Lesson Plan (for Instructors)

In this lesson, students will be working with the “‘Criminal Syndicalism’ case, McComb, Mississippi (Side 1)” from the John Beecher Sound Recordings Collection at the University of Texas’s Harry Ransom Center .

Though this information is reproduced above the lesson clip in this project, we recommend instructor(s) share the following information about the audio with students in advance of the lesson so students may be better prepared to work with the sensitive material or express any discomfort that may prevent them from engaging with the lesson.

Recording Description: This recording was recorded October 19, 1964 by John Beecher and his wife, Barbara. The recording begins with John Beecher and members of the Council of Federated Organizations (COFO) meeting with Black high school students and their parents after these students were released from jail in McComb, Mississippi on charges of criminal syndicalism, in which it seems the students have been falsely accused of damaging property by throwing a brick. Beecher speaks with the group about the importance of voting and fighting for equal treatment in the voting process. A white arrested member of COFO discusses how his experience in jail was different than that of the Black students, how he was released without bond, and that his release was sooner. The students discuss the conditions in the jail and the treatment by policemen and guards. The parents of the students discuss how they were given limited interaction with their children, and how officers made visits a challenge.

Description of Clip Used in Lesson: The clip we will discuss in class is 14:07-15:37. In this portion of the recording, Beecher asks the students if they had recreational privileges while in jail, to which the students reply they could not even leave the cell. Beecher asks about food given to them in prison, which the students say was often cold pork and beans from the can, and that they were denied coffee, and given a small breakfast. The students also discuss how the guards/officers were dismissive of their singing and would threaten to drag their mattresses out and make the students sleep on the concrete if they continued sleeping.

Audio Content Warning: In this recording, a racial slur is used at 16:06 by a student quoting the language said to them by a police officer while in jail. There is also explicit language used at 15:49, 16:30, and 16:39 by students quoting white police officers. These instances have been noted in the annotations associated with the audio.

Listening to the second side of the recording is not necessary for this lesson and will not be discussed in this lesson, but as a warning, it includes multiple racial slurs, at 4:58, said by a white man; at 5:48 by a man quoting a police officer; at 7:00, 7:04, 7:08, 7:09, by a woman quoting a police officer; at 9:15 by a man quoting a police officer; at 11:42, 11:57, and 12:32 by a woman quoting a police officer. Explicit language is also used by a woman quoting a police officer at 10:48.

Sample Lesson Plan: Beecher Criminal Syndicalism Case, McComb, Mississippi (1 hour)

Description

Students will understand the processes and philosophy behind audio annotations, with the possibility of presenting annotations using AVAnnotate. Students will learn about the annotation process, and instructors will be provided with documentation on how to create an AVAnnotate project.

Note: Instructors may choose to either focus lesson on thinking through the annotation process and reserve uploading annotations to AVAnnotate themselves, or they may have students create GitHub accounts and work on presenting their annotations in a project in AVAnnotate themselves – this lesson plan includes both options. We have also included a potential extension activity using Hypothesis to workshop and comment on student annotations (see “Extension Activity: Commenting Using Hypothesis (Optional)”).

Targeted Lesson Guidelines

(Modified from Guidelines for Primary Source Literacy ) Interpret, Analyze, and Evaluate

• Critically evaluate the perspective of the creator(s) of a primary source, including tone, subjectivity, and biases, and consider how these relate to the original purpose(s) and audience(s) of the source.
• Situate a primary source in context by applying knowledge about the time and culture in which it was created; the author or creator; its format, genre, publication history; or related materials in a collection.
• As part of the analysis of available resources, identify, interrogate, and consider the reasons for silences, gaps, contradictions, or evidence of power relationships in the documentary record and how they impact the research process.
• Factor physical and material elements into the interpretation of primary sources including the relationship between container (binding, media, or overall physical attributes) and informational content, and the relationship of original sources to physical or digital copies of those sources. Demonstrate historical empathy, curiosity about the past, and appreciation for historical sources and historical actors.

Lesson Goals

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:

• Understand the unique challenges and opportunities that accompany working with audio, particularly that of a sensitive or challenging nature.
• Apply what they’ve learned about using audio by generating annotations for the Beecher clip, preferably in groups.

Key Questions

• How do modern researchers work with archival audio materials, particularly if they contain sensitive content still felt keenly today?
• How can creating and eventually presenting annotations add to researchers’ meaning making with primary source audio archival materials?

Helpful Resources for Lesson

• Method to record annotations (e.g., Google Sheets, Excel Spreadsheet, paper, etc.). You may choose to use this template provided by AVAnnotate for creating annotations in Google Sheets.
• (Optional) Hypothesis account

Lesson Plan Agenda

1. Considering ‘Criminal Syndicalism’ Audio (6 min)

How do I think critically about and work with audio? Where do I listen for and make meaning in audio?

1. Reiterate content Warning.

2. General experiences listening to audio.

3. What do you want to know more about?

2. Analysis and Potential Annotation Routes (20 min)

How do we discuss and annotate this audio? What are some potential annotation routes?

If it is necessary to break the lesson up into multiple days, this activity would be a good stopping point.

1. Social/Historical Context of Recording.

2. Relisten to the Lesson Clip and Note Observations.

3. Consider Potential Annotation Routes.

3. Further Analysis and Annotation in Groups (8-10 min)

1. Relisten to the clip.

2. Decide on categories for annotation and begin generating annotations.

4. Presentation (8 min)

Here, instructors should offer evaluative comments.

Extension Activity: Commenting Using Hypothesis (Optional) (10 min or homework)