Mission
The Charles H. Wright Museum’s Education and Public Programs Department (EPP) mission is to provide great aesthetic, interpretive and intellectual experiences, and learning opportunities that can inspire and serve diverse audiences for a lifetime.  These experiences and opportunities include an array of impacting and enriching curricular and community educational programs, curatorial and library services, a contemporary artists program, volunteer opportunities, and online resources.

Education Programs
Museum tours, classroom talks, and workshops are linked with the Michigan Department of Education’s K-12 Curriculum and Standards in Social Studies, English and Language Arts, Art History, World Languages, and other subjects.  Offerings include:

• Interpretative tours of exhibitions
• Historical reenactments
• Special educational and cultural programs for the K-12 community
• Workshops
• Seminars
• Summer camps
• Partnerships and collaboration with schools and organizations that serve the K-12 community

For more information regarding our educational programs see the Online Calendar of Programs or contact the Museum’s Educational Coordinator by calling (313) 494-5869.

Educational Standards
MEAP Standards and Strands
The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History strives to offer instructive tours, programs and educational materials that support the Michigan Curriculum Framework developed by the Michigan Department of Education. The museum emphasizes the following strands to meet the Michigan Education Assessment Program:

English Language Arts

• Meaning and Communication - Language
• Literature - Voice
• Skill and Processes -Genre and Craft of Language
• Depth Understanding - Ideas in Action
• Inquiry and Research - Critical Standards
  

Social Studies Strand

• Historical Perspective - Geographic Perspective
• Civic Perspective - Economic Perspective
• Inquiry - Public Discourse and Decision Making
   

"Women of a New Tribe"
Michigan Department of Education Grades 3 – 8
Social Studies Grade Level Content Expectations For the Study of African American History and Culture
“Women of a New Tribe” is a stunning national exhibition celebrating the physical and inner beauty of African American women presented in the 1930s to 1940s glamour, fine art black and white photography styles through the award winning lenses of Jerry Taliaferro, a West Point alumnus and resident of Charlotte, North Carolina. All of the exhibited images together present a mosaic of the African American woman in her many forms and essences.
-Jerry’s images recapture the iconic photographic styles found among the moving portraiture of screen legends such as Joan Crawford, Katherine Hepburn, and Greta Garbo.

The exhibition will include previously unseen phenomenal portraits 25 local women from various walks and stages of life. 

G4.1 Cultural Mosaic
Describe the characteristics, distribution and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaic.
6 – G4.1.1 Identify and explain examples of cultural diffusion within the Americas (e.g., baseball, soccer, music, architecture, television, languages, health care, Internet, consumer brands, currency, restaurants, international migration).

H1.2 Historical Inquiry and Analysis
Use historical inquiry and analysis to study the past.
7 – H1.2.6 Identify the role of the individual in history and the significance of one person’s ideas.

G4.1 Cultural Mosaic
Describe the characteristics, distribution and complexity of Earth’s cultural mosaic.
7 – G4.1.1 Identify and explain examples of cultural diffusion within the Eastern Hemisphere (e.g., the spread of sports, music, architecture, television, Internet, Bantu languages in Africa, Islam in Western Europe).
7 – G4.1.2 Compare roles of women in traditional African societies in the past with roles of women as modern micro-entrepreneurs in current economies.
U6.2 Investigation Topics and Issue Analysis (P2)
Use the historical perspective to investigate a significant historical topic from United States History Eras 3-6 that also has significance as an issue or topic in the United States today.
8 – U6.2.1 United States History Investigation Topic and Issue Analysis, Past and Present – Use historical perspectives to analyze issues in the United States from the past and the present; conduct research on a historical issue or topic, identify a connection to a contemporary issue, and present findings (e.g., oral, visual, video, or electronic presentation, persuasive essay, or research paper); include causes and consequences of the historical action and predict possible consequences of the contemporary action. (National Geography Standards 9 and 10, pp. 160 and 162)

And Still We Rise
Michigan Department of Education Grades 3 – 8
Social Studies Grade Level Content Expectations For the Study of African American History and Culture
The journey begins in prehistoric Africa, the cradle of human life.  Guests them witness several ancient and early modern civilizations that evolved on the continent.  Crossing the Atlantic Ocean, they experience the tragedy of the middle passage and encounter those who resisted the horrors of bondage, emancipated themselves and sometimes took flight by way of the Underground Railroad.  Throughout this trip, the efforts of everyday men and women who built families, businesses, educational institutions, spiritual traditions, civic organizations, and a legacy of freedom and justice in past and present-day Detroit are hailed.  What an awesome journey!

G4 Human Systems
Understand how human activities help shape the Earth’s surface.
3 – G4.0.3 Describe some of the current movements of goods, people, jobs or information to, from, or within Michigan and explain reasons for the movements. (E)
U2.2 European Slave Trade and Slavery in Colonial America
Analyze the development of the slave system in the Americas and its impact upon the life of Africans.
5 – U2.2.2 Describe how African living in North America drew upon their African past (e.g., sense of family, role of oral tradition and adapted elements of new cultures to develop a distinct African-American culture. (National Geography Standard 5, p. 152)
W1.1 Peopling of the Earth
Describe the spread of people in the Eastern Hemisphere in Era 1.
7 – W1.1.2 Explain what archaeologists have learned about Paleolithic and Neolithic patterns of living in Africa, Western Europe, and Asia
G1.3 Geographical Understanding
Use geographic themes, knowledge about processes and concepts to study the Earth.
7 – G1.3.1 Use the fundamental themes of geography (location, place, human environment interaction, movement, region) to describe regions or places on earth.
U4.3 Reform Movements
Analyze the growth of antebellum American reform movements.
8 – U4.3.2 Describe the formation and development of the abolitionist movement by considering the roles of key abolitionist leaders (e.g., John Brown, and the armed resistance, Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad, Sojourner Truth, William Lloyd Garrison, and Frederick Douglass), and the response of southerners and northerners to the abolitionist movement. (C2)
(National Geography Standard 6, p. 154)