TN History For Kids » May Student Open Houses: TN Products, World War II in TN; Civil Rights Movement

Mules haul lumber around 1910 (Williamson County Archives photo)

Tennessee History for Kids will do three student open house events in May 2024. These events are meant to be broadcast LIVE to entire classrooms (see right column for more details).

Here is the schedule:

Riley hauls lumber in 2020

Thursday, May 2 — Log Rafts to Electric Cars: Products of Tennessee (Target Audience: 3rd Grade).

This fascinating and fun presentation will explain what products, raw materials, imports and exports are, with specific examples that students have heard of. If that sounds boring, you are wrong — this presentation is everything but boring!

We will then talk about some of the early products of Tennessee (lumber that was floated down river on log rafts, for example) and some of the more common products today (cars, for example). Just to make sure students aren’t drifting off, Riley the Cattle Dog will show up on the screen and bark every time the study guide comes up!

Click here to register for the May 2 open house event on the Products of Tennessee.

Coffee County residents watch U.S. Army maneuvers in June 1941 (Albert Gore Research Center, MTSU, photo)

Tuesday, May 7 — World War II in Tennessee

A fascinating 30-minute presentation on all the things that happened in our state between 1940 and 1945. We’ll talk about rationing, factories, war maneuvers, POW camps, the Manhattan Project, war heroes and tragedies — among other things.

This event is recommended for students in grades 4, 5 and all middle and high school students.

Click here to register for the May 7 student open house on World War II in Tennessee.

The first Black students who integrated Clinton High School got to meet Rosa Parks (top left) at the Highlander Folk School (Highlander Research and Education Center photo)

Thursday, May 9 — The Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee

We will review the stories behind the Fayette County Tent Cities, the Highlander Folk School, the integration of Oak Ridge and Clinton High Schools, and the Nashville Sit-Ins. All five of these events were huge and involved incredible back stories. We’ll try to explain it all — even though we won’t have time to go into a huge amount of detail!

This event is recommended for 5th, 8th, the U.S. history class typically taken in the 11th grade, and for any students taking the high school elective course on Tennessee history.

Click here to register for the May 9 event on the Civil Rights Movement in Tennessee.

Student open houses in 2023-24 sponsored by BlueCross Blue Shield of Tennessee.

Here is the way these “student open house” events work:

“History Bill” will do a LIVE 30-minute presentation which targets students, and he will do it EIGHT times in a single day.

Teachers have to register. Once they receive a link from Zoom, they can tune in whenever they like, and they can tune in multiple times during the day (if they have multiple classes, for instance).

About three days before the event, History Bill will email to all registered teachers a copy of a study guide that students can use to follow along on the day of the presentation.

Presentations run from:

8-8:30

8:30-9

9:30-10

10-10:30

10:30-11

12:30-1 pm

1-1:30

2-2:30.

ALL TIMES ARE CENTRAL! So if a teacher is in Knoxville, for instance, the first presentation will begin at 9 a.m. her time.

When he is not doing a presentation (from 9 to 9:30 Central, for instance), the Zoom link will be active but the screen will be dark. Just stand by; “History Bill” will tune in at starting time!