StoryWorks develops inclusive and transformative educational theater experiences that provide students with the opportunity to examine our country’s civil rights history. Through content consistent with school curriculum standards, the program engages students in experiential learning and inspires them to ask deeper questions about the historical underpinnings behind contemporary issues. The process creates pathways to civic engagement, creates lasting memories and instills a tangible sense of social belonging. This StoryWorks educational project is built around Beautiful Agitators, a theatrical play about Vera Mae Pigee, a hair stylist and business owner in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and one of the unsung heroes of the civil rights era. Using her beauty parlor as a hub for Delta-based organizing and resistance, Pigee operated her salon by day and then transformed it into a clandestine center for civil rights organization and education in the evenings. Known for her big hats and larger than life personality, Mrs. Pigee led the direct action that registered nearly 6,000 African Americans to vote in the region. Although Pigee was largely left out of the history books, along with many women of the movement, our play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum revives her legacy, highlighting her methods and tactics. Inspired by the innovative K-12 civil rights education standards developed by the Mississippi Civil Rights Commission. Our commitment is to expand upon the standards by further developing content related to social justice, power relations, environmental justice, diversity, equity, mutual respect, and civic engagement. Beautiful Agitators combines inquiry with higher-order thinking skills of analysis, evaluation and synthesis. Set in a beauty parlor owned and operated by a Black woman in the Mississippi Delta, our curriculum is based on our investigation into primary sources and their relationship to critical moments in the national movement. This foundation of historical context allows for students and educators to find contemporary parallels which further engage learners to reflect upon the legacy of the civil rights movement and the struggles that we, as citizens, continue to grapple with today.View the complete play Beautiful Agitators on the StoryWorks Theater site.Implementation1. Beautiful Agitators Performance Classroom watches a prerecorded, staged reading of the play Beautiful Agitators, which was created and performed by artists from the Mississippi Delta, home of Vera Mae Pigee.2. Lesson Plan Activities Following the eight-lesson plan structure, students will read aloud or act out scenes from the play. This participatory interaction with the text and the historical events promotes a high level of engagement from the students and encourages experiential learning. These activities directly correspond to scenes in the play and to specific content area standards. Teacher leads guided discussions and helps to explain the historical context and theme of each scene. Students/actors have the opportunity to share their experiences having portrayed these historical figures. 

Through the play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum, students will eplore the life of Vera Mae Pigee and the role of the youth activism in the civil rights movement.

Through the play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum, students will eplore the life of Vera Mae Pigee and the struggle to pursue nonviolent resistance.

Through the play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum, students will eplore the life of Vera Mae Pigee and the importance of coalition building to achieve civil rights.

Through the play Beautiful Agitators and accompanying curriculum, students will eplore the life of Vera Mae Pigee and reflect on the struggle and sacrifice that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

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.

StoryWorks Theater’s Teaching the Constitution Through Theater develops inclusive and transformative educational theater experiences that provides students with the opportunity to examine our history and to foster a deeper understanding of the U.S. Constitution. Through content consistent with school curriculum standards, the program engages students in experiential learning and inspires them to ask complex questions about the historical underpinnings behind contemporary issues. The process creates pathways to civic engagement, creates lasting memories and instills a tangible sense of social belonging. Now’s The Time opens at the dawn of Reconstruction, the Civil War has just ended but the nation is plunged again into crisis with the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. Andrew Johnson ascends to the Presidency determined to restore white supremacy in the South. Congressional radicals led by Thaddeus Stevens are fighting for a different vision. They intend to create a new society of full racial equality, where Black Americans will have real economic and political power, including ownership of land confiscated from the rebels, education, suffrage and election to public office. This titanic political battle between President and Congress culminates in the first impeachment and trial of a U.S. president, and to more than 150 years of continuing violence and discrimination against Black Americans.View the complete play Now’s The Time on the StoryWorks Theater site. Implementation1. Now’s The Time Performance Classroom watches a prerecorded, staged reading of the play Now’s The Time, written by Jean P. Bordewich and Produced by StoryWorks Theater.2. Lesson Plan Activities Following the six lesson plan structure, students will read aloud or act out scenes from the play. This participatory interaction with the text and the historical events promotes a high level of engagement from the students and encourages experiential learning. These activities directly correspond to scenes in the play and to specific content area standards. Throughout the curriculum, teachers will lead guided discussions and help to explain the historical context and theme of each scene. Students/actors will have the ability to share their experiences having portrayed these historical figures. Students/historians will have the unique opportunity to work with primary source materials to further their understanding of the complexities of the era and to gain insight into the critical legislative debates of the time.

Through the play Now's The Time and the accompanying curriculum, students will explore the Reconstruction Era through the life of Thaddeus Stevens and his colleagues as they sought to push for radical change in the making of a "new" America.  

United States Government: The Basics of Government Function, Structure, and ProcessDeborah Smith Hoag, Remix Lead AuthorRichard Fonte, Remix AuthorGlen Krutz, Content Lead - OpenStax VersionSylvie Waskiewicz, Lead Editor/OpenstaxCover Photo Attribution:  Carol M. Highsmith (2007) Library of Congress

Since its founding, the United States has relied on citizen participation to govern at the local, state, and national levels. This civic engagement ensures that representative democracy will continue to flourish and that people will continue to influence government. The right of citizens to participate in government is an important feature of democracy, and over the centuries many have fought to acquire and defend this right. During the American Revolution (1775–1783), British colonists fought for the right to govern themselves.