In the middle of the 1970s, the city of Boston entered a period of intense racial conflict when the city’s public schools were ordered to integrate through mandatory busing. The order sparked significant protest, particularly from parents of South Boston high, a poor white school whose kids would be bused to Roxbury, a poor black school. In this inquiry, students will investigate the compelling question, “What is the legacy of using busing to integrate schools?”
Login to add Inquiry to Stack
About the inquiry
Compelling Question
What is the legacy of using busing to integrate schools?
Standards
D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
Instructional Snapshot
Class begins with a collaborative source analysis activity in which students examine a series of photographs depicting reactions to busing in Boston in the 1970s (Sources A-B). Students work in small groups to describe what is happening in each photograph, identify the emotions portrayed by the individuals pictured, and record their observations in a graphic organizer. After analyzing the photographs, students move to the deliberation stage by examining primary source essays (Source C) to identify the perspectives of different students and compare how those perspectives align with or challenge their initial interpretations of the photographs. The teacher may circulate throughout the activity, asking students to justify their conclusions and prompting them to consider how written accounts can add context to visual sources. Students finalize the graphic organizer by creating a caption for one of the original photographs from multiple perspectives (Source D), drawing on evidence from both the photographs and the primary source essays.
Formative Tasks
COLLABORATE: Describe what is happening and the feelings portrayed by different people in the photographs.
DELIBERATE: Identify the student perspectives from the primary source essays
PRODUCE: Create a caption for the original photographs from multiple perspectives.
Sources
Source A: Stanley Forman, “The Soiling of Old Glory”, 1976, Library of Congress
Source B: Matt Luongo, “South Boston Busing Protest”, 1974, The Boston Globe, accessed through Harvard University
Source C: “Boston Student Essays from the 1970s”, Brandeis University - Similar essays obtainable at Who What Why
Source D: Alex Kingsbury, “A Flag, a Busing Fight, and a Famous Photograph”, 2008, U.S. News
Summative Performance Task
No data found.
Taking Informed Action
No data found.