What does it mean to be a St. Louisan?
Learning Targets
Analyze a variety of primary and secondary sources to understand the impact of local history.
Synthesize sources to create a published website to inform people of the history.
Activities
Read Excerpt Last Children of Mill Creek
Read Raisin in the Sun
Key Vocabulary Terms
Blight
Blight refers to the physical and economic deterioration of an area, often marked by abandoned buildings, vacant lots, and general neglect. It's commonly used to justify redevelopment efforts.
TIF (Tax Increment Financing)
TIF is a public financing method that uses future increases in property tax revenues (resulting from a rise in property values) to fund current improvements, like infrastructure, in a designated area. It is borrowing against future tax earnings.
Zoning
Zoning is a system of land-use regulation that governs how land in certain areas can be used—such as residential, commercial, industrial, or agricultural—and controls aspects like building height, density, and placement.
Eminent Domain
Eminent domain is the government's power to take private property for public use, such as building roads or schools, provided the owner is given fair compensation.
Redlining
Redlining is a discriminatory practice where banks, insurance companies, and others denied loans or services to people in certain neighborhoods—typically based on racial or ethnic composition—by outlining those areas in red on maps.
Urban Renewal
Urban renewal involves large-scale redevelopment projects where city governments clear out "blighted" areas to build new housing, commercial spaces, or infrastructure, often displacing existing residents.
Historic Preservation
Historic preservation is the practice of protecting, restoring, and maintaining buildings, objects, landscapes, or other artifacts of historical significance to retain cultural heritage.
Gentrification
Gentrification is a process where higher-income people move into traditionally lower-income neighborhoods, often improving property values but also displacing long-time, lower-income residents.
Create a "History Book" webpage and large paper mock-up synthesizing information from primary and secondary source about housing in St. Louis and in the fictional works Fences and Raisin in the Sun and evaluating the impact of historical trends in housing and real estate laws on present day St. Louis.
Essay (Write each of the following paragraphs using information from the texts we have read this semester, information from the field trip and your research of St. Louis neighborhoods, and personal experience to support your claims.)
Hook & Claim
What is the American dream?
Why is or isn't the America Dream possible today? (This section can and should be multiple paragraphs. It is the concession, refutations and rebuttals section of the argument.) Include evidence from the texts we have read in class (this includes the movies and museum exhibits) and your personal experience.
What policies are in place that can help or hinder people attaining the dream?
What parts of our culture help or hinder people attaining the dream?
What individual skills and qualities help or hinder people attaining the dream?
Conclusion Call to Action
Give a brief description of the history of the neighborhood and why it is significant.
Captions
Highlighted and linked
Social Interaction - Students will be working in groups to complete the assessment.
Discovery - Through research students will discover new things about their hometown.
Creation - Students will create both a digital and physical version of a History book spread.
Beauty - Through the use of images and graphic design students will be encourage to make the final assessment aesthetically pleasing.
History Buff - You have found your team of researchers and know what part of St. Louis history you are going to tackle.
Archivist - Your team has completed a first draft of your main text entry and have mapped out the sidebars, images and other text features.
Museum Curator - Your team has made revisions to your main text entry. Your secondary texts such as the sidebar and image captions are complete.
Publish Historian - Your project is complete and submitted for review.