Home News TEACHING THE HISTORY OF BLACK AMERICANS DURING WORLD WARS GETS RESOURCES FROM STATE GRANT

TEACHING THE HISTORY OF BLACK AMERICANS DURING WORLD WARS GETS RESOURCES FROM STATE GRANT

1/13/2021

For the third year in a row, Richland Two is receiving a grant for instructional material to teach the history of Black Americans during the world wars. This $10,000 grant will develop and host an Instructional Units Professional Learning Opportunity for teachers by providing content knowledge on Black Americans and Fort Jackson including their service and its impacts in the military and on the home front during the world wars.

According to Elizabeth King, the grant project manager and Secondary Social Studies Specialist, “When reviewing the curriculum and talking to teachers, we realized there was an opportunity to enhance the resources highlighting the integral role that Black Americans played in the world wars. We are excited to work with our partner, Fort Jackson, to fill this void by identifying personal stories, images, and documents that students, both in Richland Two and around the state of South Carolina, can use to have a deeper understanding of their service and contributions.”

Teachers will receive guidance in the development of three inquiry-based instructional units that are aligned to the 2019 South Carolina Social Studies College and Career Ready Standards. One unit will focus on how international events and conditions during the early 20th Century (1910-1940) affected South Carolina and the United States. The second unit will explore the impact of world events from 1929 to present on South Carolina and the United States with specific focus on demographic changes, military policies and the significance of military bases in the state. The third unit will explore how the American identity, both at home and abroad, was affected by imperialism, world conflict, and economic boom and bust in the period 1893 to 1945. The specific focus will be on the roles of Black Americans related to the war effort.