TAH Lesson Template Title Underground Railroad: Henry “Box” Brown’s Escape to Freedom

Teacher Ginny Hoehlein Course/Subject S.S.: slavery Grade(s) 5 #students 22 # with IEP, 504 varies Days of Class Enduring Understandings

• Slaves risked their lives to gain their freedom • Slaves and their supporters were clever and creative in planning escapes from

slavery • Blacks and whites worked together in helping slaves gain their freedom

Essential Questions

• What role did the breakup of slave families play in influencing runaway slaves? • What characteristics might a slave need to escape safely? • How did the abolitionist movement aid Henry Box Brown in his escape? • Why is it important for people to have freedom?

Learning Standards Addressed (from MA Curriculum Frameworks or Local Standards) as well as Historical Thinking Skills Standards Grade 5 History and Geography:

3. Observe and identify details in cartoons, photographs, charts, and graphs relating to an

historical narrative. (H, E, C) (Art is a revealing way to view this unit)

Grade 5 Social Science Learning Standards

5.12 – Explain the causes of the establishment of slavery in North America. Describe the harsh conditions of the Middle Passage and slave life, and the responses of slaves to their condition. Describe life of free African Americans in the colonies. (H, G, E, C). 5.16 Explain the meaning of the key issues on equality, natural rights, the rule of law, and the purpose of government contained in the Declaration of Independence. (H, C. E). Materials/Resources Needed

• Henry Box Brown “zoom-in” ppt (see attachment) • Chart paper/markers • Henry’s Freedom Box by Ellen Levine (Think Aloud picture book) • http://cdm15052.contentdm.oclc.org/u?/p15052coll5,23966 Letter written that

recounts the arrival of Henry Box Brown in Philadelphia in 1849. Manuscript collections related to slavery at New York Historical Society

• Typed translation of above letter for student use (attached) • Meter sticks, poster board • Writing journals

Assessment Evidence Performance Tasks:

• Student discussion/ideas during “zoom in” activity • Student questions/ideas during text read aloud of Henry Box Brown • Math measurement activity (optional) • Reflection writing

Other Evidence:

• Math understanding in creating box, calculating volume. Learning Activities/Plan Activating Activity: Students will be given measurements to sketch out a 3-D rectangular prism based on the measurements of the box Henry Brown used to ship himself to freedom. 2.5’ x 2’ x 3’. Total = 15 cubic feet. Ask students for ideas about what could fit in this box. 1- To begin lesson, teacher will introduce primary source image connected to slavery titled “The resurrection of Henry Box Brown at Philadelphia, who escaped from Richmond, Va. in a box 3 feet long, 2 1/2 ft. deep and 2 ft. wide” using the “zoom in” strategy to engage students’ critical thinking skills. (PP attached). 2. As image emerges in parts, students will consider what they are viewing: the people, their expression, interaction with each other, their purpose in the scene, the time period, items portrayed and message for audience. 3. Teacher will record student responses and continue to ask, “What makes you say/think that?” “How do you know that?” “How has your idea of this image changed?” 4. Once entire image is exposed, teacher will first ask students to share with partner/small group their ideas about the image and what misconceptions they had along the way about what the picture was showing. 5. Teacher will call on groups to share, focusing on how their ideas changed as more of the image was visible. Students will answer following questions:

• What can you say about the man in the box? • What kind of person does he appear to be? • What characteristics would a person need to have to endure this type of escape? • What questions do you still have about this man? • What can you say about the other people in the image? What characteristics might

they need to have had in order to help slaves escape to freedom? 5. Teacher will introduce picture book by Ellen Levine, Henry’s Freedom Box. Students can be moved to reading area if transition needed. Illustrations are very powerful. Story is engaging. Teacher will stop at pivotal places and refer back to above questions. Some will be answered, others require inferencing by students. A key motivation for Henry Brown’s escape was the break-up of his family. His wife and children had a different owner & were sold off while he was a work one day. 6. Teacher will ask: What do you think the men might have thought who were there when Henry Brown stepped out of that box? Record student ideas. 7. Tell students that one of those men, Mr. Kim actually wrote a letter and that letter

traveled with Brown as he continued on his trip north to New Bedford, MA where he had family living at the time. (Students will return to seats.) Teacher will show letter on projector and remind students that it is a primary source document. First, have students’ comment on what they notice. (date, style of script, it’s a friendly letter, paragraphing not visible, it’s several pages long). Teacher will introduce the author of the letter as the head of the anti-slavery society in Pennsylvania. 7. In pairs, students will read a typed version of the letter. Students will circle key phrases and ideas that answer the following criteria:

