AAMP Accelerates During Black History Month

Activity: “Marian Sings” Listening Party
Person: Marian Anderson, a groundbreaking opera singer.

What to Do: Play recordings of Marian Anderson’s performances (e.g., “My Country, ’Tis of Thee”) and ask students how the music makes them feel. Discuss how Marian’s talent and determination broke barriers.

Recommended Book: When Marian Sang by Pam Muñoz Ryan.

Activity: “Paint Like Henry”
Person: Henry Ossawa Tanner, a renowned painter born in Philadelphia.

What to Do: Show pictures of Tanner’s artwork (like The Banjo Lesson) and discuss the importance of storytelling through art. Provide students with paper and crayons to draw their own family stories.

Recommended Book: Art from Her Heart: Folk Artist Clementine Hunter (though not about Tanner, it introduces art storytelling).

Activity: Philadelphia Trailblazers Matching Game

Person: Highlight multiple Philadelphia-connected figures (Marian Anderson, Henry Ossawa Tanner, etc.).

What to Do: Create a matching card game with images of famous Philadelphians and a short fact about them. Students match the person to their accomplishment.

Recommended Book: A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson (introducing young activists).

Activity: “Peaceful Protests” Role Play
Person: Octavius Catto, educator and civil rights activist.

What to Do: Share a story about Catto’s work in desegregating streetcars. Act out peaceful protests by pretending to ride on a segregated streetcar.

Recommended Book: Delivering Justice: W.W. Law and the Fight for Civil Rights by Jim Haskins.

Activity: “Write a Song with Marian”
Person: Marian Anderson.

What to Do: Teach students a simple freedom song and invite them to create their own lyrics about kindness and fairness.

Recommended Book: Sing a Song: How Lift Every Voice and Sing Inspired Generations by Kelly Starling Lyons.

Activity: “Letters to Liberty”
Person: Richard Allen, founder of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

What to Do: Share a brief history of Allen’s activism. Students write a letter to him thanking him for his work or asking him questions about his life.

Recommended Book: Freedom’s School by Lesa Cline-Ransome.

Activity: “Art Detective”
Person: Henry Ossawa Tanner.

What to Do: Show one of Tanner’s paintings and ask students to infer its story and emotion. Then have them sketch their own painting inspired by a family tradition.

Recommended Book: The Noisy Paint Box by Barb Rosenstock.

Activity: Timeline of Triumphs
Person: Octavius Catto.

What to Do: Provide events from Catto’s life on slips of paper. Have students work together to create a timeline, discussing how his actions impacted Philadelphia.

Recommended Book: Who Was Martin Luther King, Jr.? (a broader civil rights tie).

Activity: “Abolitionist Newspapers”

Person: William Still, abolitionist and writer.

What to Do: Share how William Still helped enslaved people escape via the Underground Railroad and documented their stories. Students design a newspaper front page with headlines and articles about Still’s work.

Recommended Book: Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford.

Activity: The Soundtrack of Change
Person: Marian Anderson.

What to Do: Play recordings of Anderson’s performances and discuss how her music was used for change. Students create a playlist of songs that inspire them.

Recommended Book: Let It Shine: Stories of Black Women Freedom Fighters by Andrea Davis Pinkney.

 Activity: “Researching the Philadelphia Negro”
Person: W.E.B. Du Bois.

What to Do: Introduce students to The Philadelphia Negro and discuss Du Bois’s groundbreaking research. In small groups, students brainstorm questions they’d ask about their own communities.

Recommended Book: Excerpts from The Philadelphia Negro.

Activity: “Analyzing Freedom Songs”
Person: Marian Anderson.

What to Do: Have students listen to and analyze one of Anderson’s performances, focusing on how music influenced the civil rights movement.

Recommended Book: Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement by Carole Boston Weatherford.

Activity: “Drawing the Banjo Lesson”
Person: Henry Ossawa Tanner.

What to Do: Study The Banjo Lesson, discussing its themes of family and tradition. Students then draw their own interpretation of Tanner’s work.

Recommended Book: The Banjo Lesson as an art print or resource.

Activity: “Mapping the Underground Railroad”
Person: William Still.

What to Do: Using a map, students trace the routes used by those escaping slavery with Still’s help. Discuss the risks and rewards of these journeys.

Recommended Book: William Still and His Freedom Stories by Don Tate.

Activity: “Planning a Protest”
Person: Octavius Catto.

What to Do: Discuss Catto’s efforts to desegregate streetcars. In groups, students plan a mock protest for an issue important to them today.

Recommended Book: This Is Your Time by Ruby Bridges.