Part of a Pullman porter's job was to make up the sleeping berths in his assigned sleeping car, a
1920s Industrial America Classroom Activity Guide
Grade Range: 5-12
Resource Type(s): Primary Sources, Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Date Posted:
1/22/2011
In these classroom activities developed for the exhibition America on the Move, students will use visual, analytical, and interpretive skills to examine primary sources including historical maps and answer questions about them to learn more about railroads, transportation, racism, Jim Crow, travel in industrial America in the 1920s, as well as the impact of the Great Migration (1915-1940) and changes in transportation had on their own communities. The activities helps students develop and strengthen map-reading skills, provide opportunities for historical analysis, interpretation, evaluation, analyzing cause/effect relationships, understanding multiple points of view, performing original research, debating and persuasive writing, and help students identify issues and problems in the past and connect the past to the present.