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Reading and (re)writing historical markers, monuments, murals, and other public texts
Reading and (re)writing historical markers, monuments, murals, and other public texts
Additional Resources Prepared for the 2020 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Virtual Conference
Philadelphia, like many other communities in the United States, has been reckoning with the role of its monuments, murals, and statues, particularly those that might perpetuate narratives of white supremacy. These local and global conversations can spark meaningful and engaging learning experiences in our classrooms.
Seeing our built environment as a text (or collection of texts) to be read invites students to:
think critically about how/whose stories and histories are told and retold, and
contribute to an ongoing conversation about what we value as communities.
Through its public art and mural arts programs, Philadelphia has promoted remembrance and celebration across its diverse neighborhoods. In some instances, though, members of a community might recognize that stories remain untold or argue for a more honest retelling of a particular history. Community members might, then, create new public art or advocate for changes to existing monuments, murals, markers, and other features of our built environment.
In our webinar on Tuesday, September 29, 2020:
We shared our inquiries as practitioners using Philadelphia’s monuments, murals, historical markers, and other public texts in our classrooms.
We addressed leveraging digitized historical primary sources from institutions like the Library of Congress as part of planning possible classroom inquiries with students.
We shared a growing curated list of resources for teachers to plan similar work with students.
We provided space for conversations about how to support students in exploring their relationships to the city and civic engagement.
Learn more about our teaching with primary sources webinar series.
Webinar Co-Facilitators
Webinar Co-Facilitators
Erica Darken, Grade 4 Teacher; PhilWP TC
June Freifelder, Grade 9 English and Grade 11 Theory of Knowledge Teacher; PhilWP TC
Adina Goldstein, Grade 7 English Language Arts and Social Studies Teacher; PhilWP TC
Samantha Hunter, Senior Specialist, School and Youth Programs, Eastern State Penitentiary
Geena Molinaro, Grades 7 and 8 Reading Specialist; PhilWP TC
Javaha Ross, Grade 3 Teacher; PhilWP TC
Trey Smith, Grades 9-12 Technology Teacher; PhilWP TC
Lisa (Yuk Kuen) Yau, 邱玉娟, Grade 4 Teacher; PhilWP TC
Adina and June
Adina and June
Examining Connections Between Histories and Public Art
Examining Connections Between Histories and Public Art
Two secondary teachers, June Freifelder and Adina Goldstein, promote student research, discussion, and exploration of Philadelphia’s public art in their classrooms. June teaches high school students in English and IB Theory of Knowledge courses. Adina teaches middle school students in social studies and English language arts classes. Philadelphia has more than 1,500 public sculptures. Alongside their students, they consider:
What are the purposes of public monuments?
Do current monuments serve those purposes?
How can monuments better reflect those purposes within our communities?
Map of public art in Philadelphia (Association for Public Art)
Podcast: Monumental questions (On the Media, 2020)
News article: The protests heard 'round the world (NPR Code Switch, 2020)
Teacher resource: How culturally responsive lessons teach critical thinking (Teaching Tolerance, 2020)
Javaha and Geena
Javaha and Geena
Analyzing and Creating Murals
Analyzing and Creating Murals
There are approximately 3,600 murals in Philadelphia. The city's Mural Arts program maintains a map showing the locations of many of the city's murals. The program began in 1981 as part of a city government effort to combat graffiti.
Two elementary teachers, Javaha Ross in Philadelphia and Geena Molinaro in Mt. Laurel, NJ, explore some of the ways that artists depict community histories, celebrate cultural identities, commemorate events and people, and contribute to a sense of place.
Teachers can use the Library of Congress's observe, reflect, and question tool to encourage students to notice and wonder about the murals. Photos of some of the murals are also available on the Library of Congress website.
Video: Philadelphia: The Great Experiment: Breakthrough (1978-1994) (HistoryMaking Productions, 2014)
Map of murals in Philadelphia (Mural Arts)
News article: 'Sanctuary City, Sanctuary Neighborhood' mural unveiled in Fairhill (Al Día, 2018)
News article: 14 murals in Philly that speak to the Asian experience (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2019)
Trey
Trey
Reading and (Re)writing Monuments to Columbus and the Taino
Reading and (Re)writing Monuments to Columbus and the Taino
When he taught middle school social studies in North Philadelphia, Trey Smith's students critically analyzed texts depicting Christopher Columbus (including local monuments) and the Taíno. Students then proposed new monuments as part of a classroom project that would (re)tell stories of the Taíno and/or Columbus.
News video: South Philly Columbus Statue to Be Stored, Permanent Future in the Air (NBC10 Philadelphia, 2020)
Exploring the Early Americas: Columbus and the Taíno. (Library of Congress, 2007)
Teacher resource: Toolkit for “Set In Stone” (Teaching Tolerance, 2013)
Teacher resource: Guided primary source analysis: Pulling down the statue (Primary Source Nexus, 2020)
Erica and Lisa
Erica and Lisa
Exploring the Built Environment Using Digital Mapping Tools
Exploring the Built Environment Using Digital Mapping Tools
Murals, monuments, and markers are just some of the public texts we might read and (re)write in our neighborhoods. We can also analyze the buildings and public spaces, which often are named after individuals, as texts. We also can consider the ways that the built environment has changed over time—and even imagine different futures.
A digital walking tour, especially during a time when many schools are only holding classes online, allows students to explore a neighborhood together and reflect on public texts. Teachers and students can pair present images with historical texts as they dig into the histories of a built environment.
Discussions are ongoing in Philadelphia (and many other communities) about whose names should be on schools. This is the case for Lisa and Erica's school. Students can participate in these conversations about school names.
