Procedures:

Background information on what life for the African American soldier is available.

1. Students can begin this discussion of life for the black soldier in the Union army by studying some of the photographs and drawings in the Valley's archive: (Students could view the images on-line, or the teacher could photocopy the images and distribute them to students)

2. Students could write in their journals what different views these images suggest as to what life would have been like for the African American soldier in the Union army.

3. In different groups, students could continue to explore perceptions of life for the black soldier in the Union army, using one or more of the newspaper articles and letters and photographs and drawings.

4. Using the worksheet, students could compare and contrast the effect of the images with that of the written articles and letter in shaping one's perception of life of the African-American soldier in the Union army.

 

Center for Technology and Teacher Education, University of Virginia. This module created by Anthony P. Dralleof the University of Virginia.