"Colored" Waiting Area
 

My mother, a fifth grade teacher, found a sign from the early 20th century that reads

"Colored Waiting Area
Grand Central Station
New York City"

Or something to that effect. During the year, she has the opportunity to teach units that are separate from the regular curriculum. In the coming year, she'll be doing a unit about the Cherokee/Tsalagi.

Now that she has found this plaque, she would like to present it to her class (none of whom, we're pretty sure, have EVER seen anything like it before) and do a unit about African Americans.

So, I'm starting to do research for her to find information that is not taught during Black History Month, but is very important history. Please help me compile a list by letting me know what information you'd like to see fifth graders learn!!

Well first you'd have to say what type of things are they being taught and what needs to be expanded.

One thing that irked me when I was in grammar school is that when learning U.S. History we always learned about what European Americans were doing(their culture, governmental system, etc) before they migrated to the U.S. but we never learned about the life or culture of Africans prior to enslavement. It was kinda like saying we were just sitting there waiting for White folks.:rolleyes:

Thank you! That's an excellent point.

She should teach her students about my neighbor Judge Jane Bolin. I saw her a few days ago. She is a wonderful person and an important part of US History. She became the first black woman judge in the United States in 1939.

http://www.wellesley.edu/Anniversary/bolin.html

http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/harmon/boliharm.htm

This is an interesting topic. American schools do not teach a lot of history in my opinion, especially about other cultures different from "the norm". It is really sad that I just now have begun to learn about other cultures through my GRADUATE education. And I am a SOCIAL WORKER too which is even more ironic. Most Social Workers don't know much about cultures outside of their own and are expected to provide "culturally competent services" to their clients. I think that our whole education system in general is really screwed up but that is definately an American culture thing too. We are only taught what our country whats us to know about people "different" then "us" and most of it centers on stereotypes. My school is excellent in teaching about the trauma related to the immigration experience here in the U.S. Also my grad school did an excellent job in teaching through its cultural diversity courses. I remember about a month ago discussing the topic of the Holocaust in my ethics course. I discussed the fact that in my elementary-high school education we really never were even taught much about this tragedy. It wasn't until my professional education that I really began to learn about it. I think that many of us can admit that we have really taken our education for granted and more often than not have not questioned things that we are taught (or not taught) "by society".

Re: "Colored" Waiting Area
 

Slight hijack...I was at an antiques fair with my family a couple of weeks ago, and one of the vendors was selling a bunch of signs, etc. that were like the ones your mother found. I thought it was a bit odd to have a booth selling items like that...

The Middle Passage

The Jim Crow South

The History behind the Celebration of Juneteenth

Re: Re: "Colored" Waiting Area
 

There is a major market for this stuff - celebrities such as Whoopi Goldberg collect them. I can remember when most of the little girls in my neighborhood had "mammy dolls" or when cookie jars looked much like Aunt Jemima.

I think it's really important to explain the importance of the African Americans in our society - and not just the Dr. Martin Luther Kings or the Malcom X's Let's hear more about Rosa Parks, Sally Hemings, and about the thousands of nameless cooks or nurses who contributed so much to American society through Cajun or Gullah society. Let the children know about "the Castle" where captured Africans were kept prior to transport to the Americas. In other words, tell the whole story - but on an age when it's able to be received with understanding, and not hatred.

I'm not sure if this will be helpful or not, but I'll throw it out there.

I watched a wonderful movie last night called "Something that God made" on HBO. It not only showed Johns Hopkins new research on heart surgery, but it also showed racism from the 30's until about the 80's. The main character is African American, and the viewer watches what he goes through as he tries to get equality in the workplace. Although he's not an activist, but he does, in his own way, make a lot of changes!

Great movie. For more info PM me. :)

Get the video series from PBS, "Eyes on the Prize"

Thank you so much to those who have replied! I'm encouraged, now, to put together my own presentation for her class!!!!

I was watching the "Colonial House" on PBS (this reality?? show where they take a bunch of modern Americans and throw them back to the days of Plymoth Plantation) and they raised a point about the mistreatment of the Indians. I know it isn't as glossed over as the topic used to be, but the one Native American who still lives with her tribe was telling the "settlers" about how the real Thanksgiving never happened, and how the settlers allowed religious freedom for their own religion...everyone else in America was allowed to practice his religion of choice but the Indians. I also know in history books, things like "The Trail of Tears" is kind moved over quickly.

The other thing I was thinking about (not sure how far foward you go into history) but if you get to WW2 and the Concentration camps and all, consider talking about the people who don't believe in the Holoucast and how it wasn't just the Jews. There is a whole course offered at my school that is called "Non-Jewish Victums of the Holocaust". If you do ANYTHING about the Holocaust, I highly recommend looking at my college's website (www.stockton.edu) we have one of the biggest Holocaust resources out there...the college even offers minors and masters in the Holocaust studies.

Absolutely. We are drowning in misconceptions about our past! By the way, I LOVE Colonial House. I also watched Frontier House and 1900 House.

Thank you for the link! This is something that I personally want to know more about.

http://www.ferris.edu/htmls/news/jimcrow/index.htm

http://www.juneteenth.com/

http://www.middlepassagemuseum.org/0...actsplain.html

www.americanlynching.com

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlynching.htm

another thing you can talk about is how HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF. every year it is some other "group" of people that are facing something horrible happening to them. what guarantee is there that slavery and the holocaust cannot happen again? just look what is going on right now in the middle east with those pictures OUR COUNTRY is behind. 2 wrongs definately do not make a right.