Pauli Murray’s America Elective Course
This semester-long elective course includes 15 Units and is anchored in the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray, a Black, Queer, legal and civil rights pioneer who broke through barriers and changed the course of history. Students immerse themselves in a primary source-based, interdisciplinary, and multimedia exploration of Murray’s early life, their efforts to secure equal rights and access to education, civil rights work, and their activism through authorship.
Students explore Key Civics Themes through the lenses of race and gender, including Foundations of the United States Government, Rights and Responsibilities, Role of the Individual, Power and Politics, and Active Engagement.
As students engage with the course materials, they are learning content and skills that inspire active civic engagement, broaden their understanding of equality and the remarkable diversity of America, and help them make connections to today’s world. The course culminates with students creating a Tableau and engaging with a Follow-up Panel Assessment to process and communicate how the course has impacted their civic knowledge, skills, and mindsets, and how they have been inspired to make a difference for others in their communities.
Course Goals and Objectives
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Reflect on the historical and cultural contexts that shaped Pauli Murray’s life and impact on society.
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Identify Constitutional processes and civic responsibilities that Pauli Murray applied within American institutions to advance the ideals of American democracy.
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Analyze how Pauli Murray effectively uses storytelling, poems, speeches, and biography to convey messages of protest and social critique.
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Develop critical thinking and writing skills and academic debate, analysis, and creative responses.
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Cultivate a deeper appreciation for the role that Pauli Murray played in the rights that we enjoy today.
Civic Participation Practices
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Demonstrate respect for the rights of others in discussions and classroom debates; respectfully disagree with other viewpoints and provide evidence for a counterargument.
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Work to influence those in positions of power to strive for extensions of freedom, social justice, and human rights.
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Fulfill social and political responsibilities associated with citizenship in a democratic society and interdependent global community by developing awareness of and engaging in the political process.
About Proud Shoes from Penguin Random House Publishers: "First published in 1956, Proud Shoes is the remarkable true story of slavery, survival, and miscegenation in the South from the pre-Civil War era through the Reconstruction. Proud Shoes chronicles the lives of Pauli Murray’s maternal grandparents from the birth of her grandmother, Cornelia Smith, daughter of a slave whose beauty incited the master’s sons to near murder, to the story of her grandfather Robert Fitzgerald, whose free Black father married a white woman in 1840. Proud Shoes offers a revealing glimpse of our nation’s history."
CLICK HERE to download the Pauli Murray classroom poster as a print-ready file for professional printing.
This elective course was developed with funding from the New York City Council.
CLICK HERE to learn about the Single-Teacher License for our full, supplemental curriculum which includes hundreds of primary source-based teaching materials: case studies, thematic units, videos, podcasts, and so much more.
