In the 1800s, Philadelphia was home to a vibrant African American community that stood at the center of antislavery and civil rights activism, before and after the Civil War. During this workshop, teachers will examine Underground Railroad sources at the Historical Society and then move to view “The Genius of Freedom” exhibit at the Library Company of Philadelphia next door, discussing how to integrate primary sources into the classroom.  Lunch with keynote speaker, Judith Giesberg, is included.  Free teacher materials tied to the PA Core  will be provided as well as a new poster “Deep Roots, Continuing Legacy: Philadelphia in the Struggle for Civil Rights” produced by History Making Productions and discounts on "The Genius of Freedom" T-shirts from the Library Company of Philadelphia.

Teachers are encouraged to also attend the Created Equal film series programs as part of African American History Month programming.  Act 48 credit is available through the Historical Society for all of these programs.

Dr. Judith Giesberg is Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of History at Villanova University.  Giesberg is the author of four books on the Civil War, Civil War Sisterhood: The United States Sanitary Commission and Women's Politics in Transition (Boston, MA:  Northeastern University Press, 2000),“Army at Home:” Women and the Civil War on the Northern Home Front (Chapel Hill, NC:  University of North Carolina Press, 2009), Keystone State in Crisis:  Pennsylvania in the Civil War (Pennsylvania Historical Association, 2013), and Emilie Davis's Civil War:  The Diaries of a Free Black Woman in Philadelphia, 1863-1865 (State College, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2014.)