TOPIC 3.9 Black Organizations and Institutions

Contextualizing Unit 3 Through the Story of NEGRO LEAGUE Baseball

Student Handout (one for each student)
Required Sources For Matching: One for each group

LO 3.9.A EK 3.9.A.1 Explain how African Americans promoted the economic stability and well-being of their communities in the early twentieth century.

“There was a lot wrong with the world, but we weren’t sad men. We had the time of our lives. I told them that for 50 years. They heard, but they didn’t listen. They listened, but they didn’t hear.” - Buck O'Neil, Negro League ballplayer for the Kansas City Monarchs

Objective: Students will analyze primary sources related to Negro League Baseball by contextualizing them within Unit 3 themes in order to explain how Black institutions promoted resilience, joy, and community well-being amid systemic racism.

BreakTHROUGH DOUCMENT ANALYSIS!

I created this activity to help students review key themes from Unit 3 while highlighting some of my favorite Negro League primary sources I’ve used over the years. While I was aiming for context practice and unit 3 review, I hit the jackpot with a real breakthrough with document sourcing analysis (the “Y” in SPY) as well as contextualization for the DBQs. Last year, my students, the majority of whom had never taken an AP class before, some are still learning English, absolutely rocked the AP Exam. By last spring, I was consistently reading some of the best DBQs I’ve ever read and I circled and highlighted this lesson in my planning calendar as the big break through moment for many of them. The DBQ isn’t just about document analysis, it is about making connections across course units and themes. If students can gain a decent understanding of the chronology of events, they can use that knowledge to analyze documents.

This activity was great for period 3 review and naturally opens up discussion around Black-run organizations, joy, resilience, and common misconceptions, while also giving students meaningful practice with periodization, contextualization, and writing.

(Before Class) Printing Instructions

  • Student Handout: Print pages 1-3 double-sided and stapled for each student

  • Required Sources for Matching Activity: Print single-sided for each group of 3–4 students

OVERVIEW

Students work in groups to:

  • Put required AP African American Studies U3 sources in chronological order

  • Match themes of required sources with primary source documents connected to the Negro League Baseball

  • Write about what they notice about these connections and why it matters

Instructions for students

(These directions are included on the top of the handout. I have added instructions for you in italics)

(Before class starts, put the 4 required sources on each groups designated seating area. Keep the Negro League sources for now)

Part 1: With your table

Step #1 - Considering themes and events of unit 3, put the 4 APAFAM required sources in chronological order. Raise your hand for me to check. (if they are in the correct order, give the students the Negro League sources and see if they can put these in chronological order.)

Step #2 - Match each primary source about Negro League Baseball to one of the required sources (At first they may protest because they are probably unfamiliar with these sources and may likely say something like “How am I supposed to know?” Guide them to consider what they do know, that is, the required sources they have already put in order. Using these “big idea themes,” students should also be able to put the Negro League sources in order as well. History does not occur in a vacuum, events are impacted by their context.)

Step #3 -  Practice the skill of document analysis through contextualization. Choose one of the Negro League sources from part 1 and…

A. Summarize the document.

B. Explain how the context of Black history in this era helps explain why the source and its content exists or to help better understand the document’s meaning or significance.

What clues exist in the Negro Leagues documents that gives you an idea about if this source is from the era of Reconstruction or from the era or the Great Migration, etc.?

Step #5 -  Read 4 more sources on the Negro Leagues in order to answer a prompt about life in the Negro Leagues and what this can tell us about how Black organizations prompted self-sufficiently, economic stability, and well-being in their communities.  Write a thesis statement to answer the prompt and be prepared to share in our whole class discussion.