For years, the University of South Carolina’s (UofSC) Center for Civil Rights History and Research has offered training programs to K-12 educators, exposing them to aspects of civil rights history through primary sources, lectures and historical site visits.
“We have amassed a very impressive archive of materials and we understand that unless there is dynamic programing, very often these sources are collecting dust,” said Dr. Bobby J. Donaldson, an associate professor of history at UofSC. “We very much want to expose the broader public, especially teachers, to these resources.”
The most recent session — launched in collaboration with UofSC’s Center for Innovation in Higher Education and funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities grant — focused on the Reconstruction era.
Open to K-12 educators, the three-week virtual institute, titled, “Freedom’s Lawmakers: Black Leadership During Reconstruction,” focused on the three themes of citizenship, lawmakers and the memory of Reconstruction.
“I hope that the content material provides a lens into Reconstruction that challenges some of the misunderstandings about the period,” said Donaldson, who is also co-project director of the institute. “We look at the organizations, the places and the people who are part of the Reconstruction movement particularly in South Carolina but around the nation.”
Originally scheduled for last year, the institute was postponed to this summer due to travel restrictions and safety precautions related to COVID-19.
From July 12-30, 25 K-12 teachers and librarians from 16 states learned about the legacy of Black political figures in the state during Reconstruction through virtual visits to historical sites and museums.
