Tuskegee Airmen

You are a newspaper reporter, living at the end of the World War II era while President Harry S. Truman was President. You have just arrived in New York City on a train from California and saw that German Prisoners of War were allowed to ride in your train car but Officers of the 332nd Fighter Group were told to leave the car and ride somewhere else.

Task

You're assigned the task of reserching, writing, and editing a single edition of a newspaper that focuses on the Tuskegee Airmen. Include in this edition: (1) a news article about the airmen; (2) a human interest story; (3) an editorial; (4) and a letter to the editor from someone about segrgation in the armed forces (from the viewpoint of: military personel, relative, activist, politician or some other person).

Process

Research the Internet, and other resources, for information that will answer the who, what, where, when and why of the Tuskegee Airmen.
Write the articles.
Edit the articles.
Publish the newspaper. The newspaper can be typed, or in a multimedia format using PowePoint.
(See Evaluation below for additional information)

Resources

Tuskegee Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen USAF Museum

National Park Service

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Airmen

Tuskegee Airmen War Bond Poster (Courtesy of Mr. Bill Falls, Director, Market Research & Planning, Savings Bond Marketing Office, Department of the Treasury)

Tuskegee Airmen email list

Google

Learning Advice

Remember your journalistic position and the responsibility to report the news objectively. Human interest stories and editorials are the areas for you to interject your personal views. Keep in mind your audience at all times.

When writing your articles, be sure to reflect the conditions of the time. Here are samples of the kinds of questions you may want to ask as you are researching:

What was life for a soldier like then? (ie. dress, food, medicine, home life)
What were typical armaments? (personal and regimental)
How did the events of the Airmen affect the war?
What was the society like, and did society play any role or have any influence in the actions of the Airmen?
What did the soldiers think of the war at this time? (use diaries, letters home, or journals)
What was the media of the time saying about the Airmen vs. what actually was happening?
What part if any did political cartoons play in the war? Analyze the cartoon, decide what the artist is trying to convey .
Who were the military leaders in this War?
What were the particulars of the Army Air Force and the Armed Forces in general? (ie. size of units, casualties, major turning points in the war, participants in the times)?
What political events which took place near the time of the Airmen?

Even though World War II took place in the 1940's, take advantage of the technology today. You can download maps or graphics and put them into your newspaper. Or, once you have gathered your resources and written your script, you might decide to use a multimedia program to create the presentation.

Evaluation

Your project will be evaluated on the following critiera:

Are all four articles in the project? (Newletter format. 1-2 pages in length)
Are the articles clear and consise and well written? (10-point font, single-spaced)
Are your articles supported by accurate research? (Must cite your information at the bottom of each article)
Is your newspaper informative, persuasive, and appealing?
Does your newspaper contain pictures, maps, or graphs? (Must cite all illustrations)
See Conslusion and Reflection below.

Conclusion

After researching and creating your own newspaper for the World War II era, discuss in class what influence you think the printed media had on the general population, the everyday soldier and the overall outcome of the war itself. (Be prepared to answer this in class).

Reflection

What effect did doing the research for this project have on you and your prior knowledge of the war? What do you think the public reaction to your articles would be? (Type a 1/2-page, 12-point font answer to these questions and attach it to your completed project).

Notes to the Teacher:

Lesson Title: Tuskegee Airmen

Curricular Area: Social Science/ Language Arts

Goal/Purpose:

Develop a keen sense of historical empathy
Undenstand the meaning of time and chronology
Analyze cause and effect
Recognize history as common memory, with polictical implications
Basic knowledge of the Civil Rights

Grade Level: 9th and up

Length of Lesson: One to Two weeks one period per day

Materials:
1. Internet
2. PowerPoint
3. Microsoft Word

Interdisciplinary Connections: Language Arts, Computer Science, Ethics

Prerequisite Learning:

Knowledge of some of the major leaders during the World war II era
Knowledge of some major battles.
Knowlege of the use of a web browser.
How to use search engines.