Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Tennessee

After the end of the Civil War in 1865, African Americans began to seek opportunities in education. Excluded from previously established schools, they founded institutes now known as “Historically Black Colleges and Universities” to provide education opportunities in higher learning.

Weblink address (URL): 
Historically Black Colleges and Universities in Tennessee
Home Page for the Lesson Plan- Source

Standards & Objectives

Learning objectives: 
  • Students will analyze primary source photographs from the late 1800s and early 1900s.
  • Students will synthesize multiple online sources to answer research questions. 
Essential and guiding questions: 

Why was there a need for African American colleges and universities? 

Lesson Variations

Blooms taxonomy level: 
Applying
Extension suggestions: 
  • Students can explore the Trials and Triumphs: Tennesseans Search for Citizenship, Community, and Opportunitywebsite to learn more about Tennessee’s history between the end of the American Civil War and the end of World War II.
  • Students can read more about the history of Historically Black Colleges and Universities in the United States.
  • Learn about the formation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Students can explore the online Library of Congress exhibition NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom to learn more about the organization and its impact.

Helpful Hints

MATERIALS AND RESOURCES:

  • Computer lab access
  • Fisk University Worksheet
  • Knoxville College Worksheet
  • LeMoyne-Owen College Worksheet
  • “The Nashville Globe” Worksheet