STUDENT EXHIBIT
Struggles and Triumphs: Students Explore Local African-American History
African-American history in the Lehigh Valley is a history of struggles and triumph. It is a chronicle of struggles to overcome slavery, prejudice, limited job opportunities, and the loss of community brought by urban redevelopment. It is a story of religion, education, recreation, and the Civil Rights movement, which have brought both triumphs and disappointments.
This story has left a living record here in the Lehigh Valley in the form of public documents like censuses, in family photographs, and in people’s memories. It is a history that the Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum is working to preserve. Joining the preservation effort were local students from Mr. Jack Loeper’s US History II classes at the Lehigh Career and Technical Institute and Mrs. Sally Hanzlik’s US History I and II classes from Emmaus High School. They studied documents, interviewed local residents, and researched and developed the exhibit you can view here as a PowerPoint presentation. Teachers may also want to explore several lesson plans developed by educators involved in the project:
Our special thanks to them and to the following community members who helped the students with their research:
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| This project was funded in part by a Save Our History grant from the History Channel. With the support of national sponsors Lowe’s and American Express, as well as cable affiliates in each community, the History Channel grants fund innovative, educational projects designed to bring communities together, actively engage children in the preservation of their local history and communicate the importance of saving local history for future generations. |  |