Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine items and images of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876.

The Beneath An Unknown Sky companion curriculum consists of six lesson plans designed for eighth through twelfth grades . Each lesson plan is inspired by monologues from the film and utilizes primary source materials to add historical context to the events and characters depicted in the film. Special attention is paid to developing historical research skills by asking the students to identify, analyze and evaluate primary sources, review secondary source material, transcribe primary source documents, design an oral history project, and to complete short research projects. The topics covered in the lesson plans include but are not limited to the following: the experience of Freedmen in the Mississippi Delta, Reconstruction, the Freedmen’s Bureau, Mississippi “Black codes”, Women’s history, the Reconstruction Amendments, Voting Rights, the Mississippi Constitution of 1868, Black political office holders from Mississippi, and the Mississippi Plan. The curriculum is intended to be flexible in its approach to better meet the needs of educators. The curriculum along with the film will be made available to educators as a free, open-source resource. Educators can use the curriculum in its entirety or can pick and choose between the lesson plans to fit the scope and time constraints of their individual classrooms.

The Beneath An Unknown Sky companion curriculum consists of six lesson plans designed for eighth through twelfth grades . Each lesson plan is inspired by monologues from the film and utilizes primary source materials to add historical context to the events and characters depicted in the film. Special attention is paid to developing historical research skills by asking the students to identify, analyze and evaluate primary sources, review secondary source material, transcribe primary source documents, design an oral history project, and to complete short research projects. The topics covered in the lesson plans include but are not limited to the following: the experience of Freedmen in the Mississippi Delta, Reconstruction, the Freedmen’s Bureau, Mississippi “Black codes”, Women’s history, the Reconstruction Amendments, Voting Rights, the Mississippi Constitution of 1868, Black political office holders from Mississippi, and the Mississippi Plan. The curriculum is intended to be flexible in its approach to better meet the needs of educators. The curriculum along with the film will be made available to educators as a free, open-source resource. Educators can use the curriculum in its entirety or can pick and choose between the lesson plans to fit the scope and time constraints of their individual classrooms.

The Beneath An Unknown Sky companion curriculum consists of six lesson plans designed for eighth through twelfth grades . Each lesson plan is inspired by monologues from the film and utilizes primary source materials to add historical context to the events and characters depicted in the film. Special attention is paid to developing historical research skills by asking the students to identify, analyze and evaluate primary sources, review secondary source material, transcribe primary source documents, design an oral history project, and to complete short research projects. The topics covered in the lesson plans include but are not limited to the following: the experience of Freedmen in the Mississippi Delta, Reconstruction, the Freedmen’s Bureau, Mississippi “Black codes”, Women’s history, the Reconstruction Amendments, Voting Rights, the Mississippi Constitution of 1868, Black political office holders from Mississippi, and the Mississippi Plan. The curriculum is intended to be flexible in its approach to better meet the needs of educators. The curriculum along with the film will be made available to educators as a free, open-source resource. Educators can use the curriculum in its entirety or can pick and choose between the lesson plans to fit the scope and time constraints of their individual classrooms.