• How does the writer feel about what happened? • Does the story seem honest/authentic? • What did Henry Brown look like? • Was Henry Brown’s journey in a box easy? • What part of the letter is most surprising? • What question(s) do you have? • How does it help us better understand slavery and the Underground Railroad?

8. Students will share ideas to questions and teacher will circle/underline (code) on an overhead translation of letter. Closure (Summarize, Review, Homework, Preview Next Day) Students will work in small groups and create a 3-D box measuring the same as Henry Brown’s box using cardboard or tag board. Students will attempt to climb in to get a sense of the journey that Henry Brown experienced in terms of space. Journal Reflection: How did it feel to step into the box? What would be most difficult? Extension Work: students can research Henry Brown’s life as a free man. He moved to London in 1850 once the Fugitive Slave Law went into effect the following year. Additional teacher information (other resources, websites, etc.) Jeffrey Ruggles, The Unboxing of Henry Brown (Richmond: Library of Virginia, 2003). Includes excellent background information on the event for teachers. Ellen Levine credits this source in her picture book. Narrative story written by Henry Box Brown taken from the Documenting the South website. Electronic version of full text. http://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/brownbox/brownbox.html

Letter to S.H. Gay regarding Henry Brown’s arrival in Philadelphia 1849 Retrieved at New York Historical Society: manuscripts collection on slavery

Translation of letter on next page. I tried to use punctuation and paragraphing as originally written wherever possible. I chose a script font to better mimic the original style.

Anti Slavery Office

Phila March 26/49 Dear Gay, Here is a man who has been the hero of one of the most extraordinary achievements I ever heard of – He came to me on Saturday morning last in a box tightly hooked, marked “this side up” by overland express, from the city of Richmond !! Did you ever hear of any thing in your life to beat that? – Nothing that was done on the Barricades of Paris exceeded this cool and deliberate intrepidity. I appreciate fully, the boldness and risk of the achievement you ought to see the box and hear all the circumstances. The box is in the clear – 3 ft. 2 in long: 2 ft. 8 in. deep: & 1 ft. 11 in. in wide – It was a regular old store box such as you see in Pearl st – it was grooved at the joints and braced at the ends, leaving but the very slightest crevice to admit the air. Nothing saved him from suffocation but the free use of water – a quantity which he took in with him in a beef’s bladder and with which he bathed his face and the constant fanning of himself with his hat. He fanned himself unremittingly all the time – the “this side up” on the box was not regarded, and he was twice put with his head downwards –resting with his back against the end of the box, his feet braced against the other- the first time he succeeded in shifting his position, but the second time he was on board the steamboat where people were sitting and standing about and where any motions inside would have been overheard and have led to discovery; he was therefore obliged to keep his position for 20 miles – This nearly killed him. He says the veins in his temples were as thick as his finger. I had been expecting him for several days, and was in mortal fear all the time lest his arrival should only be a signal for calling in the coroner –

You can better imagine than I can describe my sensations, when in answer to my rap on the box and question – “all right?” the prompt response came “all right sir.” The man weighs 200 lbs and is about 5 ft. 8 in in height, and as you will see a noble looking fellow – He will tell you the whole story. Please send him on to Francis Jackson – Boston – with this letter to save me the time it would take to write another – And now I have one request to make for Heaven’s sake don’t publish this affair or allow it to be published – It would compromise the express, and prevent all others from escaping in the same way –

Yours truly, J. M. McKim

S.H. Gay He was boxed up in Richmond at 5 am on Friday: shipped at 8. I opened him up at 6 (about daylight) next morning – Francis Jackson will doubtless be able without difficulty to find a place for him. He will be invaluable to somebody. He has a sister in New Bedford.