Projects

A Humanizing Approach to Teaching about Black Inventors

The way history remembers Black inventors often falls short by focusing too narrowly on inventions rather than on full human lives. Our initial study examined how four publicly available Inquiry Design Model (IDM) lessons published in 2021–2022 represent Black inventors and whether their design supports meaningful civic inquiry. Using LaGarrett King’s Black Historical Consciousness framework and Rayvon Fouché’s humanizing approach to Black inventors as analytical lenses, we conducted a detailed coding of each IDM’s framing through compelling and supporting questions, source sets, and overall design (paper in preparation). However, our work did not end there. As social studies teacher educators, we are committed not only to analyzing curriculum but also to producing curriculum that educators can use to teach Black history through an inquiry-based approach. Truly honoring Black inventors requires understanding their lives, not just counting their inventions. When we teach and learn about Black inventors, we must show them as complex people shaped by race, gender, sexuality, and history. Our inquiry curriculum aims to engage students in the full lives of Black inventors, not reduce them to their inventions. Click here to explore the curriculum.

History Matters builds research-based, equity-driven, hyperlocal K-12 curriculum that represents the under-told histories of Fort Collins, Northern Colorado, and Colorado.

In collaboration between historians and educators, History Matters develops classroom-ready lesson plans, resource sets, and multimedia resources. All History Matters curriculum is open-access and freely available. Our goal is to support Colorado teachers in bringing research-based, hyperlocal, culturally responsive content into their classrooms. To learn more about the History Matters project, click here.

Full Story Fort Collins: Buried but Not Forgotten — A Juneteenth Reflection

In this project Dr. Pittman highlights the lives of five formerly enslaved African Americans buried in Fort Collins’ Grandview Cemetery, connecting their stories to the meaning of Juneteenth.

Individuals like Charles and Annie Clay, Harkless and Hattie Hicks, Josie Hicks and Georgianna Coff built new lives in Colorado after emancipation. Their stories reflect resilience, community and the ongoing importance of remembering overlooked histories. The City of Fort Collins honors these ancestors each Juneteenth as part of a broader effort to foster a more inclusive understanding of local history. This video is in part a collaboration among the City’s Historic Preservation Services, Communications and Public Involvement Office, Parks Department – Cemeteries Division and The Archive at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery.