the years, marginalized people have fought to have their voices heard including suffragettes, labor leaders, and civil rights leaders.  The world of education is no stranger to this struggle.

PROTEST FOR DIVERSITY   

In 1968, an ethnically diverse group of students at the University of California at Berkeley known as the Third World Liberation Front protested for a more inclusive curriculum that reflected the diversity of the student population.  Together they demonstrated for three months and captured the nation's attention when they successfully brought the Berkeley campus to a stunning halt. Police were called but were unsuccessful in stopping the strike. The school shutdown made national headlines and pushed the University of California to provide for a more expansive view of American history while developing a more diverse faculty.

In more recent years, many states have been pushed to create ethnic studies classes as graduation requirements in high school.  In 2014, El Rancho Unified School District became the first school in California to adopt an ethnic studies class as a graduation requirement.  Since this trailblazing high school adjusted their graduation requirements many high schools across the country have followed their lead.    

CASE FOR DIVERSITY

The argument for a more diverse and culturally inclusive curriculum is built on the philosophy that knowledge is powerful.  Students know their own culture, beliefs and values.  What they often do not have is a full and accurate understanding of the cultures, history and experiences of groups other than their own.  A diverse curriculum exposes children to values, achievements and struggles of people other than themselves, providing knowledge, and promoting tolerance and understanding.   

STRATEGIES TO ADD DIVERSITY 

Teaching unsung heroes is a great strategy to diversify and expand the standard narrative of American History in the classroom. When designing lessons, seek out new perspectives, specifically those of lesser known figures in history whose contributions were considered less important because of their race, nationality, ethnicity, religion, or gender. When teaching about World War I, consider the Choctaw Telephone Squad, a small group of Native Americans from Oklahoma who supported the Allied effort in Europe.  These soldiers were the original code talkers who paved the way for the more well known Navajo Code Talkers.  When teaching World War II, consider the Triple Nickles, African-American paratroopers who fought forest fires in the Pacific Northwest.  

It is also important to integrate less well-known events into the curriculum.  When I introduce the Delano Grape Strike, I include the formation of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC) by Manong farmworkers in 1960.  Manongs were a lesser known group of Filipino farmworkers who triggered the historic Delano Grape Strike. This event expands the narrative of labor history in the United States as well as that of Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.  When studying the Mississippi Black Codes and segregation, I plan to include the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921, an often overlooked event that expands the narrative of the racial divide during the post-Reconstruction era.  By adding lesser known people and events we further increase students' depth of knowledge and undoubtedly foster more social and emotional connections.  

Another way to diversify the curriculum is to integrate literature written by, and from the point of view of marginalized people.  Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes is especially effective because it allows students to connect the murder of Emmett Till to current events.  They Called Us Enemy tells the story of George Takei's childhood in an internment camp and gives the reader a firsthand view of the Japanese-American experience of World War II.  Code Talker by Joseph Bruchac illustrates the importance of Native American Code talkers while highlighting how they were disregarded by society.  Books such as these reveal facts and emotions that are not always developed in everyday lessons, fostering an understanding of the experiences of others and their importance in American history.

CONCLUSION

By the time students arrive in the classroom they have all developed some idea of how society works from the confines of their own homes.  This knowledge needs to be integrated with the experiences and perspectives of different people.  Classrooms should be the place where we develop connections and understandings, and examine who we really are as a country.  Exposure to a diverse curriculum helps to achieve this goal.

Heroes quotes of the day

 

Joseph Oklahombi

The United States government has a long history of treating Native Americans with disrespect.  While it is always important to highlight these actions, it is also important to include Native Americans in different historical contexts.  While the World War II Navajo Code Talkers are often discussed in the classroom, the World War I contributions of the Choctaw Nation are often overlooked. 

Joseph Oklahombi was a member of the Choctaw Nation and a Oklahoma native.  He walked twenty two miles to enlist in the Army during World War I.  Oklahombi was a pioneer Code Talker who traveled with the 141st, 142nd,  and 143rd Infantry regiments on the Meuse Argonne campaign to prevent further German aggression. He was one of the many Native Americans who used their unique native language to protect important military communications in France. After being separated from a regiment Oklahombi and twenty three other Choctaw strayed into a large German regiment.  They ran over two hundred meters and took control of a German machine gun post. He turned the captured machine gun against the German enemies and held out for four days without food or water.  His actions led to the capture of one hundred and seventy one prisoners.           

Upcoming Presentation

 Rockville Centre Public Library

Unsung Heroes: Segregated Military Units

Saturday, May 22nd, 2021

1 P.M.      Virtual 

sign up 

Rose Robinson

CNN recently published an article on Eroseana “Rose” Robinson.  Her story is rarely discussed in classrooms and has been overlooked for years.  She was a great athlete and a track and field star.  In 1958, Robinson was invited to compete against the Soviet Union, when the Cold War was in full swing.  She didn’t want her athletic skills to represent the government that supported segregation and the war against Communism.  As a result, she declined the offer.  A half a year later she was brought up on tax evasion charges.  Rather than paying the $380 fine and leaving prison, she decided to stay in jail and begin a hunger strike. When newspapers began reporting on her hunger strike she was immediately released. Long before Colin Kaepernick there was Rose Robinson. She never returned to sports following the hunger strike in jail from which she never fully recovered.

