Lecture

 

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Navigating with Compassion

I recently attended a professional development by History Unerased that discussed the importance of including LGBTQ rights in the social studies curriculum.  Listen to Triana Wilson eloquently explain how important it is to combat intolerance with compassion.  Being a history teacher means teaching with no deletions.

Antonia Pantoja

A recent lecture by the Museum of the City of New York highlighted a Puerto Rican American unsung hero.  Antonia Pantoja was born in 1921 and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico.   Her family struggled financially and had to save up money to allow her to attend high school.  After high school graduation her family saved enough money for Antonia to attend college in America.  In 1944 she migrated to New York City but life was not what she expected.  Most teaching jobs were not available to her.   Young Puerto Ricans were not treated equally.  The inequities triggered her to become an advocate for change. She formed the Hispanic Young Adults Association (HYAA) to improve access to education, health care and stable incomes.  While managing this association she graduated from Columbia University in 1954.  In 1962, she founded ASPIRA, an organization that offered tutoring, Puerto Rican history, culture classes and leadership training.  She dedicated her life to social justice.  She never stopped working to improve the community she represented.  ASPIRA continues to be an important advocate for Puerto Rican youth to this day. 

Rosewood Race Massacre

A thriving town in Rosewood Florida was burned to the ground one hundred years ago.   Rosewood was an African-America town decimated by a violent white mob.  Violence broke out on January 1st, 1923 when a white women claimed she was assaulted by a black man.  The week long massacre resulted in the loss of homes, churches ,schools, and businesses.   In 1994, the Florida legislature passed a bill recognizing the event and compensating survivors' descendants.   CNN recently published an article highlighting this lesser know event in Ameican history.  

Tyrus Wong

Tyrus Wong was a Chinese immigrant artist in the early 1900's.  His artistic style and contributions to the world of art went unrecognized for decades.  Of all his work, Wong's contribution to the development of Bambi was most renowned.  He spent two years painting the illustrations for the Disney classic.  Other artists were taught to paint like him.  He endured racial bias for many years while developing beautiful works of art.  In 2001, Wong was finally acknowledged for his contributions as a Disney Legend. 

Radium Girls

 In 1917 hundreds of young women supported the war effort by working for the United States Radium Corporation.  The company produced watch dials for soldiers in the trenches of Europe.  The girls were paid well for dial painting and unaware of the damage they were causing to their bodies.  The long-term suffering these young women endured was horrific.  Read about the physicist Elizabeth Hughes who proved the dangers of radium.  Hughes was the unsung heroine for the Radium Girls.

Mine Okubo

Mine Okubo was a Japanese American who grew up in Riverside, California during World War II.  She was one of 110,000 Japanese Americans that were ordered into detention camps after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  She was sent to a detention camp that was converted from a racetrack.  She was made to remain in a barn and sleep in a horse stall.  All internees were forbidden to use cameras so she recorded her interactions in charcoal and watercolor.   In 1946 her drawings and sketches were published in her book entitled Citizen 13660. It includes 200 illustrations with captions and is a great book to use when studying the home front during World War II.  She was recently highlighted in a New York Historical Society program.   

 

History Curriculums Need To Adjust

Michaela Wells' article History curriculums need to better include women discusses and supports the need to adjust history curriculums.  Young students need to study more significant contributions of women in U.S. History.  Her list of 20 women is fabulous and her survey speaks volumes.