LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Social Studies — Grade 8

Goal 5: The learner will evaluate the impact of political, economic, social, and technological changes on life in North Carolina from 1870 to 1930.

Objective 5.02. Examine the changing role of educational, religious, and social institutions in the state and analyze their impact.

Additional related resources

We’re in the process of aligning our content for students to the Standard Course of Study. As we do, you’ll find it here.

A women's college
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.3
The State Normal and Industrial School, founded in 1891, was the first public institution of higher education in North Carolina to admit women. It was established primarily to train teachers for the state's public schools. Today it is the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Format: article
A timeline of North Carolina colleges and universities, 1865–1900
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.1
Timeline of colleges and universities founded in North Carolina between the end of the Civil War and the turn of the twentieth century.
Format: timeline
By Jill Molloy.
Student life at the Normal and Industrial School
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.4
In North Carolina History: A Sampler, page 9.6
Excerpt from the student handbook of the North Carolina State Normal and Industrial School, 1901. Includes historical commentary.
Format: book/primary source
North Carolina State University
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.2
North Carolina State University was founded in 1887 as the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, a land-grant institution that would provide teaching, research and extension services to the people of the state. This article gives a brief history of the school from its founding to the present day.
Format: article
The growth of tourism: Warm Springs
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.9
Advertisement for Warm Springs (now Hot Springs) in Madison County, North Carolina, from the late nineteenth century. Includes historical commentary about the region, tourism, and nineteenth-century medicine.
Format: pamphlet/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.
The growth of tourism: Southern Pines
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.10
Report on a trip by doctors to Southern Pines, North Carolina, suggesting that its healthful climate made it an excellent destination for urban tourists and people recovering from illnesses. Includes historical commentary.
Format: article/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by L. Maren Wood.
The "education governor"
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 2.4
Excerpt from the inaugural address of North Carolina Governor Charles Brantley Aycock in which he talks about the importance of education. Historical commentary addresses the tensions between Aycock's views on education and his views on race.
Format: speech/primary source
Commentary and sidebar notes by David Walbert and L. Maren Wood.
Domestic work in the nineteenth century
In North Carolina in the New South, page 5.11
In North Carolina History: A Sampler, page 8.3
Videos of junior reenactors at Duke Homestead State Historic Site in Durham, North Carolina, show cooking indoors and outdoors and the work involved in doing laundry by hand.
Format: video
The Colored State Normal Schools
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.6
Excerpt from the catalog of the North Carolina Colored State Normal Schools (now Winston-Salem State University, Fayetteville State University, and Elizabeth City State University), 1906. Includes historical commentary.
Format: book/primary source
Charlotte Hawkins Brown's rules for school
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 5.10
In North Carolina History: A Sampler, page 3.8
Rules for students from a book by Charlotte Hawkins Brown, founder of the Palmer Memorial Institute. Includes historical background.
Format: book/primary source
Charlotte Hawkins Brown
In North Carolina in the early 20th century, page 5.9
Charlotte Hawkins Brown (1883–1961) founded the Palmer Memorial Institute, a school for African Americans, and devoted her life to the improvement of the African American community's social standing.
Format: biography
The Biltmore Forest School
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.8
The pioneering Biltmore Forest School emerged from George Vanderbilt's desire for scientific management of the forests around Biltmore Estate.
Format: article
The Belk brothers' department stores
In North Carolina in the New South, page 2.12
When Henry and John Belk opened their first department store in Charlotte in 1895, the idea of buying everything under one roof -- and always for cash, not store credit -- was new to consumers. This excerpt from the history of Belk, Inc., tells the story of Henry Belk, his first store in Monroe, and the Belk Bros. stores in downtown Charlotte.
Format: book
Athletics
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.9
As the urban middle and working classes grew in the late nineteenth century, so did their desire for leisure activities. The result was a growth in sports and athletics. Includes early motion pictures of school athletics.
Format: article
By David Walbert.
African American college students, 1906
In North Carolina in the New South, page 4.7
Records of pupils at the North Carolina Colored State Normal Schools (now Winston-Salem State University, Fayetteville State University, and Elizabeth City State University), 1906, with information about parents' occupations and how students paid their expenses. Includes historical commentary.
Format: book/primary source

General resources

Aligned lesson plans

Understanding Charlotte Hawkins Brown's rules for school
In this lesson plan, students read a primary source document that lists rules for proper school behavior, written by Charlotte Hawkins Brown, a teacher who dedicated her life to improving the educational opportunities of African Americans in North Carolina in the early 20th century. Students analyze the rules in the context of the racial politics of the era and in the context of progressive education.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 Social Studies)
By Jamie Lathan.
The North Carolina mountains in the early 1900s through the writing and photography of Horace Kephart
Students will develop an understanding of daily life and culture in the mountains of North Carolina during the early 20th century through photographs and written sources; practice visual literacy skills and gain experience analyzing visual and written sources of historical information; and learn to revise their early analyses of historical sources and to synthesize the information found in different kinds of primary documents by planning a museum exhibit.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Kathryn Walbert.
Lumbee learning
In Teaching about North Carolina American Indians, page 2.2
Introduction Education for the Lumbee Tribe has always been important. After Reconstruction ended and the state of North Carolina began its journey to educate its people, no provisions were made for American Indians. Segregated schools provided education...
Format: lesson plan (grade 4 and 8 English Language Arts and Second Languages)
By Gazelia Carter.
Governor Charles Aycock: A virtual exhibit
In this activity, students learn about North Carolina governor Charles Aycock by reading historical commentary and a transcript of Aycock's inaugural speech. Students create museum exhibits about Governor Aycock using PowerPoint software.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8 Social Studies)
By Jamie Lathan.
Dynamic dialect: Horace Kephart and Our Southern Highlanders
Students will read an excerpt from Horace Kephart's Our Southern Highlanders and explore how language and dialect have changed over the years.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–10 English Language Arts)
By Billie Clemens.
African American college students: Classroom activity
In this lesson plan, students will read a primary source document about African American college students in 1906 and answer a series of questions as they assume the role of a young African American woman in the early 20th century.
Format: lesson plan (grade 8–12 Social Studies)
By Jamie Lathan.