WEEK 2
Summer 2016
IMPORTANT REMINDERS:
1) All projects--essays, power points, maps, etc.--become part of the course website and thus part of
the course’s material. So, keep in mind that
a) you are writing for yourself (to show what you know) and for others (to inform them)
b) you are responsible for knowing all of the posted, research-based material.
2) All research for a project must be indicated through a) parenthetical notes [not footnotes] and
b) a bibliography in proper Chicago Manual format. Failure to provide this documentation =
plagiarism.
(The notes and bibliography do not count in the word count for the project.)
3)
Even if a project appears to be “fun,” it is a serious academic assignment. Treat it as such; develop
and present a thesis; write with precision, focus, and attention to detail; be concise and use
correct grammar, punctuation, and Chicago Manual formatting. (Use the “Writing Checklist” and
the “Project Checklist.”)
Late projects must be received within 48 hours
of their 11:59 p.m. deadline.
All (project and comment) requirements must be met
in order to pass the course.
Assignments = required for everyone.
Projects = graded work; students must do TWO per week, only one per section (350-600
words; 12-point Times Roman; double-spaced; name, wee/section, word count, and “I
pledge” in header; parenthetical notes and bibliography)
Section #1 projects must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday.
Section #2 projects must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Thursday.
Section #3 projects must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Saturday.
Responses/Comments = responses to projects & classmates’ comments (150-200 words)
Must complete at least two a week: one due by 11:59 Thursday, one by 11:59
p.m. Sunday. (Additional comments may be posted at any point.)
Summary = weekly list of projects & comments (with i.d./dates); due by Sunday, 11:59 p.m.
Include name, week/section, word count, and “I pledge” in header.
e.g., Ferrell, 1-1, 553 words, “I pledge.”
***If submissions are not pledged, they will not be accepted—
they will be deleted from the website & cannot be “replaced” by a new submission.
General text: American Yawp--A Free and Online, Collaboratively Built American History Textbook
(americanyawp.com): This is a general overview of American history. As African American history is American
history, it provides relevant information in every chapter. It thus provides a useful starting point, although students
will frequently need to do additional research to gather and use the necessary context explanations and examples.
When necessary to provide context and analysis beyond that provided by the assignments, take
advantage of scholarly sources (not just the “surface Web” and, of course, avoiding Wikipedia). Use
website instructions/video on using UMW databases.
Use readings, films, projects, and responses from week 1 to help with context and analysis.
WEEK 2 – LIVING WITH AND RESISTING SECOND-CLASS CITIZENSHIP:
The Twentieth Century
Section 1: World War I
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (required of everyone):
FILMS: The Killing Floor; Men of Bronze (videos.umwblogs.org [password: ferrellhistory])
READINGS: Williams, “African Americans and World War I,” Africana Age
(http://exhibitions.nypl.org/africanaage/essay-world-war-i.html)
PROJECT OPTIONS:

Summarize the thesis, major arguments, and central evidence of Shane Smith,
“The Crisis in the Great War: W. E. B. Bu Bois and His Perception of African
American Participation in World War I (2008 21 p. text). Include what the men who
discuss their WWI experiences in Men of Bronze add to Du Bois’s argument (as
presented by Smith)?

Using Thomas in The Killing Floor, write a diary entry or a letter to a friend (or to
Thomas’s wife) explaining how he feels about being in the military and about the
war and expectations for after the war. Focus must be on the points that clarify
the history. (Avoid getting sidetracked by “creative writing.” It eats up words and
takes space needed for context, facts, and clarification.) Strong use of course
materials is necessary for this project; demonstrate your understanding of the
time period and the realities of black life.

At http://www.thebookofwarpoems.com/#s-read, choose the poem by the Peters sisters
which most helps you understand what it meant to be young, female, and black
during the Great War. As other people have done on the website, write an
explanation of your choice; however, it must be in a third-person academic essay.
(If you wish, add it to the website.)

