This collection uses primary sources to explore Negro League Baseball. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

In this presentation, Elizabeth Rezende shares her research on the "New Shipping Routes and the Increase in Migration to St. Thomas Danish West Indies 1880-1916".

St. Thomas is the place where every hand, shakes hands with the other. Between the 1820s and 1890, St. Thomas was the first land mass transatlantic steamships met when following the trade winds directly from the Madeira Islands.

Thus, St. Thomas became a mid-point, a place where ships had to stop to get to another place. Steamships from Europe stopped at this multi-commercial island on their journey to the Caribbean, South and Central American ports for telegraphic messages and refueling. Likewise on the homeward- voyages from the Caribbean, South and Central America, ships again stopped at St. Thomas for refueling and received orders from their home offices.

In 1871, the Hamburg American Line determined that St. Thomas would be its Atlantic headquarters for its newly organized seven routes within the Caribbean Basin.

HAL sent out regularly scheduled ships carrying cargo, passengers, and mail every two weeks, creating increased business in the harbor. To accommodate the vessels’ pressed timeline, scores of unskilled laborers managed the loading and discharging of the goods and people, facilitating the ships’ readiness for the next port of call. In the census workers’ names, places of birth, and occupations were listed. In viewing the enumeration for an entire property, it can be determined that numbers of persons originally from the same islands of birth, such as Tortola and St. Croix, lived together in crowded tenements lining the harbor.

The enumerators of the Danish West Indian censuses of 1880 and 1901 were not only vigilant in entering the occupations of the seamen but also fastidious in filling out the last question, asking where the resident was if he were off-island on the day of the enumeration. Thus, we know in many cases from the censuses where a seaman was sailing and with what company.

Other trades people, such as self-employed vendors of fruits and vegetables, ferry-boat operators, and row- boat sailors, dragging lighters of cargo, were employed by independent sources, and were in the enumeration.

Additionally, a number of European recorders of travelogues comment on their observations and experiences of these routes, noting the high volume of activity among these laborers. Joseph Froude, Robert Woolward, and Anthony Trollope’s diaries give one perspective.

Froude was especially interested in the rate of pay of these groups of workers, and these rates have been corroborated with the payroll records deposited in RG 55 of the National Archives and Records Administration.

Elizabeth Rezende is an independent researcher. She has worked for forty years in studying various groups of people who have made St. Croix and St. Thomas home. Her dissertation focused on the free colored people of Free Gut, Christiansted. She has, under the auspices of the National Park Service, rendered community studies of other areas of greater Christiansted: Water Gut, Gallows Bay, and Market Square and Free Gut of Frederiksted. Her focus of study is the occupations of the residents in these areas of towns over a span of time.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the poetry of Maya Angelou. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

In 1607, a party of Englishmen landed in a place they called Virginia. They followed in the footsteps of Sir Walter Raleigh, who had visited Virginia (which, at the time, included North Carolina) with a party of settlers in 1585. The colony founded by Raleigh’s party failed, weakened by lack of supplies and irregular contact with England.

To the people who already lived in the area, this was the land of the Powhatan Confederacy, a vast regional network of allied communities living under the leadership of Wahunsenacah (also known as Powhatan). Contact between the English and the people of the Powhatan confederacy was fraught with misunderstanding and conflict. This owed a great deal to the fact that the English were in the Americas to form a colony and make money for the Virginia Company of London, the corporation that had launched them on their voyage west. The Powhatan, on the other hand, lived out their values of kinship, allyship, and reciprocity in a way that was at first incomprehensible to the English, and that later they firmly rejected.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Jeannette Ehlers is a Danish-Trinidadian multi disciplinary visual artist who aims to disrupt the dominating narratives and replace them with ones that acknowledge the aspects of history that have thus far been ignored. Ehlers engages themes of visibility, identity, and collective memory, such as her work I am Queen Mary, which represents one of four queens who led the 1878 labor revolt in Saint Croix, a former Danish colony.

Presenting her works at the sixth MAD Symposium, Ehlers discusses how it is possible to reframe history so that it is inclusive to all and provides examples how to do so through her works. Ehlers engages us, urging us to see how art, and other mediums like food, can provoke, lead and guide, people to better self-understanding.

Michael Miller is the co-founder of the London and New York Meditation Center. Miller regularly teaches all across the globe, introducing the ancient technique of Vedic Meditation in a way that is accessible and relevant to people living in today's world.

