In this assignment, students will select, annotate, and contextualize a convention with transcribed minutes from the "Colored Conventions" website. These conventions did not happen in a vacuum. As African Americans in state and national conventions organized and advocated for greater rights and self-defense, they responded to a wide range of historical events that shaped their reality. The students' task is to look at the ways that these conventions responded and influenced the events happening around them.

By John Rosinbum

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For more about using Colored Conventions as an easy entry into digital history projects for students, see John Rosinbum's blog post on AHA Today: "Uncovering Activism and Engaging Students: The Colored Conventions Project."