The 1857 Project Curricular Resources
The following reading guides, lesson plan, and extension activities were developed to support students' engagement with The 1857 Project. Inspired by The 1619 Project from the New York Times Magazine, The 1857 Project is a special issue of the Gateway Journalism Review that chronicles the history of racial injustice in St. Louis, Missouri and Illinois. It is called The 1857 Project because of the important events that happened in St. Louis that year, such as the Dred Scott decision and the Lincoln-Douglas debates. This 80-page spring issue explores the history of race in the land of Dred Scott through visual and written pieces from journalists, authors, artists, students, and educators. The resources below were developed by Christina Sneed, an educator and instructional coach from St. Louis, MO.
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This resource includes quotes, key terms/names/historical events, and guiding questions for many of the 30+ essays and creative works that compose "The 1857 Project."
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Lesson Plans
Exploring 'The 1857 Project: Extracting the Poison of Racism from America’s Soul' by William H. Freivogel
This lesson plan is designed to introduce William Freivogel’s essay, and The 1857 Project as a whole, through discussion questions and guided reading.
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These activities model ways that students can apply writing, research, discussion, and visual arts skills to explorations of essays written by students for The 1857 Project.
