What Explains Migration To and From Detroit?
Historical Investigations into Human Migration in America
This curriculum engages students
in authentic historical investigations of the growth, development and
transformation of communities in the United States by focusing upon migration
to and from America's urban centers. Students investigate questions using electronic
versions of over 1000 primary and secondary source materials from the
Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village and other historical archives.
Curriculum Synopsis
This curriculum contains four units, in which students develop their skills in framing questions, gather evidence and use primary sources as they learn about major population migrations in U.S. history and the impact such movement had on individuals, families and communities.
Specially designed technological tools assist students in locating, investigating, and analyzing a wide-range of appropriate and relevant resources, including an authentic sharecroppers' home relocated to the grounds of the Henry Ford Museum. Designed specifically for these materials, the technology provides easy access to important resources and needed support to use those resources effectively. These materials include over 1,000 primary and secondary sources for students and teachers use. Most of these resources come from the exhibits and archives of the Henry Ford Museum and the Greenfield Village.
Introduction to History:
In the introductory unit, students act as museum curators to plan for two different exhibits. In their design, students frame questions, gather and use evidence, create an account/exhibit and evaluate their accounts. The unit establishes classroom criteria for framing problems, using evidence and creating historical accounts.
The Five Dollar Day: How did industry adapt to changing population and workforce?
Built around a case study of the Ford Motor Company's Five Dollar Day policy, this unit centers on the responses individuals and organizations had to major changes in the city's workforce and population. Focusing upon students' skills in creating plausible explanation, the unit has students use their investigations of past policy to shape recommendations for policy makers.
The Great Migration: Why would Southerners move to Detroit?:
Using a variety of primary sources including the Mattox House, a Georgia sharecropper's home now located at the Henry Ford Museum, students engage in a comparative investigation of life in the rural south and urban north to explain why so many southerners moved to northern cities. The materials aim to develop student use of evidence.
Suburbanization: Why would some people move to the suburbs?
Students present and test their own theories for the timing and growth of Detroit's suburbs. A key feature of the unit involves students' gathering evidence for their investigations through interviews and personal histories. .
Background
This curriculum was initially developed in 2001 as part of the Primary Souce Network project. These materials have been revised based on research on classroom practice and student achievement, as well as from feedback from teachers using the materials. These units are currently used by ninth and tenth grade students in the Henry Ford Academy, as well as classrooms around southeast Michigan. Development of this curriculum was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education. These curriculum materials were developed to address the curriculum standards of the Michigan Curriculum Framework.
Downloads, Workshop Information, and Resources
Download the Introduction (PDF - 472kb).
Upcoming workshops on this curriculum.
Virtual Expedition Information (coming soon!)