Please read or listen to the following assignments prior to Day 1 of the workshop (Thursday, 2/19): 

• Read “Emancipation in Massachusetts” from the MHS “Emancipation in 18th-century Massachusetts” primary source set

• Olivia R. Scott, biographies of Elizabeth Freemean and Betsey Freeman, excerpted from ”Glimpses of Their Lives: Slavery and Emancipation at the Colonel John Ashley House” - Commonplace - The Journal of early American Life (2025)

• Watch the “Meet Elizabeth Freeman” performance by Tiffany Bacon (Museum of the American Revolution)

After reading, please respond to the prompts on our workshop padlet prior to the beginning of the workshop. 

Part 1: Read or Listen and respond to your choice of FOUR of the following readings, podcasts, or websites and write a response journal entry for each. 

Each response should be approximately 300 words and include the following three elements:

1. Write a brief summary of the main points of the selected material and highlights that stood out to you.

2. Write a description of how you might use this information to support your classroom teaching.  Please note that this does not necessarily mean using the source with your students! For this section, consider exploring one or two of these prompts:

• What information was new to you and what was familiar? What do you think would be new or familiar to your students?

• What did you learn that you found most interesting? What do you think would be most interesting to your students to learn?

• Does this material relate to anything you currently teach in your curriculum? How could it influence your classroom teaching? For example:

• Is this a source you could use directly in your classroom? 

• Are there sources cited in the reading or listening that you could use with your students?

• Does this source provide background for you as a teacher that might influence how you teach the subject?

• Does this source relate to any other topics or skills that you’re teaching?

• Pose at least three questions raised by the interview, reading, or primary source. These could be questions that interest you personally, questions that your students might ask of the work in question, areas for further reading, etc.

• After completing the responses, upload them to our Google Classroom.

Design your own classroom activity for your students using at least three primary or secondary sources and/or inquiry methods that you encountered at the Massachusetts Historical Society workshop; OR modify an existing lesson plan, using the Activity Plan Template . Please include 2-3 questions for the other teachers who will review your activity.

After completing your activity, upload it to our Google Classroom..

Review at least five lesson plans from other workshop attendees in this Google Folder and take notes on them for our reflection. DO NOT post your notes online; we will use them for our discussion on 3/28! 

On Elizabeth Freeman:

On slavery and emancipation in Massachusetts:

On free Black communities in 18th-century Massachusetts:

On the power of names: