The “No Free Land” project develops skills in historical literacy: critically examining historical documents, considering author and context, uncovering bias, identifying implicit and explicit racism, and considering how historical, philosophical movements impact legislation. To broaden the current narrative of homesteading, this project curates multiple-perspective, multi-genre text sets, composed of primary and secondary sources and historical artifacts. Such diverse resources initiate conversations on the impact of historical homesteading. The paired educational activities, developed based upon the National Writing Project’s (NWP) C3WP practices, guide these conversations to complexity and nuance, resulting in a deeper understanding of our nation’s history.
As opposed to the current nature of the typical C3WP topics, the events and viewpoints represented through these resources are historical. This shift allows for examination and interpretation of events from a distance and allows an opportunity to explore historical concepts from the viewpoints of that time period as well as its effect on subsequent history.
The “No Free Land” project looks to modernize the story of homesteading to fit the needs of a diverse nation by creating resources that better represent the stories of all peoples. Park rangers and practicing teachers collected accurate documents and created scaffolded resources to engage and educate participants. These resources are designed to be used in conjunction with in-person or virtual field trips with Homestead National Historic Park (HNHP).
Homestead National Historic Park continues to diversify its interpretation to focus on the various stories of homesteaders, the aim of these resources is to assist upper elementary and high school students in a self-directed examination of four specific stories through a variety of texts:
Women Homesteaders and Suffragists
Immigrants
The Dawes Act
Native American Treaties and the Indian Removal Act