Marion Butts Collection:
Community Life

Objectives: Students will gain an understanding of community life and culture in Dallas.

Social Studies TEKS:

• TEK 7.21C Organize and interpret information from outlines, reports, databases, and visuals including graphs, charts, timelines, and maps
• TEK 7.7C Trace the civil rights and equal rights movements of various groups in Texas in the 20th century and identify key leaders in these movements.

Suggested Time:

Approximately 1-2 class periods

Materials & Resources:

• Copies of primary source sets and posters OR computers with PowerPoint and internet access
• Modifying for resources: If you have a shortage of materials (posters, access to copies), create one set of the documents and post around the room in stations. Allow the students to move around the room, taking notes on the documents. Then the students can create the same report written on notebook paper.

Student Project:

• Students should imagine that they are aliens from another planet and have stumbled upon a set of artifacts from earthlings.
• Using the provided primary sources, have the students create a poster or PowerPoint presentation explaining what life was like for people living during this time.
• Have students come up with information on their own that they can infer from the documents. If necessary, provided students with guiding inquiries:
• What types of activities did people participate in?
• Was this a religious society? How do you know?
• Do the 'earthlings' seem like a friendly or hostile society? Explain why you think that.

Discussion Questions:

• How does life in historical Dallas compare to life in Dallas today?
• How does this activity relate to our job as historians in the classroom?

Extension Activities:

• Include a broader set of documents and photographs for the students. Have students explain life for these 'earthlings' in each category:
• Political
• Economic
• Geographic
• Social