COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
P.O. BOX 2120
SUPTS. MEMO NO. 30
February
2, 2007
INFORMATIONAL
|
TO: |
Division
Superintendents |
|
FROM: |
Billy K. Cannaday, Jr. Superintendent
of Public Instruction |
|
SUBJECT: |
Black History Month Resources |
African
Americans are prominent in Virginia and American history. The famous historian,
Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a native Virginian and the son of former slaves, brought
this fact to the worlds attention by founding the Association for the Study of
Negro Life and History, publishing several scholarly works and establishing
Negro History Week, the precursor to Black History Month. Every February,
America and Virginia observe Black History Month celebrating and honoring the
many achievements and contributions made by African Americans to the economic,
cultural, and political development of America. The
Virginia Department of Education is pleased to provide teachers and school
divisions with Black History Month resources. These resources support the 2001 History and Social Science
Standards of Learning.
The
U.S. Department of Education, Federal Resources for Educational Excellence,
provides an in-depth collection of African American resources. http://www.free.ed.gov/subjects.cfm?subject_id=116&res_feature_request=1
African American Mosaic is a Library of
Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture. Topics
include colonization and
African American History Sites from the Library of Virginia focus
on topics in
Many
African Americans have figured prominently in their respective fields
throughout the past century, including such distinguished Virginians as Oliver
Hill, Esquire, whose 1954 argument in Brown v. the Board of Education of
Topeka, Kansas, mandated the integration of Americas public schools; Mrs.
Maggie Walker, a prominent civic leader and founder and President of the St.
Luke Penny Bank, the first American bank established and operated by a woman of
any race; the Honorable L. Douglas Wilder, Virginias sixty-sixth Governor and
the first African American from any state to win a gubernatorial election; the
late Arthur Ashe, winner of the U.S. Open and Wimbledon tennis championships;
and Gabriel Prosser, a charismatic blacksmith, owned
by Thomas Prosser of Henrico County, who planned to enter Richmond with force,
capture the Capitol and the Virginia State Armory, and hold Governor James
Monroe hostage to bargain for freedom for Virginia's slaves. Many
other African Americans have made important contributions to our society, such
as Martin Luther King, Jr., our nations greatest civil rights activist; Jackie
Robinson, the first African American to integrate Major League Baseball;
Thurgood Marshall, the first African American United States Supreme Court
Justice; and Rosa Parks, whose famous decision to remain in her seat symbolized
the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement.
For more information, please contact
Beverly Thurston, coordinator, history and social science, Office of Middle and
High School Instruction, by e-mail at Beverly.Thurston@doe.virginia.gov,
or by telephone at (804) 225-2893 or Betsy Barton, specialist for history and
social science, by e-mail at Betsy.Barton@doe.virginia.gov or by telephone
at (804) 225-3454.
BKCJr/BSB/vdg