Carolina K-12 Virtual Modules
- Upon completion of a module, e-mail CarolinaK12@unc.edu with the required information and receive a CEU certificate for the designated increment.
- Need a larger CEU increment on one form? You can combine more than one program and request they be combined onto one certificate.
- Questions can be sent to CarolinaK12@unc.edu. Happy teaching & learning!
A “Reign of Terror” in North Carolina: Wyatt Outlaw, the Kirk-Holden War, & the KKK Hearings In January 1871, the US Congress convened a committee which took testimony from witnesses about Klan atrocities across the American South. The results were published in 1872 in a 13 volume “Report of the Joint Select Committee Appointed to Inquire in to the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States.” Volume II contains the testimony taken by the committee in relation to North Carolina, as well as the report of the trials in the United States circuit court held in Raleigh. These primary sources paint a jarring, yet little known picture of our state’s past. In this program, historians shine a light on this historical record and explore the activities of the KKK and other hate groups in late-1800s North Carolina, the state and national governmental responses, and ultimately, the KKK testimonies and trials themselves. We will also examine the complex ways this history is still with us today, including the recent invocation of the resulting 1871 KKK Act in a federal lawsuit. Provided by Carolina K-12, North Carolina Museum of History, and Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition. TO RECEIVE .3 CEUs: Additional resources that were mentioned/shared throughout the program are available here. Network to Freedom: Exploring the Agency, Resistance & Resilience of NC’s Freedom Seekers – 1.0 CEUs For enslaved people throughout the history of North Carolina and America, freedom was not something that was simple or gained overnight. And while we often think of slavery in only a binary (that people were either enslaved or they were free) below the surface of the brutal and inhumane period of chattel slavery, there was more complexity as well as community. From the enslaved North Carolinians who sought and/or defined freedom for themselves, to those free and enslaved who assisted freedom seekers in escaping, to the rich and complex communities that were formed between enslaved and free people, a wholly accurate understanding of this period must include attention to the various ways Black people strove to experience varied concepts of freedom through their individual and collective agency, resistance, and resilience. In this seminar, hosted by NC African American Heritage Commission and Carolina K-12, along with NC Historic Sites, and in partnership with the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and others, we explore this rich history, including: North Carolina’s Underground Railroad network, the rich Maritime communities free and enslaved Blacks formed, maroon settlements, the role of North Carolina’s rivers in seeking freedom, the assistance of Quaker communities to freedom seekers, and the role of Black people in aiding and supporting one another throughout both enslavement and freedom. As noted by Dr. Hasan Jeffries, “Trapped in an unimaginable hell, enslaved people forged unbreakable bonds with one another. Indeed, no one knew better the meaning and importance of family and community than the enslaved. They fought back too, in the field and in the house, pushing back against enslavers in ways that ranged from feigned ignorance to flight and armed rebellion. There is no greater hope to be found in American history than in African Americans’ resistance to slavery.” North Carolina’s rich and complex history of freedom seeking, in both overt and subtle ways, is testament to such hope. TO RECEIVE 1.0 CEUs: Additional resources that were mentioned/shared throughout the program are available here. Wilmington 1898: The Hidden History of An American Coup D’État – .6 CEUs On November 10, 1898, the only successful coup d’état ever to take place on American soil began with the torching of a black owned newspaper in Wilmington, North Carolina, and ended with white supremacists overthrowing the local government. The coup was the culmination of a white supremacy and propaganda campaign waged all across the state, designed to strip black men of the right to vote, remove them from public office, and stoke fear. Throughout the events of 1898 and after, at least 60 (and possibly hundreds) of black men were murdered, and more than 2,100 African Americans were banished or fled the city, turning a black-majority town known as a symbol of black hope and progress, into a stronghold of white supremacy. In this session, three award-winning historians, authors and experts on this period – LeRae Umfleet, David Cecelski, and Dr. Freddie Parker – discuss the events leading up to and taking place during the Wilmington coup, as well as discuss the lasting legacy of this little known history. After a brief presentation from each panelist, they answer and discuss questions posed by attending educators. During the second half of the session professors of education