DISSEMINATING AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
ACROSS THE CURRICULUM THROUGH…
Power of Place
Pieces of the Past
Prize Winning Programs
People of the Past
Performing History
Primary Sources
MISSION
To disseminate knowledge about the era of slavery, especially at the elementary and middle grade levels, by offering educators superior professional development and excellent, ready-to-use instructional materials.* CFI’s original approach to teaching slavery focuses on the lives of ten enslaved and free African American craftspeople, entrepreneurs and activists. Each “crafted a path to freedom” for themselves and others by taking action and using their work activities and their spoken or written words as weapons of resistance.
*The Crafting Freedom Materials website (www.craftingfreedom.org) is a free, extensive digital collection of printable materials, media and embedded teacher training made possible by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). It was researched and developed over three years (2007-2010). The lessons and instructional activities it contains were created by teachers, historians and instructional designers.
FUTURE PLANS
Our major goal for the future is to ensure the mission of “Crafting Freedom Institute” ( formerly the Apprend Foundation ) lives on. We will continue pursuing our commitment to disseminating African American history and culture across the curriculum by offering superior professional development and excellent instructional materials that are both teacher-friendly and based on the best scholarship available.
It is critical that we continue to find new and improved ways to teach the era of slavery that are engaging and accessible both by teachers and their students. Our people-focused pedagogy featuring 19th century “freedom crafters” who improved their own and others circumstances by resisting slavery and “crafting a path to freedom” has been well received by teachers around the country. We intend to continue to offer and add to this pedagogy, yet we are always searching for best practices for teaching African American history. We also will continue to seek new teacher audiences for our work.
SOME FREEDOM CRAFTERS
YOU WILL LEARN ABOUT
Thomas Day
1801 – (ca.) 1861
Elizabeth Keckly
1818-1907
David Walker
(ca.) 1796 -1830
Sally Thomas
1787-1850