Summarize the Williams article, emphasizing the conflicts which the war posed for
African Americans.
Section 2: VIOLENCE AND MIGRATION
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (required of everyone):
FILMS:
The Night Tulsa Burned (videos.umwblogs.org [password: ferrellhistory])
[GREAT MIGRATION]
READINGS:
DeSantis, “A Forgotten Leader: Robert S. Abbott and the Chicago Defender from 19101920” (1997 9 p.)
Maloney, “African American Migration to the North: New Evidence for the 1910s” (2002 12
p.)
Tolnay, “The Great Migration Gets Underway: A Comparison of Black Southern Migrants
and Nonmigrants in the North, 1920” (2001 18 p.)
WEBSITES:
In Motion: The African-American Migration Experience [substantive sections, maps, and
images of “The Great Migration”]
[VIOLENCE]
READINGS:
Brune, “Signs of Forgotten Times: On the Importance of Lesser Known Race Riots” (2014 1
p.)
Arnold, “Across the Road from the Barbecue House” (2008 23 p.)
PROJECT OPTIONS:

Watch Birth of a Nation (Youtube 3:13:16). Write an essay that explains how it
presents slavery, the Civil War, and Reconstruction. Consider which aspects
would most negatively impact African Americans’ efforts at full equality and fair
treatment.

Research Oscar Micheaux and prepare a power point about his accomplishments
as a novelist and film maker. The power point must include at least one clip from
his movies to demonstrate how he presented African Americans in the 1920s in
counter to the image in Birth of a Nation and whites’ stereotypes about Jack
Johnson, et al. Use the “notes” section of the power point for your narrative (350600 words), including in the introductory slide a useful thesis statement. Include
source of images on each slide (under image).
TIP: For “notes,” click on “View” and then “Notes Page.” Your power point will be on the top of the
screen; a notes page that you can type into will be on the bottom. Last page = bibliography. Don’t forget to
pledge.
Post on the website— AND send to instructor in two forms: power point (so that “notes” can be accessed)
and text of “notes” section as a pdf (in case there is a problem viewing “notes”).

Use http://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history-major-speeches from 1878 to 1930
related to black migration and leaving the South (or the US) and Seven Letters
from the Great Migration at http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5332/. Write an essay that
analyzses all to provide a useful picture of migrants’ and potential migrants’ view
of migration.

Using UMW databases, look up six scholarly reviews of Gregory Mixon’s The
Atlanta Riot: Race, Class, and Violence in a New South City. Write an essay that
uses the information in the reviews about the riot. Explain the basic facts about
the violence and the key issues and angles that make it an important event in
American history.

Create a power point that visually explains the push-pull of black migration to
northern cities. Each “push” out of the South and each “pull” to better conditions
in the North must have its own page. Use the “notes” section of the power point
for your narrative (350-600 words), including in the introductory slide a useful
thesis statement. Each slide should have limited words; it should emphasize
images (photographs, maps, charts, etc.). (Include the source of images on each
slide.)
TIP: For “notes,” click on “View” and then “Notes Page.” Your power point will be on the top of the
screen; a notes page that you can type into will be on the bottom. Last page = bibliography. Don’t forget to
pledge.
Post on the website—AND send to instructor in two forms: power point (so that “notes” can be accessed)
and text of “notes” section as a pdf (in case there is a problem viewing “notes”).

Read the inaugural addresses of American presidents from 1900 to 1928 [available
through the Avalon Project and through the Miller Center]. In an essay, explain to
what degree they deal with racial issues and what their concerns are. Which
president seems most concerned with the status of black rights, opportunity,
safety?

Choose 12-18 images/maps from the website In Motion: The African-American
Migration Experience to create a power point. The goal is to provide someone
unfamiliar with the migration (including its causes and results) a useful visual
explanation. Use the “notes” section of the power point for your narrative (350-600
words), including in the introductory slide a useful thesis statement. Each slide
should have limited words; it should emphasize images. (Include the source of
images on each slide.)
TIP: For “notes,” click on “View” and then “Notes Page.” Your power point will be on the top of the
screen; a notes page that you can type into will be on the bottom. Last page = bibliography. Don’t forget to
pledge.
Post on the website—AND send to instructor in two forms: power point (so that “notes” can be accessed)
and text of “notes” section as a pdf (in case there is a problem viewing “notes”).

Through accessible-archives.com, find three editorials in different African American
newspapers between 1890 and 1910 that deal with lynching. In an essay clarify
how they view lynching. Do they agree on the nature or extent of the problem? On
its solution? Does location or time seem to affect the editorials’ arguments or
positions?

