ABSTRACT
The study of history has powerful, but not inherent, social justice potential; this potential must be cultivated through thoughtful and intentional course design and facilitation. As two white history instructors, we have been inspired by DPD training to develop that potential and become better learners and teachers. This essay explores how we have used primary sources and archival materials in our courses to “show” rather than tell and to allow our students to discover important historical lessons for themselves, to give them greater agency in their learning of history. We highlight specific examples of lessons that have been successful in guiding students to discover the evolution of unequal power relations, to see the world from multiple perspectives, and to develop historical empathy. Linda Richards describes using archives as part of the course “Why War?” to illuminate the biases of historical storytelling. Exploring various narratives of the Modoc War, alongside primary source documents, students learn how history privileges written documents, elites, the “winners of the wars” and thereby reproduces inequalities. Sharing these projects publicly engages students in the process of breaking apart historical narratives as a precursor to repairing relationships and building a more equitable society. Marisa Chappell describes several ways she uses primary source documents in her introductory U.S. history course to challenge students’ assumptions about American racial history, including a recent exercise that engages in an abstract debate over the fate of Confederate monuments followed by analysis of historical documents about a Mississippi monument in the early twentieth century.
