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Educational Materials for Teachers
At This Website:
“A Glimpse into the History of African Americans in Loudoun County”
A goal of the Education Committee of the Friends of the Balch Library is to acquaint teachers with the rich archival and educational resources available to them through this history and genealogical library. One important unit of American history classes centers on African American history from the ante-bellum period through the Civil Rights era. Rachel Y. Thompson, a member of the Friends Education Committee, has developed here documents and secondary sources, drawn primarily from the Balch Library, that focus on this theme. She has organized these materials around eight “Essential Understandings” bearing on African American History, and linked to the Virginia SOLs and Loudoun County Schools’ Program of Studies.
The sixty primary documents available now at “A Glimpse into African American History in Loudoun County” cover the first six of the eight “Understandings.” Documents will be added for the last two of these concepts by early June. These materials have been selected to support the “Understandings”, but teachers or students could print the downloadable documents for use with other related assignments. Furthermore, although the documents and resources at this site feature Loudoun County, teachers or students in other school districts are likely to find these materials useful as well. Click here to enter Glimpse. To find out more about the development of Glimpse, click here.
At the Balch Library:
For those of you who live in the Loudoun or nearby, we welcome the opportunity to work with you to plan a field trip to the Thomas Balch Library. The goals of the visit are to:
- Have students use the documents and other resources of the library to learn more about the history of black Americans in the county;
- Invite students to view the beautiful Balch mural and discover how the artist depicted the theme of slavery and freedom for black Americans in the mural; and
- Explain to the students how the library’s resources help black families who are conducting genealogical research. Virginia's Standards of Learning requirements are considered in the development of this tour.
For more information about scheduling a student visit to the Thomas Balch Library, please contact Rachel Thompson at (703) 779-9710, or at glimpses@balchfriends.org.
Learn more about Thomas Balch Library. Visit the Balch Library Website
