One lister wrote:

"I also get a little annoyed when professors speak of African-American history
through the eyes of slavery only.  African-Americans have contributed a great
deal to America"


Hear hear!  I created a teaching packet which focuses on local African
Americans in the later part of the 1800s.  It teaches students about using
primary and secondary resources while presenting  information about the
occupations and community activities of people in Troy.  I am tired of
requests for information about the Underground Railroad.  There is so
little information in the first place, there are so many myths, and there
is so much more to know about African American history -- and a lot of good
"real" information.  (Not that I don't discuss slavery and the Underground
Railroad -- actually, a lot of people don't know that there was slavery in
NYS until 1827.  That's an important chapter, but it isn't the end of the
story.   I begin the packet with resources that offer information about
slavery, and include some information about Abolitionist activities,  but
then move on to discuss the variety of occupations in the local community.)

There's a little 1992 paperback book I have:  _Outward Dreams:  Black
Inventors and Their Inventions_ by Jim Haskins, (age 10 and up) ISBN
0-553-29480-6.



Lorraine E. Weiss, Education Director
Rensselaer County Historical Society, Troy, NY,  ([log in to unmask])
Visit us at http://www.crisny.org/not-for-profit/rchs