National Geographic Museum Blog

The Drinking Gourd, otherwise known as the Big Dipper, helped to lead slaves to Canada. Once in Canada, slaves gained their freedom and were no longer an object owned by a master.

When the sun comes back and the first quail calls,
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
For the old man is waiting for to carry you to freedom,
If you follow the Drinking Gourd.

The river bank makes a very good road,
The dead trees show you the way,
Left foot, peg foot, traveling on
Follow the Drinking Gourd.

The river ends between two hills,
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
There’s another river on the other side,
Follow the Drinking Gourd.

Where the great big river meets the little river,
Follow the Drinking Gourd.
For the old man is awaiting to carry you to freedom if you
follow the Drinking Gourd.

Found on TeacherVision: http://www.teachervision.fen.com/music/activity/9406.html#ixzz1DQ1nYDbx

Today (71 years ago), at the 1939 Academy Awards, Hattie McDaniel wins the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as Mammy in Gone With the Wind, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar. Some members of the NAACP criticized her role as a servant, believing it perpetuated stereotypes about African Americans. McDaniel defended her right to choose any roles she wanted.

Today (235 years ago), George Washington writes to Phillis Wheatley in response to a poem she had written in his honor. He later responded with an invitation to visit him in Cambridge, stating “I shall be happy to see a person so favoured by the Muses, and to whom Nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations.” Wheatley was born in African and brought to Boston on a slave ship in 1761. She learned to read and write and began composing poetry. In 1771 she had a book of her poetry published in London, becoming the first published black American poet.

Today (142 years ago), John Willis Menard becomes the first African American to address the U.S. House of Representatives. Menard argued that he had won the 1868 election but his opponent challenged Menard’s right to be seated as the Representative for Louisiana. Had he won the election, he would have been the first African American to serve in the House of Representatives. Despite Menard’s appeal, the House determined that neither he nor his opponent were qualified, and left the seat vacant. In 1870, Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first black American to serve in the House.

Today (83 years ago), Antoine “Fats” Domino is born in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was an accomplished pianist, singer, and songwriter. His boogie woogie style ushered in the transition of American music from rhythm and blues to rock and roll. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame asserts that Domino “scored more hit records than Church Berry, Little Richard and Boddy Holly put together.” His most familiar songs included “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill,” and “I’m Walkin’.” In 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, rumors spread that Fats Domino died in the storm. Although his home was destroyed, Domino was rescued by the Coast Guard  and currently lives in New Orleans.

Looking for something fun to do this month? Why not try this cool activity.

In honor of Black History Month, this activity encourages your child to focus on African American inventors such as: George Washington Carver who invented peanut butter, among other agricultural achievements; Lewis Latimer who invented carbon filament, an essential part of the light bulb; Madam C.J. Walker who invented a hair growing solution and became the first female African American millionaire; and more recently, in 1989, Lonnie G. Johnson who created the Super Soaker water gun which generated over $2 million in retail sales and became the number one toy in America.

Your child will figure out a way to improve upon a Black American invention and then devise a way to build a three-dimensional model of it. For older children, this makes a great science and history project rolled into one.

What You Need:

• Reference material on Black inventors
• Ingenuity and a few materials to build your child’s invention

What You Do:

1. Have your child research a number of African American inventors and select an invention that he is excited about.
2. The next thing for your child to do is think of a way to improve upon that invention in some way, whether it is making it easier to use, more readily accessible to the general population, more affordable, or more effective. Once your child has conjured up a new and improved product, he can go to work designing and building it.
3. For example, your child might pick Garrett Morgan, Sr. who invented the t-shaped traffic signal. How could your child make the modern day traffic light better? Perhaps the signals could have electronic voices and announce instructions as it changes colors, “Stop,” “Go,” and “Slow Down.” Or, perhaps the traffic lights could have built in systems that photograph and track license plates then automatically call the local police department whenever a car runs through a red light.
4. Once your child has come up with a way to improve upon the object, help him draw up a list of supplies required to build it. To build a traffic light, your child could use a large shoebox as the frame, colored cellophane for the lights, a flashlight to illuminate the lights from behind, tape recordings of your child’s voice saying “Stop,” “Go,” and “Slow Down” and of an automatic telephone speed dial sound to represent calling the police.
5. With all necessary supplies laid in front of him, ask your child to make a prototype of his invention. It may require more than one day to accomplish this, so be sure your child’s workstation is in an area that is out of the way of your normal activities.
6. Let your child’s imagination run wild. Who knows, you may have a talented inventor in your midst!

Found here: http://www.education.com/activity/article/inventor/

Today (141 years ago), Hiram Revels takes his seat as a senator for Mississippi, becoming the first African American member of the U.S. Senate. Revels was born in North Carolina to free parents. He attended school in Ohio and was ordained as a minister by the African Methodist Church. He helped organize several regiments of black troops during the Civil War, and settled in Mississippi at the end of the war, continuing to be active in his ministries.

For over a century in Ghana once one entered “the doors of no return” in Cape Coast they were doomed to a life of slavery. These doors led to a “castle” in which many Africans were kept in horrific conditions until they were shipped to America.  It was said among the locals of Cape Coast that once you pass through these doors you were destined to a very short life.

The site is now a museum dedicated to those who had passed through “the doors of no return.”

Today (12 years ago), Lauryn Hill becomes the first woman to win five Grammys in a single year. Her album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill earned her awards for Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best Rhythm and Blues Song, and Best R&B Album. The album sold 8 million copies in the U.S.

Did you know that Barbara Jordan was the first African American female to be elected to Congress?  Jordan was born in Houston, Texas where she excelled in public speaking during her high school career, winning a national debate contest in 1952. This passion that would soon land her in the congressional office led her to Texas Southern University where she became a prominent member of the debate team. After graduating, she attended Boston University Law School, where she was one of only two women to graduate.

Jordan then became a campaigner for the Democrats during the 1960 presidential election, which eventually propelled her into politics. In 1962 and 1964 she was an unsuccessful candidate for the Texas House of Representatives, but she was elected in 1966 to the Texas Senate, the first African American member since 1883 and the first woman ever elected to that legislative body.