1st Rhode Island Regiment

 Discussing segregated military units in the United States armed forces is an important component of American history.  The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was one of the earliest segregated units mobilized. Slaves were offered freedom and wages if they fought in the Continental Army.  Within a four-month period hundreds of formerly enslaved African Americans enlisted to support the fight for personal and national independence.  In December 1776, the British army seized control of Newport and was gaining momentum.  In response, the 1st Rhode Island was assigned to turn back the British and Hessian forces while maintaining strategic positions. After fighting in Rhode Island the regiment many continued to fight in New York and New Jersey.      

Upcoming Presentation

Rockville Centre Public Library

Unsung Heroes: Segregated Military Units

Saturday, May 22nd, 2021

1 P.M.      Virtual 

sign up 

Mary Church Terrell

The New York Historical Society recently highlighted the legacy of Mary Church Terrell.  She was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1864. Terrell was sent to Ohio for a formal education as a young girl, where she  graduated from high school and attended Oberlin College.  She was one of only two black women in her graduating class.  After college, Terrell began her career as a teacher.  In 1892, she founded the Colored Women’s League in Washington D.C. which provided education and assistance to Black mothers and children.  Her dedication to improve Black communities sparked an appointment to the Board of Education for Washington D.C and nomination to the National Association of Colored Women.  She was one of the few suffrage advocates who spoke out against racism within the suffrage movement.  She publicly denounced racism while supporting gender equality. Terrell's story reflects on how difficult and complex it was to be a woman of color in the early 1900’s.  Her advocacy encouraged the likes of Frances E.W. Harper to speak up and speak out.  

Upcoming lecture

 

Register here

Interview with an Unsung Hero

Listen to an interview with Willie O'Ree on WGBH on a local Boston station.  He discuss his career as the first African-American hockey player and how he succeeded.  He turned pro in 1956 with the Boston Bruins.  O'Ree continued his career after shattering his retina and losing his vision in one eye.  His story is inspiring and an asset to any classroom.  I especially agree with O'Ree when he says "education is the key."   

Book Review: When My Name was Keoko

Discussing the role of imperialism in American history is crucial to understanding the development of our country in the late eighteenth century.  Lessons involving the acquisition of Alaska, the annexation of Hawaii and the Spanish American War usually revolve around the morality behind colonial empires and the dangers of imperialism. I recommend reading When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park when studying imperialism.  It is the story of a family in Korea that struggles with Japanese occupation during World War II. It delves into the internal struggles behind an oppressive colonial power and exposes the brutal effects imperialism has on ordinary people.  The novel includes the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a secret resistance,  the changing of school practices and a fantastic overview of Korean culture.

Margaret Haley

Margaret Haley organized the Chicago Teachers Federation in 1898 and led a successful fight to win back taxes from corporations to raise teachers' pay.  She argued that it was a “democratic ideal” to include unions in the education field.  Haley pushed for higher salaries, tenure, pensions, less crowded classrooms and greater recognition for teachers as professionals.  In addition, she was an adamant supporter of women’s right to vote.  Be sure to include Haley when discussing progressives such as Theodore Roosevelt, Samuel Gompers, and the Knights of Labor.   

Anti-Segregation Pioneers

In the summer of 1854 Elizabeth Jennings challenged the segregation laws in New York City. She was a teacher and a religious person. On  July 16th, on her way to a church she was asked to board a different street car because of the segregation laws. She refused to leave the all white car and had to be physically removed from a car. She was injured when she resisted arrest.  Her arrest led to a successful civil suit against the City of New York.  

Claudette Colvin, is another unsung hero.  She refused to give up her seat on the bus a few months before Rosa Parks.  She was one of 5 people who challenged segregation laws in 1955. Read the article and listen to Claudette Colvin in a recently published article on CNN called Black women's roles in the civil rights movement have been understated -- but that's changing.

Hero quote of the day

 

Wong Chin Foo

When Wong Chin Foo came to New York in the 1870's for a better life he must have been disappointed by racist attitudes toward Chinese immigrants. At the time Chinese immigrants were not granted equal  opportunities.   The passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, which suspended immigration from China and prevented naturalization for Chinese immigrants, only increased tensions for thousands of Chinese born residents living through out Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Wong Chin Foo  recognized that education was necessary to combat intolerance.  He advocated for his community by publishing a newspaper called The Chinese American.  The newspaper helped to dispel anti-Chinese sentiments and defended the honor of a misunderstood culture.  Wong Chin Foo wrote many articles advocating for equal treatment under the law. The Museum of the City of New York highlights Wong Chin Foo in the Hidden Voices exhibit. Listen to an interview with Scott Seiligman posted on the National Committee on U.S. China Relations discussing his remarkable life.  

