From Segregation to Sit-ins: the Greensboro Woolworth Lunch Counter
Activity 3: Constructing narrative: Investigating the Role of Young People in the Civil Rights Movement
Watch the introductory movie together as a class [http://objectofhistory.org/objects/intro/lunchcounter/]. Discuss the basic story of the Greensboro sit-ins.
Allow students to spend time examining the sources in the Explore section of the Lunch Counter Object Lesson [http://objectofhistory.org/objects/explore/lunchcounter/].
Remind students that the Explore section contains primary and secondary sources, organized into three main categories:
The Object category containing sources related to the lunch counter as a piece of material culture.
The Object in History category containing sources related to the place of the lunch counter in the historical context of struggles over segregation.
The Object in the Museum category containing information related to how NMAH acquired and displayed the lunch counter.
Remind students that the video clips of the curators discussing the objects constitute the secondary sources on the site. All other materials are primary sources.
Remind students that each primary source is accompanied by supporting information that is essential to critical historical thinking. First, at the top of the source is an annotation that provides contextual information. Second, the sourcing information, including author, title, and date of creation, is located at the bottom of the source. Instruct students to consider all of this information carefully as they work.
Remind students that the four men who sat down at the Greensboro Woolworth's lunch counter were first year college students, and that their actions sparked a wide spread movement of student non-violent direct action against segregation in the South. Ask students to construct a hypothesis about why young people were so heavily involved in Civil Rights protest.
Instruct students to collect evidence that either supports or contradicts their hypothesis from all of the sections: the Object, the Object in History, and the Object in the Museum.
Remind them that they should consider the ways that Jim Crow segregation restricted African American life, and the successful challenges to segregation that the African American community had already made by 1960. These factors could be important for their investigation.
Once students have closely examined the site, instruct them to revise their hypothesis into a thesis statement. Students should then go to the Activity section of the site, where they can curate their own virtual exhibit. They should give their exhibit a title and should type their thesis statement into the exhibit description textbox.
Then, students should select and order (1-6) six items from the lunch counter materials to logically support their thesis statement. Then they should annotate each item, explaining how it supports their argument about why young people were key actors in the Civil Rights movement. Students should also consider all of the additional contextual information that they may have at their disposal (class readings, lectures, etc.) when they write these annotations.
When students have completed selecting and annotating their materials, they should click the "Submit your virtual exhibit" button. The system will create and exhibit with a unique URL. Students should use the form provided to email the URL to you themselves and to their teacher. They may also want to bookmark the page in their browsers.
Finally, students should present their virtual exhibits and discuss them with the class.
