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Teaching with Douglass Day

Welcome! 

This year, Douglass Day is going to focus on the theme of “Black Women in the Colored Conventions.” We will be exploring the presence, participation and contributions of Black women in the Colored Convention movement. We’re asking “Where did they go?” to ask questions about Black women’s labor, leadership, and broader activities as leaders in their communities. 

The lessons below were written for teachers to use in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms. Each plan is aligned with the relevant Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Every lesson contains a basic set of activities, with extensions for use in middle school, high school, and college-level classes.

The materials below draw from primary sources, online exhibitions, and a wide variety of resources. Each lesson plan includes extensions for college classrooms. 

Lesson Plans

These lesson plans will prepare your students to participate in the crowdsourcing project we will be launching on February 14, 2022. While none of the lesson plans explicitly include transcription activities, we believe that the foundational knowledge your students gain from these lessons will prepare them for joining the Douglass Day “transcribe-a-thon.”

Why Hold a Colored Convention?

In 1883, Frederick Douglass delivered an extraordinary speech defending the need for activism—and especially Black political organizing. The lesson plans in this unit provide resources for exploring and explaining this important but little-known speech. Don’t miss the video of a dramatic reading!

What Did They Eat? Where Did They Stay? – Black Boarding Houses and the Colored Conventions

  • K-12 Teaching Methods, Questions, and Standards
  • AP US History and College Class Exercises

    • Working for Higher Education: Advancing Black Women’s Rights in the 1850s

  • K-12 Teaching Methods, Questions, and Standards
  • AP US History and College Class Exercises

    • Black Women’s Economic Power: Visualizing Domestic Spaces in the 1830s

  • K-12 Teaching Methods, Questions, and Standards
  • AP US History and College Class Exercises

    • Douglass Day – Transcribing in a College Classroom

    Want to have your students in undergraduate and graduate classes participate in this year’s activities?

    Additional Resources

    Video: Educator Info Session

    Check out this video, a primer for K-12 educators who want to incorporate Douglass Day into their lessons!

    Transcribe Guide

    Browse the resources for helping your students join the crowdsourcing project at the Library of Congress with our easy-to-use Transcribe Guide (coming January 2022!).

    Stickers & Flyers

    We have lots of flyers, stickers, and special Zoom backgrounds!

    Learn about the Colored Conventions

    Browse our short overview of the Colored Conventions, and then explore the exhibits, collections, and resources created by our friends at the Colored Conventions Project. (And follow on Twitter at @CCP_org!)

    What is Douglass Day?

    Did you know: Douglass Day was one of the original inspirations for Black History Month? Learn more on our page about the History of Douglass Day.

    Transcribing with College Classes

    Please consult our page with a list of suggested plans for the college classroom, (especially if you want to hold your transcription events before or after Feb. 14).