Lisa Brown Buchanan (Elon University) and Cara Ward (UNC-W), as well as middle school teacher Cori Greer-Banks, discuss strategies for teaching 1898 Wilmington, teaching “hard history” in general, as well as the challenges teachers often face in this work. TO RECEIVE .6 CEUs: Additional resources that were mentioned/shared throughout the 1898 Wilmington event can be found here. A recording of a discussion with the director and several actors from the film The Red Cape, a dramatization about Wilmington 1898, is also available here. Rifles, Radio & Resistance: Robert F. Williams & the Black Freedom Movement While our history books usually include a watered-down version of the American Civil Rights Movement and its use of non-violent direct action, little attention is paid to the courageous resistance to white supremacy enacted by men such as North Carolina’s Robert F. Williams. The defiance of Mr. Williams and thousands of other activists, including the partnership of his wife Mabel, illustrates how black Southerners were prepared to defend themselves, their families, their homes, and their rights however necessary – including armed self-defense. In this session, we will examine the influences, philosophies, leadership, and action of Robert F. Williams, which as written by Dr. Tim Tyson, “illustrates that ‘the civil rights movement’ and ‘the Black Power movement’ emerged from the same soil, confronted the same predicaments, and reflected the same quest for African American freedom. TO RECEIVE .6 CEUs: Additional resources that were mentioned/shared throughout the Robert Williams program can be found here. More Than a Mill Worker: Ella May & the Loray Mill Strike Ella May (also known by her married name, Ella May-Wiggins) was part of a generation of hopeful Appalachians who left the mountains for the North Carolina mills in search of a better life. Yet, despite her persistence, fortitude and strong work ethic, she struggled to provide for herself and her family due to low wages, long hours, and excruciating working conditions. By 1929, twenty-eight-year-old Ella was a single mother who had lost four of her nine children to poverty. After settling in a predominately African American community called Stumptown in Gaston County, and working seventy-two hours a week on the night shift at American Mill No. 2 in Bessemer City, Ella turned to the National Textile Workers’ Union, who were organizing a strike at the nearby Loray Mill, as her last hope for survival. This program discusses the tenacious life of Ella May, the conditions she fought against, and her subsequent murder at only age 29 for organizing Black and white millworkers in fighting for a 40-hour week and living wages. We will also discuss the role Ella’s music played in the resistance (and hear a few of her ballads), as well as North Carolina’s long history of complicated labor laws and anti-unionization. TO RECEIVE .3 CEUs: Additional resources on Ella May & the Loray Mill Strike can be found here. Jim Crow in North Carolina – .5 CEUs Jim Crow was a system of racial apartheid in the American South that lasted for nearly one hundred years, affecting every part of Southern life, from racial segregation to social etiquette. The system had many features, but its primary function was to promote and maintain a white supremacist racial order, the remnants of which are still shape our present. This program explores the history of Jim Crow in North Carolina through a conversation with historian and legal scholar Richard Paschal, author of the new book Jim Crow in North Carolina: The Legislative Program from 1865 to 1920. (Live participants also enjoyed a performance of the musical “The Movement,” a historical acapella that chronicles the fight against Jim Crow that took place in the Children’s March of 1963. While this recording does not include the performance, it does include a conversation with the show’s creator.) The program ends with an overview of the newly launched website, On the Books, a project of UNC-Chapel Hill Libraries that provides the first-ever catalogue of searchable Jim Crow laws for the entire state of North Carolina – https://onthebooks.lib.unc.edu/. Accompanying lesson plans & resources are available under the TEACH tab of the site. TO RECEIVE .5 CEUs: Additional resources that were mentioned/shared throughout the live event can be found here. “The Light of Truth”: Teaching and Learning About Ida B. Wells – .5 CEUs Anti-lynching activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett believed that “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.” These programs explore the incredible work of Ida B. Wells, and how to teach comprehensively about our shared “hard history” to ensure students understand the implications of our past and are empowered to address the challenges of the present. From integrating primary sources to focusing on resistance in the stories we elevate, explore ideas, strategies, and specific lesson plans for teaching about Ida B. Wells-Barnett, racial terror lynching, the lasting legacies of racial violence, and more. TO RECEIVE .5 CEUs: Additional resources that were mentioned/shared throughout the live event can be found here.