Hi Scholars, 

I know you all love music, so I thought this would be a great way to engage in celebration of Black History Month. (NOTE: Anywhere you see 16, I am only requiring 6 artifacts/6 songs!!!!

In this day and age, themed playlists are everywhere. Themed playlists are filled with songs that represent someone’s interpretation of the theme. This is similar to how historians choose the objects that fill the galleries within museum exhibits. The objects in the exhibit help support the historian’s interpretation of the exhibit’s topic.

Historians produce their interpretation of history after analyzing (questioning) primary sources. Primary sources are the raw materials of history. A primary source is anything created by the historical subject, or anything created or existed during the historical period of study.

In this Learning Lab, you will analyze at least 6 primary sources of your choice by performing a close reading. Then, you will interpret the primary source by choosing a song (any song from any period, genre or artist) you believe connects it to the theme of the historical experience of African Americans on the home front and front lines during the First World War (1914 - 1918).

At the end of the Learning Lab, watch a preview of our newest temporary exhibit "We Return Fighting," focused on the African American experience in the First World War.

Keywords: NMAAHC, African American, press, historian, world war one, Jim Crow, segregation, military, Europe, officers, soldiers, 92, 93, 369, Harlem Hellfighters, We Return Fighting, 1914, 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918