Paul Gorski: Immigration Poetry

How does it feel to walk into school and be called something different?  Read "Becoming Joey" by Paul Gorski and identify the raw emotions behind immigration.  This poem relates to any unit that includes immigration.  Poem was featured on LearningforJustice.org.  Here is an excerpt:

Pausing in the doorway

José clears his throat,

trying to spit away

his alien voice.

Frances Benjamin Johnston: Pioneer Photographer

Local newspapers are a great source of unsung heroes.  The Long Island Press recently featured an article entitled Frances Benjamin Johnston Showed The World What A Woman Can Do.   The article highlights a trailblazer from the early 1900's. At the time people thought women could not handle heavy cameras, afford expensive equipment and were less talented. Johnston proved that a woman could master the profession of photography.  Her dedication to the field led her to be one of the first woman exhibiting photos at the Library of Congress. Her successful portraiture studio attracted clients such as Mark Twain and Isadora Duncan.       

Alexander Augusta

The life of  Alexander Augusta was recently featured on the Brian Lehrer Show.  He is an Unsung Black Hero of Public Health.  He was an African American  Virginia native who had to learn to read and write under the cover of night. He had to travel to Canada for a more extensive education because American universities rejected him. His pursuit of education and social justice garnered Abraham Lincoln's attention.  As a result, Lincoln recruited him as a surgeon of the 7th U.S. Colored Regiment.  His burial at in Arlington Cemetery is a testament to his courage and bravery.  

 

Upcoming Presentations

Rockville Centre Public Library
Saturday March 20th, 2021           11-12 pm
Unsung Heroes: Labor Leaders

Virtual 

Rockville Centre Public Library 

Thursday May 13th, 2021            1-2 pm

Unsung Heroes: Segregated Military Units 

Virtual 

Bilingual Wire Experts

In 1914 the first world war began between the French and Germans.  The war created a stalemate that lasted three years.  In 1918, the stalemate was finally broken when twenty five thousands of American soldiers joined the French side.  Among the American troops were two hundred and twenty three volunteer women called the Army Signal Corp.    

These French and English speaking switchboard operators sent messages along radio wires to help maintain contact with troops scattered over hundreds of miles. The Signal Corp decoded and transmitted top secret information directly to the battlefields. The switchboard operators were efficient and courageous working under terrible  conditions.  .       

These soldiers worked twenty four hours a day, seven days a week.  It is estimated that one hundred and fifty thousand messages were sent daily and twenty six million messages were sent by the end of the war. 

Merle Egan Anderson was an advocate for the Signal Corp officers after the war. During the war she helped train newly arriving officers while completing her own responsibilities.  After the war she fought for veteran status for all Signal Corp officers. Without veteran status, officers were not entitled to war medals and benefits.  Nearly sixty years later her persistence paid off when the United States  government gave them full veteran status in 1977.

Upcoming Presentation: Unsung Heroes Women

Massapequa Public Library

Wednesday, March 10th, 2021

7 - 8 PM

Sign-up here

Argument For Diversity

Article published in NEA Today magazine entitled Why We Need More Diverse Books.  I especially agree with the section where the author discusses the concept that students need more windows into other peoples experiences and mirrors of validation. I wrote a similar article entitle How to Broaden Students Sense of History.  

Apache Trails of Tears

The story of the Cherokee Trail of Tears is very well documented.  Under the guise of the Treaty of New Echota with Presidential support, thousands of Cherokees were removed from their territory east of the Mississippi River between 1835-1838.  The death toll is estimated at 10 thousand.  Fifty years later, the development of Carlisle Schools  (1879-1918) across the country worked actively to erase Native Americans' culture.  The Bureau followed the principle of "Kill the Indian, Save the Man."  Other lesser known, bur similar events followed this pattern including the Apache Trail of Tears and the Occupation of Alcatraz. American society is still coming to terms with it's brutal past. I found a great article written in the Washington Post entitled "Native American sports mascots turned real people into flimsy props good riddance to them all." Some critics claim it is part of a cancel culture.  I disagree,  I strongly believe it is a country wrestling with its past transgressions.  The Cleveland logo does not honor Native American Indians.  It erodes and reduces humanity to something trivial.  

Merrill's Marauders: James Richardson

In September of 2020 the U.S. Government finally got around to recognizing an elite unit that were assigned the unimaginable task of capturing an airfield in Japanese-occupied Burma during World War II.  The 530th Unit, known as Merrill's Marauders trekked 1,000 miles behind enemy lines.  While traveling across Burma the unit endured many hardships.  First, the soldiers fought a determined Japanese enemy.  Second, the long journey led them through miles of jungles and over the rigid Himalayan foothills.  And last the unit was riddled with dysentery, fever and malaria. The combination of war, sickness, unique terrain, and lack of supplies made for a hellish combat.  The success of the Burma campaign was achieved on May 17th 1944, but it came with an enormous death toll.  Among the 3,000 U.S. soldiers deployed for this special operations mission only two hundred survived.  One of the last surviving members of the World War II jungle fighting unit known as Merrill's Marauders just died at the age of 99.