Gain empathy and understanding of the people who participated in one of the biggest population shifts in US history.

Travelers in Time
By examining artifacts from the era of the second wave of the Great Migration, students will learn about one of the biggest population shifts in the history of the United States. Download Travelers in Time.

Moving Objects
In this lesson, students will explore and analyze the items in a Great Migration artifact kit to gain insight about one of the biggest population shifts in the history of the United States. They will then write a short story about the object. Download Moving Objects.

Traveler’s Trunk
Students will analyze and interpret artifacts from the 1920s to learn about life during the Great Migration and will construct their own meaning and ideas about the history that surrounds us. Download Traveler’s Trunk.

Home Sweet Home
Students will learn about the role of photography in documenting the past. They will compare and contrast life in the South and the North during the time of the Great Migration. Download Home Sweet Home.

Tips for Assembling Your Artifact Kit
Our tips and resources will help you build an artifact kit to use with these lessons.

Local teachers wrote the History in Your Hands lessons as part of History Connections and Artifact Collections, a project made possible by a generous grant from the Polk Bros. Foundation.