Historic documents enable students to understand their community's past, and to relate that past to the present. The City Archives is rich in unique documentary evidence of Boston's past. Children and their teachers can watch national and community history come alive through contact with the City's historical records. Archival documents bring students directly into contact with the stories, issues and predicaments of ordinary people, women, minorities and immigrants in the context of their time. In an effort to bring original Boston history to the classroom, the City Archives presents a series of history lesson plans prepared with primary sources drawn from Boston's historic city government records.

"Promise and Prejudice: Nineteenth Century African American Life in Boston" is the first lesson plan of more to come on a variety of topics exploring the experience of Boston and its people.

Promise and Prejudice