Program Description
Award winning Pioneers in the Struggle was the first educational product produced by The HistoryMakers. Developed in 2001, Pioneers in the Struggle traces the history of African Americans in the Illinois General Assembly from 1877-2001. Pioneers in the Struggle includes a documentary video, interactive CD-ROM and teachers' curriculum guide that chronicles this little known, yet fascinating history. These African American statesmen and stateswomen were responsible for many of the civil rights that citizens hold today. Pioneers in the Struggle features interviews from Senate President Emil Jones, Jr., Secretary of State Jesse White, Ambassador Carol Moseley Braun, the late Mayor Harold Washington, Presidential Candidate Barack Obama and many others who served in the Illinois General Assembly. This package was distributed free of charge to all Illinois Public Schools.
The HistoryMakers Education Institute was launched in April 2003, as a year long educational program. Drawing on the resources of The HistoryMakers archives, the Institute was designed to work effectively as part of both social studies and language arts curricula. The Institute was established to (1) create a more inclusive and relevant curriculum; (2) foster teacher preparation and student learning and achievement; and (3) encourage intergenerational learning through a role model/mentor program.
In 2003, when The HistoryMakers Education Institute began, it worked in close partnership with the DePaul Center for Urban Education under the direction of Barbara Radner, Ph.D., That first year, The HistoryMakers selected forty teachers from twenty middle and high schools in a competitive application process. During the summer, the teachers participated in a week long session where they learned how to incorporate The HistoryMakers’ resources into their core curricula. They also learned about oral history methodology, genealogy and public history, as well as African American history and culture. Quarterly sessions were then held to discuss teaching strategies and to allow the teachers to share both their own project work and their students’ work.
The HistoryMakers Education Institute includes:
- Teacher summer training institute
- Ongoing teacher support
- Meet the HistoryMakers: A Day of Education
- It’s Cool to Succeed Mentoring Program
- HistoryMakers Speak-Out School Assemblies
- My OWN Story
