Genre: Blues
lesson:
The New Deal Featuring Blues, Country, and Folk Songs
What impact did the New Deal have on the United States during the Great Depression, what is the legacy of the New Deal, and how did songs reflect different feelings Americans had about the New Deal?
lesson:
The Great Depression featuring Blues and Jazz songs of the 1930s
Why did the Great Depression happen and what can songs from the time period tell us about its impact?
lesson:
The Harlem Renaissance featuring Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith
How did the Harlem Renaissance represent the New Negro Movement, and what role did music play in this context?
Student Edition:
Black Radio and the Civil Rights Movement
lesson:
Black Radio and the Civil Rights Movement
How did Black radio empower Black Americans, aid the Civil Rights Movement, and influence U.S. society?
Student Edition:
Student Activism and Music During the Civil Rights Movement
lesson:
Student Activism and Music During the Civil Rights Movement
How did activism by Black students challenge Jim Crow segregation during the Civil Rights Movement, and what unique role did music play as an organizing tool?
lesson:
The Juke Joint: Where Oral Literature Comes Alive
What role do Blues lyrics and juke joints play in Black American literature and life?
Trace It Back:
Bessie Smith
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Gladys Bentley
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Robert Johnson
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Howlin’ Wolf
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Ma Rainey
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Thomas A. Dorsey
lesson:
The Crossroads as a Literary Symbol
How have writers, storytellers, and musicians explored the crossroads as a symbol in their work?
lesson:
Writing Personal Narratives and The Harlem Renaissance
How do Langston Hughes, Gladys Bentley, and Louis Armstrong effectively write personal narratives about living during the Harlem Renaissance?
lesson:
Identifying and Resisting Jim Crow with Words and Songs
How have works of literature and music by Black Americans shared an empowering theme of identifying and resisting Jim Crow?
lesson:
A Veteran’s Soundtrack to the Vietnam War
How did popular music amplify the voices and experiences of Americans serving in the United States Armed Forces during the Vietnam War?
Trace It Back:
Bonnie Raitt
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Betty Davis
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Gary Clark Jr.
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H.E.R.
lesson:
Almost Emancipated: Reconstruction
What is the significance of Reconstruction and what does it reveal about the freedom that the post-Civil War constitutional amendments secured for African Americans?
Trace It Back:
Jamila Woods
lesson:
Blues, Poetry, and the Harlem Renaissance
How does Langston Hughes’ Blues-inspired poetry exemplify the ideals of the Harlem Renaissance?
lesson:
Muddy Waters, the New Kid in Town
How did Muddy Waters’ music change after he moved to Chicago, and what does that say about the relationship between place and self-expression?
lesson:
The Impact of the Electric Guitar
How did the electrification, amplification and design of the guitar facilitate its emergence as a dominant instrument of popular music?
lesson:
The Blues and the Great Migration
How did the Great Migration spread Southern culture, helping to give the Blues a central place in American popular music?
lesson:
Radio Before Rock and Roll
How did radio influence American life in the years before the birth of Rock and Roll?
lesson:
The American Blues in Britain
In what ways did American Blues affect English musicians in the early 1960s?
lesson:
The Influence of Rhythm and Blues
What did R&B bring to early Rock and Roll, and how was early Rock and Roll different?
lesson:
Chuck Berry
Why is Chuck Berry often considered the most important of the early Rock and Rollers?
lesson:
The Birth of the Electric Guitar
How did the electric guitar transform Blues music from the 1940s forward?
lesson:
The Blues: The Sound of Rural Poverty
How do the Country Blues reflect the challenges of sharecropping, racial injustice, and rural poverty in early 20th-century African-American life?
lesson:
The Rolling Stones: Giving America Back the Blues
How did the early Rolling Stones help popularize the Blues?