Life is Revision and So is Teaching!

Jefferson Davis West Point Record

Wall from Juana Briones' dwelling is preserved and moved to California museum.

.Two individuals from history, both deeply respected in their communities.

Jefferson Davis, a slaveholder from the South and President of the Confederacy has hundreds of schools, publics spaces, roads and more named for him.

​Juana Briones, a rancher, healer, midwife, community founder and matriarch also has schools and parks named for her but her name is still not well known outside the San Francisco, California area. No image of her even exists and when constructing an exhibit about her life, the centerpiece was a preserved wall from her home.

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​Creating a culturally responsive curriculum is a practice that requires a cycle of reflection and revision.
Five years ago when I revamped my antebellum America unit to include more perspectives, I used Jefferson Davis's West Point delinquency record in a primary source analysis. Our overall analysis focused on his terrible record and complete lack of leadership. Implicit in this analysis is the way privileged helped Davis reach power. After he led a rebellion against the United States he faced little repercussions and was allowed to retire to a comfortable plantation.
This year I'm demonstrating how to analyze sources and prepare a presentation about a real person from history using the story of Juana Briones. Narratives of Hispanic Heritage have long been buried and kept from learners. Centering those stories is easier every year.
Stanford History Education Group has a great lesson that focuses on sourcing using primary sources about Juana.
Unladylike2020 also has great sources. Juana isn't in their collection but Jovita Idar is and she's amazing.
If you need those Jefferson Davis primary sources, his papers are at Rice University.
More about the structure of this unit- which ends with a Chopped Basket presentation is in the Example Units tab.