Create a Google map that includes the location of the major race riots (not
lynchings) from 1890 through 1921. Provide dates, lives lost, cause (official and
actual), etc. Information and elaboration = 350-600 words. (Be sure to provide the
source of all images. Submit the bibliography to the instructor separately.)

Watch Rosewood (available on videos.umwblogs.org [password: ferrellhistory]) which
provides a history-based story of early 1920s racial violence. Research the actual
Rosewood incident. Write an essay that compares the movie with what actually
happened, focusing on the critical accurate points and the major differences with
film. What accounts for the changes? What does the film maker seem to be trying
to accomplish with the changes?
Section 3: HARLEM RENAISSANCE
CLASS ASSIGNMENTS (required of everyone):
FILMS: Look for Me in the Whirlwind (90 min.) (videos.umwblogs.org [password: ferrellhistory])
READINGS:
Jordan, “Remembering the African-American Past: Langston Hughes, Aaron Douglas and
Black Art of the Harlem Renaissance” (2011 20 p. text)
Anderson, “The Too-brief Career of Countee Cullen” (2013 5 p.)
WEBSITES:
nationalhumanitiescenter.org: Alain Locke Enter the Negro
“African American Art” at Artlex.com.
COURSE WEBSITE: Poems of the Harlem Renaissance
PROJECT OPTIONS:

Use the articles on the Women of the Harlem Renaissance page of
aawomeninartshome.blogspot.com to choose one person each from the female
“musicians/composers” and “entertainers” categories. Research to clarify in an
essay how together their lives and careers reflect the problems faced by and
efforts made by African American women. (This project requires more than a twopart essay that provides biographical information; like all projects, it requires a
thesis.)

Research the sculptors or painters of the Harlem Renaissance. Compile a
bibliography of at least twenty books, articles, films, and websites sufficient to
support a scholarly paper. Provide an “introduction” (350-600 words) that explains
your goals and decisions. Define your “research” angle, but do not so limit your
topic that the bibliography does not demonstrate a grasp of research possibilities.

Choose one of the posted poems from the Harlem Renaissance—or another that
you found through research—that you believe clarifies a critical aspect of African
American life and feelings in the first decades of the 1900s. Create a power point
that serves as background to your voice-over reading of the poem. Include in the
power point’s “notes” your 350-600 word explanation of the poem as critical
clarification of the early 1900s.
TIP: For “notes,” click on “View” and then “Notes Page.” Your power point will be on the top of the
screen; a notes page that you can type into will be on the bottom. Last page = bibliography. Don’t forget to
pledge.
Post on the website—AND send to instructor in two forms: power point (so that “notes” can be accessed)
and text of “notes” section as a pdf (in case there is a problem viewing “notes”).

In the collection “Harlem 1900-1940” of Digital Schomburg of the New York Public
Library, there are images for activism, community, arts, business, intelligence,
and sports. Choose one person from each group, and write an essay that
supports the argument that African Americans made notable diverse contributions to the United States in the early twentieth century. Provide a “big picture”
thesis based on your choices; in other words, do more than a person-by-person
summary “list.”

Websites: redhotjazz.com and dukeellington.com. Read each’s information on
Duke Ellington. Compare them for type and usefulness of information. Note where
they differ and the significance of their coverage and difference in terms of
explaining Ellington’s role in and impact on African American history. Ultimately,
the essay should add up to be a useful look at a key person in a key field at a key
time.

Website: The Image of Africa in the Literature of the Harlem Renaissance
(available through the National Humanities Center). Write an essay summary that
focuses on the “big picture” with references to relevant artists. OR create a power
point that provides a mix of paintings, sculpture, poetry, etc. and “notes” based
on information in the website (and additional research necessary for an
informative report).
TIP: For “notes,” click on “View” and then “Notes Page.” Your power point will be on the top of the
screen; a notes page that you can type into will be on the bottom. Last page = bibliography. Don’t forget to
pledge.
Post on the website—AND send to instructor in two forms: power point (so that “notes” can be accessed)
and text of “notes” section as a pdf (in case there is a problem viewing “notes”).
Summary of week’s work due by 11:59 p.m. Sunday. Submit to instructor as an e-mail
attachment. (Use instructions—including to add list to week 1 list—and sample list on
course website.)