Learning Mitchelville

The following lesson plans are designed to provide teachers and students with the opportunity to explore the history of Mitchelville, the first Freedmen's community in the United States, through the study of archival documents, historical photographs, and information unearthed during the 2013 archaeological excavations. Although the establishment of Mitchelville represented a significant first step in creating a new life for former slaves, the town's story has remained largely untold. Our lesson plans encourage students to consider the local impact of the larger events of the Civil War. Students use historical and archaeological data to study the social, economic, and educational development of Mitchelville and to identify ways the people of Mitchelville created new lives for themselves as free people.

The lesson plans will:

• Create an opportunity for students to learn about the history of Mitchelville
• Develop an appreciation of our State's cultural resources
• Encourage students to be good stewards of our cultural resources
• Develop research skills
• Develop skills in deductive reasoning, data analysis, and interpretation
• Introduce basic concepts about the science of archaeology
• Encourage students to compare and contrast historical data and archaeological data
• Encourage students to evaluate information
• Teach students to synthesize data from multiple sources

In Lesson One, students think like historians and explore how historical documents help us learn about Mitcheville. Lesson Two teaches students to think like archaeologists by examining features and objects unearthed during recent excavations. The lesson encourages students to think about the kinds of information not available in historical records. In Lesson Three, students think like researchers as they work to combine historical and archaeological data to answer questions about life in Mitchelville.