“African American Political History” is a four-week school teacher institute for twenty-five participants, held in Chicago and exploring African-American political history from the nineteenth century to the present. Project director Julieanna Richardson leads an institute that addresses African-American political development through the Civil War era; early twentieth-century black political strategies including civil rights and unionism; World War II and Cold War racial politics; the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s; and the rise of a new generation of black political leaders since. The participants study primary materials, including writings by African-American leaders, documents from Chicago-area archives, and, most centrally, oral histories and contextual materials from The HistoryMakers digital archive and Web site. They also read secondary works by leading scholars and commentators, including Manning Marable, Eric Arnesen, Christopher Benson, Charles Payne, Michael Dawson, Adam Fairclough, Peniel Joseph, and Adolph Reed. Visiting faculty include Bruce Laurie (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Jacqueline Goldsby (New York University), Cheryl Greenberg (Trinity College), Eric Arnesen (George Washington University), Charles Payne (University of Chicago), Rhonda Williams (Case Western University), Josh Radinsky (University of Illinois, Chicago), Michael Dawson (University of Chicago), Adolph Reed (University of Pennsylvania), Christopher Reed (Roosevelt University), and Christopher Benson (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign). Participants pursue research projects, chosen six weeks before the institute, devise related curricular materials, and present these materials to the institute and to teachers in their home districts. They also receive training in oral history, a “useful [method] for engaging students,” under the direction of the project director and Leon Dash (University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign). The institute is held at the nearby Glessner House in Chicago.
