Teacher's Guide to The Genius of Freedom

Although exhibitions rotate through our Louise Lux-Sions and Harry Sions Gallery, many find new lives as online exhibitions. K-12 teachers reference and utilize these online resources, and to encourage further classroom use, we are creating a teacher’s guide for our current exhibition The Genius of Freedom: Northern Black Activism and Uplift after the Civil War.  

The guide will make selected items from the exhibition available to teachers to incorporate into their lessons. We have assembled a team of master teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels who are developing engaging, standards-based lessons inspired by the rich mix of artworks, documents, and books that comprise The Genius of Freedom.

Amy Cohen, who incorporated Library Company materials into Temple University’s recently released study guide for Tasting Freedom: Octavius Catto and the Battle for Equality in Civil War America, serves as the initiative’s project manager. Cohen,  Director of Education at the documentary film company History Making Productions, brings twenty years of experience as a social studies teacher to the project.

Our hope is that educators in and beyond Philadelphia will use the teacher’s guide as a way to focus students’ attention on African American in the North following the Civil War – a much overlooked topic. If you know a teacher who might benefit from this resources, please spread the word!