Amistad Digital Resource

Partner(s): Manning Marable Institute for Research in African American Studies Access: Open to all Released: June 2009 VIEW PROJECT

The Amistad Digital Resource is a multimedia website that shares hundreds of rare and iconic photographs, audio and video clips, oral history interviews, maps, and descriptive text explaining significant themes and key events in African American history, from slavery to the 21st century. Funded by a grant from the Ford Foundation and originally conceptualized by Digital Knowledge Ventures in 2007, the site is in pilot phase and is developed by CCNMTL in collaboration with Manning Marable, professor of history and director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University. The Amistad Digital Resource is designed to enhance the ability of educators for grades K-12 to teach African American history as a fundamental part of the overall narrative of the United States and is publicly available to assist students of all ages.

The robust content and modular layout of the Amistad Digital Resource invites students and instructors to use it as a textbook, research guide, or multimedia study environment. The site currently comprises three teaching and learning modules, each covering a distinct chronological period, and provides critical questions found in the introduction section. Six additional learning modules may be added to the site in the future. Educators may choose to use the Amistad Digital Resource as a complete unit on 20th century African American history or supplement curricula with the primary source materials available for download throughout the site, effectively broadening student understanding of African American history while maintaining district-mandated standards.

Related project categories:
Culture and Society | History | Repositories and Reference Tools