History’s unsung hero: Examining Oscar Dunn and African American history through a graphical novel

Social studies curriculum is at the center of heated debates in U. S. politics. Conservative politicians seek to limit what student are taught about the experiences of people of color who have been oppressed or subjected to racist policies and treatment throughout American history. Whitewashing history denies students the chance to examine history in its fullness as they are unable to analyze the voices and experiences of all people whose stories have contributed to the American story. In this article, the author explores how graphic novels may be used to teach African American history. Specifically, the author discusses how activities that utilize Monumental: Oscar Dunn and His Radical Fight in Reconstruction Louisiana (Mitchell et al., 2021) help students to examine and contextualize concepts such as democracy, freedom, and what it meant to different groups of people. Activities such as the ones discussed in the article support discipline literacy and foster empathy and students’ ability to understand how topics connected to race and social injustice continue to impact the present

Developing High School Students\u27 Historical Empathy Skills Using Historical Dialogues: A Qualitative Study

This qualitative case study explored how perspective writing, in the form of historical dialogues, had the potential to help high school students in an urban school develop historical empathy skills. The study took place in an 11th grade United States history class where three types of data, interviews with the teacher, observation field notes, and student work, were collected over one school semester. Findings indicate that when presented with counter-narratives that introduce the experiences of groups that have been historically marginalized through U.S. history, students are more easily able to make personal connections and empathize with people from the past. In addition, when writing historical dialogues, students faced challenges contextualizing the past due to finding it difficult to avoid presentism. This was especially true when writing about issues such as racism, gender roles, and injustice as well as writing dialogues between historical figures who were of the same race, culture, and/or gender. Another finding suggested that, through the analysis of primary sources, high school students were able to understand that people from the past were influence by factors such as race, politics, economics, and the historical era