Menance to the Community???
The following lesson series is designed to help students and teachers explore the ways in which eugenics, a scientifically inaccurate and ill-conceived idea for improving the human race, was accepted and practiced in the 1920's in the small town of Hurley, NY. A petition from community members asked that the children of Belle Davis, a single mother of African-American descent, be removed from her care and institutionalized because they were a "menace to the community." The case went to court and extensive coverage of the trial was provided by the local newspaper, The Daily Freeman. Using informational texts, students are invited to think critically and empathetically about a topic of great import.
Thinking about Teaching these Lessons
Each of the eight lessons in this series invites students to make personal connections to the information on the website, hurleymtnstories.omeka.net. Through journals they voice their inner speech and thoughts and then share entries with classmates and teacher. In so doing strategic opportunities for socio-cultural as well as cognitive development become available. Schooling offers collective, conceptual growth. All the lessons also offer opportunities across the universe of discourse—reading, writing, speaking, and listening—so that each individual student learns to use existing cultural and linguistic tools.
While each of the lessons can be used individually, in the aggregate they become more powerful. For instance, Lesson Two focuses on the Story of Belle Davis and the community petition to have her children removed from the family home. The story of the Davis family was undoubtedly impacted by the eugenics movement which is covered in Lesson One. The juxtaposition of these two lessons makes each more meaningful, although a teacher might choose to teach Lesson Two before Lesson One.
Lessons Three and Four explore how the media, i.e. the local newspaper, both reported on and shaped the story. Lesson Five, using both primary and secondary sources, explores the story in a broader historical context and asks students to consider why, or why not, the study of this family is important. This lesson also offers strategies for writing and speaking in many discursive forms. Students reflect, generalize, and theorize on ideas/issues of particular interest to them.
Lessons Six, Seven and Eight present an opportunity to think critically about historical data and interpretation. Students synthesize and articulate what they have learned and finally move to the present, connecting what they have learned to what they understand about the the times in which they live. purpose:
|
Purpose |
Lessons |
Grades |
|
Bringing an historical movement to life—to be used as example or a specific focus on the idea of “movements.” |
Lesson One and Two |
6-9 |
|
The role of mass media in building knowledge while also understanding the meaning of “fake news.” |
Lessons Two (for background knowledge), Three, and Four |
6-12 |
|
Understanding primary and secondary sources and exploring their differences |
Lesson Five |
6-8 |
|
Engaging in reflection (substituting the focus of this lesson with one of your own lesson series) |
Lesson 8 |
6-12 |
|
A variety of discursive forms to be used by students are listed here. They can be used for this lesson or for others you are teaching. |
Lesson 5 |
6-12 |
Additional Resources:
PBS - The Origins of Eugenics
Eugenics and Francis Galton