Monuments Resources for Teachers from the National Writing Project
Monuments Resources for Teachers from the National Writing Project
The National Writing Project has resources for teachers for supporting students in entering ongoing public conversations about monuments.
Teacher resource: Skills for now, habits for tomorrow: What I learned while making a text set on monuments (NWP Write Now, 2020)
Teacher resource: College, Career, and Community Writers Program (C3WP): Curating to counter and Confederate monuments lessons (NWP, 2019)
Teacher resource: Civic + Art = Nuance: Civic art as a fulcrum for powerful conversations (NWP Write Now, 2020)
Text Sets for Classroom Use
Text Sets for Classroom Use
Below you'll find additional text sets that focus on murals, monuments, markers, and other parts of our built environments.
Lenapehoking
Lenape means “original people,” the “first people,” and the “true people.” Lenapehoking, which includes what we call Philadelphia today, stretches from the Delaware River Valley to the lower Hudson River Valley (including Manhattan), covering all of New Jersey and Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania and southern New York.
Reverend John Norwood reflects on Lenni-Lenape and Lenapehoking (History Making Productions, 2014)
For local Native Americans, a reckoning over hurtful images goes way beyond one South Philadelphia statue (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2020)
Tamanend (Association for Public Art, 2020)
Allyship with Lenape Tribal Nations: Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (2017)
The original people and their land: The Lenape, pre-history to the 18th century (West Philadelphia Collaborative History Center)
William Still, the Underground Railroad, and Philadelphia
William Still was an African American, abolitionist, Philadelphian, businessman, writer, and philanthropist, who lived from 1821 to 1902. He helped approximately 800 people who had been enslaved to find freedom. He kept diaries based on his work with the Underground Railroad and published the accounts in 1872. He also published a brief history of Philadelphia’s segregated streetcars as part of his advocacy for desegregating public transportation.
William Still Historical Marker in Philadelphia (Explore Pennsylvania History)
The underground railroad. A record of facts, authentic narratives, letters (William Still, 1872, available through Library of Congress)
William Still: An African-American abolitionist (Temple University Libraries, includes classroom resources)
Picture books and primary sources: An interview with Don Tate, author and illustrator of William Still and His Freedom Stories (AASL Knowledge Quest Blog, 2020)
Philadelphia’s African American Memorials: Octavius Catto and All Wars
It wasn't until 2017 that Philadelphia erected a statue honoring the life of an African American man. Another statue, honoring Black soldiers and sailors was erected in 1934 but was placed in an obscure part of Fairmount Park. The soldiers and sailors memorial was recently relocated by the city to a more prominent space in the city. What histories do our students need to explore to understand these monuments? What additional changes should we be making to our public spaces with public art?
Who is Octavius Catto? Learning about Philly’s first public monument to an African-American (WHYY, 2017)
Remembering a Forgotten Hero: Octavius Catto (Mural Arts Philadelphia, 2018)
A victory for heros: The battle behind the All Wars Memorial to Colored Soldiers and Sailors (Hidden City Philadelphia, 2020)
Why do majority-white city commissions pick the Philly history saved and celebrated? (WHYY, 2020)
Our alma mater: an address delivered at Concert Hall on the occasion of the twelfth annual commencement of the Institute for Colored Youth, May 10th, 1864 (available through Library of Congress)
Students Propose Historical Marker for 1985 MOVE Bombing by Police
In 1985, Philadelphia police bombed the MOVE organization on Osage Avenue in West Philadelphia. In 2017, fifth- and sixth-graders at the Jubilee School researched the bombing and, with their teacher, sought a state marker to recognize the site and the fire that killed 11 MOVE members, including 5 children.
Springbreak Camp 2017: Students Request Historical Plaque for MOVE House (WHYY, 2017, video)
Students campaign for historical marker commemorating MOVE bombing (CBS 3 News, 2017)
Philadelphia apologizes for MOVE bombing from 35 years ago (NPR, 2020)
Students Propose Historical Marker for 1967 Philly Student Protests
In 1967, more than three thousand Philadelphia students walked out of school and presented 25 demands to Philadelphia’s Board of Education, including calls for African American curriculum. They were met by police violence. In 2020, five Masterman high school students gained approval for a state marker to commemorate the event.
1967: African American students strike, survive police riot to force change (Philadelphia Public School Notebook, 2002)
Philly students secure historical marker commemorating 1967 school walkout notorious for Rizzo brutality (WHYY, 2020)
Mural depicting controversial onetime police commissioner, and later mayor, Frank Rizzo in the south Philadelphia neighborhood (Highsmith, 2019, available through Library of Congress)
Up South: Civil Rights and Black Power in Philadelphia (Countryman, 2007)
Preserving Homes of Prominent Philadelphians—and Telling Their Stories
As parts of the built environment, what happens to former homes of figures who achieved notoriety (in their time or later)? Whose legacies may be less known and could be elevated by marking where they lived? How might these homes be places for education and activism that carry on the legacies of those who lived there? These are ongoing discussion in a city like Philadelphia.
Two of Philly’s unique Black history institutions are fundraising to survive: The Colored Girls Museum and the Paul Robeson House have joined forces to raise $100k (Billy Penn, 2020)
Paul Robeson: The artist as revolutionary (Horne, 2016, digital version available through Library of Congress)
PEOPLEHOOD parade begins at Paul Robeson House and marches to Clark Park (West Philly Local, 2019)
Marian Anderson defended civil rights, broke racial barriers, defied the Nazis — and her South Philly museum needs help (Billy Penn, 2020)
Harriet Tubman, Philly-style: Take a themed hike or visit a $20 stamping station (Philadelphia Inquirer, 2019)
StoryMap with Teacher Stories and Text Sets
StoryMap with Teacher Stories and Text Sets
Want to explore some of these resources spatially?
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