Humanities Homework Help

African Studies Question

 

You are being interviewed by the USF African-American History Museum for a consultant position to help them curate an exhibit on “Reconstruction: Black Life In America in the Aftermath of the Civil War.” As a consultant, you are to propose a plan for the exhibit addressing questions including:

1) What one idea would you want visitors to the exhibit to leave with? What must the exhibit convey about Black experience in America after the Civil War? What do you want visitors to learn? How do you want them to feel once they encounter your exhibit?

2) How should the exhibit be structured? Two possibilities are a timeline (eg: http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bhmtimeline.html  (Links to an external site.)) or the exhibit could be structured thematically (eg: http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/exhibits/reconstruction/introduction.html (Links to an external site.)). Which structure do you believe would best capture your intention for audience engagement and experience?

3) Once you have identified your structure, what information needs to be included so that visitors to the exhibit will learn what you want them to learn? What multimedia materials (images, audio, video) can you use to build the exhibit? One potential resource: https://allthatsinteresting.com/reconstruction-era-photos#26 (Links to an external site.)

Once you have answered these questions, prepare a plan that you will present to the Museum, as part of your interview–your plan should include at least three multimedia materials that will feature in your exhibit.

The Museum Board of Directors will determine whether or not to hire you based on your vision for the exhibit, and knowledge you present on that period of American history. You will be assessed for example on how your plan addresses themes including:

  • The Emancipation Proclamation
  • The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
  • The Reconstruction Era: Lincoln’s, Johnson’s and Congress’ Reconstruction Plans
  • The Black Codes
  • The Freedman’s Bureau
  • Public Education
  • From Enslaved Labor to Free Labor: Sharecropping
  • The Rise of White Supremacist Secret Societies including the Ku Klux Klan
  • The Great Migration