Lesson Plan: Linnentown

Subjects:

Civics/Government, U.S. History, Geography, Sociology

• Civics, Geography, and Sociology courses: Use and impact of federal power in taking private property for municipal improvement plans.
• U.S. History course: Examining post World War II housing policies and urban growth.

Essential Questions:

• How did urban renewal affect communities?
• How should historical injustices be addressed?
• How can data visualization tools help us understand the impact of urban renewal on communities across the country?

Lesson Objectives:

Students will:

• Analyze historical events related to urban renewal and displacement.
• Evaluate the impact of government policies on communities.
• Research and interpret data presented in a cartogram.

Materials:

• Video excerpt from the film, Linnentown: “Decades After Displacement, Linnentown Families Seek Recognition” (Transcript)
• Student Activity handout
• Statement by the President Upon Signing the Housing Act of 1949. | The American Presidency Project
• Renewing Inequality | University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab

Procedure:

1. Distribute the Student Activity handout and have students begin by examining the language of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution and filling out the related prompt:
2. Rewrite the Takings Clause “[…nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”] into student-friendly language.
3. Write two questions that you have about the Takings Clause.
   1. Have students share their rewritten version of the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment with a partner or small group.
   2. Teachers could ask students to share their versions with the whole class.
4. Have students share with a partner or small group the two questions they wrote about the Takings Clause.
   1. Teachers could ask students to share their questions with the whole class.
5. As needed for teacher background on the Takings Clause:
   1. Review Amendment 5.9.1 Overview of the Takings Clause | Constitution Annotated
   2. The Fifth Amendment Takings Clause | National Constitution Center.
6. Have students watch the excerpt of the film “Linnentown” and then read the transcript for the full film. Then students will respond to the corresponding viewing questions on the Activity handout.
7. As needed, review student responses to the questions with the class as a whole or have students work independently or in small groups to review responses.
8. Students will then read a couple of quotes from the film and write down a reaction, response or a question that emerges for them for each quote.
9. “They called it progress, but progress for who?”
10. “Part of what it takes for mature leadership is to acknowledge wrongs. Because if you can’t acknowledge those wrongs, you can’t do any differently today.”
    1. Teachers may want to have a student read a quote aloud. Alternatively, students may read the quotes to themselves or to one another in partners or a small group.
    2. Teachers may want to have students share their responses to the quotes with a partner, small group or with the whole class.
    3. A potential follow-up question for the class could be: “How does the Linnentown story challenge traditional definitions of progress?”
11. Afterward, students will analyze two excerpts from President Harry Truman´s statement upon signing the Fair Housing Act of 1949 and answer related questions.
12. Teachers may want to have students share their responses to the quotes with a partner, small group or with the whole class.
13. Students will then shift to the Renewing Inequality resource from University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab to analyze data on a cartogram. Go over the directions with students:
14. Students will click on: Renewing Inequality | University of Richmond’s Digital Scholarship Lab
    1. Click “Enter” to view the cartogram. A cartogram is a map that displays statistical data through distorted features.
    2. Note that this resource offers a cartogram, map, and chart. The tabs to access those are in the upper right corner of the image.
    3. Click “Next” to access a key on how to read the cartogram.
    4. Teachers may want to verify with students that they are viewing the cartogram and not the map or chart.
    5. Teachers may need to support students in understanding the visuals on the key.
15. Students will complete the research and analyze questions.
    1. One of the questions asks students to select a city on the cartogram. Students have several options and may need support with analyzing the variable data presented. Students may have maps available, information about projects, etc. This will vary based on the city. Teachers will want to be prepared that each city will have different information.
    2. Teachers may want to project the map and have students identify which cities they selected to research and how many families were displaced by the city’s urban renewal projects.
16. Afterwards, students will reflect upon the video and lesson by responding to the following questions:
17. How do the residents describe Linnentown? Is their description of their community consistent with Truman’s description of the areas that are going to be demolished and rebuilt?
18. Considering the Linnentown story and the Renewing Inequality cartogram, what advice to community leaders would you give to acknowledge past wrongs and create positive change?

Extension Activity:

1. Students wanting to learn more about the Takings Clause could also investigate Kelo v. City of New London (2005), a Supreme Court ruling on a city´s use of eminent domain authority to seize private property to sell to a land developer.
   1. Students could review National Constitution Center’s” On this day the Supreme Court redefines eminent domain” (June 2023) and discuss the similarities and differences that this case has to the urban renewal projects of the 1950s and 1960s.

The video is a short excerpt from the film, Linnentown. The full film can be found on LOCAL, USA. It was a production of 23 Films, LLC in association with Firelight Media and Retro Report for GBH World.

About the Author:

Shari Conditt teaches Social Studies at Woodland High School in Woodland, Wash. She was named 2024 National Civics Teacher of the Year by the Bill of Rights Institute and 2016 Washington History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

Standards

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies

• D2.Civ.5.9-12. Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
• D2.Civ.6.9-12. Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
• D2.Civ.11.9-12. Evaluate multiple procedures for making governmental decisions at the local, state, national, and international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
• D2.Civ.12.9-12. Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
• D2.Civ.13.9-12. Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
• D2.Eco.1.9-12. Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.
• D2.Geo.8.9-12. Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.
• D2.His.4.9-12. Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
• D2.His.7.9-12. Explain how the perspectives of people in the present shape interpretations of the past.

Common Core Literacy Standards

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.1: City specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RH.9-10.2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source, provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.