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Past Times History

Resources & Activities to Make History Come Alive

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  • Silhouette puppets showing a man holding the reigns of a horse, which pulls a covered wagon with a woman on the front seat holding a little child.

    American history

    Local history tableaus

    October 5, 2022February 3, 2023

    There are 22 places in the United States that are called Lawrence. But only one of them got that name because the original one, Maidenhead, was thought to be too embarrassing for ladies. On the

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  • Silhouet of a man writing with a quill

    Black history

    William Still and the Underground RailRoad

    February 11, 2022February 15, 2022

    Free-born Black abolitionist William Still has been called the “father of the Underground Railroad” (URR)–the network of free Blacks, Quakers, and abolitionists who helped enslaved people in the South escape to the North in the

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  • Puppet of Harriet Tubman sitting on a galloping hors

    Black history

    Riding a galloping horse

    May 8, 2021May 16, 2021

    Shadow puppetry offers opportunities to act out stories from the Underground Railroad, the network of free Blacks, Quakers, and abolitionists who helped men, women, and children escape slavery in the decades prior to the Civil

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  • Silhouette puppet of Phillis Wheatley sitting at table writing

    Black history

    Puppetry and Poetry

    February 8, 2021February 21, 2023

    Amanda Gorman’s commanding inaugural presentation has ignited a renewed interest in the equally skilled 18th century poet, Phillis Wheatley (c. 1753 – 1784). A language arts project in which students compare these Black female poets

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  • Back of a shadow puppetry screen with scrolling transparent film depicting the opening scenes of the story of Henry "Box" Brown

    American history

    A teacher’s “hard history” project continued from home

    April 11, 2020February 21, 2021

    In the past two years I have been fortunate to work with 5th grade teacher Davie-Lyn Jones. We explored shadow puppetry as an interactive way to teach about the “hard history” topic of slavery, using

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  • The Henry Brown's box is being thrown down a small hill during transportation

    Black history

    The story of Henry “Box” Brown

    February 28, 2020December 5, 2021

    An earlier version was published on March 23, 2019 On March 23, 1849, months after his wife and children were sold to a new owner, Henry Brown escaped slavery in Richmond, Virginia in a wooden

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  • Shadow puppet of Harriet Tubman knocks the door of a safe house

    Black history

    Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad with shadow puppets

    May 31, 2019February 9, 2022

    Shadow puppetry is a great tool to engage children with stories from the Underground Railroad–the network of free Blacks, Quakers, and abolitionists who helped people enslaved in the South escape to the North in the

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  • Shadow puppet of Sojourner Truth speech

    Black history

    Sojourner Truth’s Ain’t I A Woman: Teaching History with Shadow Puppets

    February 1, 2019August 27, 2020

    In my last post I shared how to make a front-facing shadow puppet of Aretha Franklin that can sing. In this post I will show you how to make a side-facing puppet of the celebrated

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