Research Triangle Park, N.C.  The National Humanities Center celebrated the forthcoming release of its sixth and seventh set of online resources for instruction in American history and literature at a dinner on Thursday, March 22nd. Supported by a grant from the Wachovia Foundation, "The Making of African American Identity: Volumes I & III" will provide historical documents, literary texts, art, music, and discussion guides for teachers to use with students in the classroom and among themselves in professional development seminars.

In attendance at the event were prominent scholars, teachers, and community leaders from North Carolina and across the United States. As a part of the evening's program, the Center debuted a documentary video showing scholars and teachers involved in the creation of these new toolboxes and demonstrating how they can be used in the classroom setting. The video can be seen below.*

When released later this year, "The Making of African American Identity" toolboxes (Volumes I — III) will contain over 250 documents and works of material culture. These and other resources for pre-collegiate teaching are freely available online at nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/index.htm.

"The Making of African American Identity" toolboxes were developed by leading scholars of literature, history, and art history with input from high school instructors from around the United States. Scholars working on Volume I included William L. Andrews, E. Maynard Adams Professor of English, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Colin Palmer, Dodge Professor of History, Princeton University; and John Michael Vlach, Professor of American Studies and Anthropology, The George Washington University. Scholars working on Volume III included Trudier Harris, J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of English and Comparative Literature, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Richard J. Powell, John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art and Art History, Duke University; and Stephanie J. Shaw, Associate Professor of History, The Ohio State University.

» View a slide show of photographs from the March 22nd event.
   Photos: Greg Myhra.

*To view this video you will need the Adobe Flash Player, available for free download.