Interweaving practical techniques with vocal advice, Miller compels us to see how meditation can make us more available, responsive, and active in our lives. By tuning in to, and ridding ourselves of stress we can create better kitchen environments, he argues.

About MAD:
MAD is a non-profit transforming our food system by giving chefs and restaurateurs the skills, community, time, and space to create real and sustainable change in their restaurants, their communities, and across the world.

Selected items from the Rosa Parks collection, documenting the life, work, and legacy of civil rights legend Rosa Parks. Selected items from the Rosa Parks collection, documenting the life, work, and legacy of civil rights legend Rosa Parks.

This collection uses primary sources to explore settlement houses during the Progressive Era. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the history of Spanish missions in California. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This video segment explores how the song Strange Fruit became one of the best-known and most enduring songs of protest. In 1939, the legendary blues singer Billie Holiday performed the song as a daring criticism of the commonplace practice of the lynching of African-Americans. Civil rights groups such as the NAACP had made countless appeals, but it was Holiday’s haunting rendition that made it impossible for white Americans and lawmakers to ignore the widespread crime.

A second video segment includes the story of Abel Meeropol, son of Russian Jewish immigrants and a high school English teacher in the Bronx neighborhood where he was born, wrote a poem entitled Strange Fruit. This video discusses how the poem would later be performed by the legendary Billie Holiday as a song of protest, bringing national attention to the crime of lynching.
https://opb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf09.socst.us.prosp.songborn/abel-meeropol-billie-holiday-and-a-song-born-in-protest/

Sensitive: This resource contains material that may be sensitive for some students. Teachers should exercise discretion in evaluating whether this resource is suitable for their class.

In my Latino/Latina literature class, my primary intent is to help my students see the inequities created in our society by pervasive racism and discrimination. This project asks that the students watch two hours of

 The objective of studying whether the Virgin Islands would thrive better from being heterogeneous or homogeneous is to understand the impact of diversity on a community's social, economic, and cultural development. By examining the benefits and drawbacks of both homogeneity and heterogeneity, researchers can gain insights into the factors that contribute to a community's success or failure. Understanding the dynamics of diversity in the Virgin Islands can help policymakers and community leaders make informed decisions about how to promote economic growth, social cohesion, and cultural preservation in the region. Ultimately, the goal of this research is to identify strategies that will enable the Virgin Islands to thrive and prosper in the face of global challenges and changing demographic trends.

This lesson plan aims to educate students about the significance of Pan-Africanism, focusing on its relevance in the Virgin Islands and Liberia. Students will delve into the contributions of key figures like Reverend Dr. Edward Wilmot Blyden and Dr. Melvin Evans, particularly in the realms of Pan-Africanism, politics, and health administration. The curriculum will address the historical context of healthcare in the Virgin Islands, emphasizing the disparities during Dr. Melvin Evans' tenure as the first Black governor. Through various activities, students will engage in discussions, research, and creative tasks to understand health disparities and propose solutions for a more equitable society. The lesson also integrates standards related to democracy, societal change, and local Virgin Islands pride. Materials for the lesson include biographies, information on Liberia, internet resources, art supplies, and potential guest speakers.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UeAFha9L5Y&t=590s  

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the Underground Railroad and the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

This collection uses primary sources to explore the United Farm Workers and the Delano Grape Strike. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.

Denmark Vesey worked as a carpenter and was formerly an enslaved person. Vesey was born in the Danish West Indies, which are now known as the Virgin Islands of the United States. Vesey allegedly plotted an enslaved uprising in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1822 to coincide with Bastille Day. Vesey patterned his movement after Haiti's successful 1791 slave revolt.

Friendship Day between the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico is a public holiday observed in the United States Virgin Islands on the second Monday of October. The holiday was established in 1964 by Governor Paiewonsky to recognize Puerto Ricans who live in the Virgin Islands or have made significant contributions to the territory.
The date was chosen to coincide with Columbus Day, as it was seen as "an ideal day for recognizing Americans' solidarity with the Caribbean.

The day was established by Act 8257, which was signed into law by Gov. Albert Bryan Jr. in January. It commemorates the adoption of the Virgin Islands flag on May 17, 1921.

This collection uses primary sources to explore visual art during the Harlem Renaissance. Digital Public Library of America Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop their critical thinking skills and draw diverse material from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States. Each set includes an overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide. These sets were created and reviewed by the teachers on the DPLA's Education Advisory Committee.