For those of you looking for resources surrounding the recent events in Charlottesville and the broader Confederate monument debate, I highly recommend this lesson plan from The Choices Program. It offers an overview of what happened in Charlottesville on August 12, but also does an excellent job of focusing on the broader issues surrounding the Robert E. Lee monument and Civil War memory.
One of the things that I really like about this lesson plan is that it takes students through the complex distinction between history and memory with a couple of short videos. It also includes a number of excerpts from recent op-eds on the monument debate as well as a selection from New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s speech in which he outlines why the city took down its monuments.
Students can respond to the specific questions provided in response to the videos and op-ed excerpts. There are also suggestions of ways that teachers can engage their students even further. Instructors can pick and choose what they use and the resources provided make it very easy to modify if necessary.
I would love to hear from those of you in the classroom about what you are doing to address these issues. Are there other resources online that you recommend?
Finally, you will find plenty of resources, including The Choices Program at my #CivilWarMemorySyllabus page.