Teacher Tea
NYCCRHP: A New Digital Resource for K-12 Students
The School Library Journal has reviewed a new digital archive in “SLJ Reviews the New York City Civil Rights History Project Database.” Writer Maegen Rose explains that The New York City Civil Rights History Project (NYCCRHP) is an online archive that focuses on the history of educational activism in New York City. Created by the youth activist group Teens Take Charge, along with Teachers College-Columbia University, it offers a collection of primary sources like videos, photographs, and documents to supplement K-12 curriculum.
The project focuses on stories often excluded from traditional education, particularly those of Black and Latina women and disabled New Yorkers. Resources are categorized by theme and easily searchable. Each resource comes with explanations, analysis, and questions to encourage critical thinking.
Rose points out that the archive is not exhaustive. It’s also unclear how frequently the archive is updated, but the NYCCRHP is nonetheless a valuable resource for both educators and students (not limited to New York City) to learn about the Civil Rights Movement through a local lens and gain a deeper understanding of educational equity.
Teachers are generally motivated to talk about this history with their students because of its relevance to current political questions. If students don’t have a firm grasp of the past, they will certainly struggle to understand what happens in the present and form their own opinions about it.
Should students think of themselves as activists, and if so, what does that mean for them? This digital collection provides resources for students to learn about this question through a more focused lens.