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My mother’s birth certificate, dated 1915 and issued in Brooklyn, New York, gives her name as Maria. I knew her only as Mary, the name that appears on her marriage certificate, her social security card and her gravestone. Her sister Philomena was so determined to get away from her name that she had it changed legally to Phyliss. Their brother Philipo chopped his down to Philip. Their other siblings? Anna became Anne, Elisa morphed into Alice and Cosimo was known to his friends as Pete.

Banning a book can go like this: An outraged parent complains about a book to the school librarian or principal. After a noisy debate, the school administrators decide that the book should be removed from circulation. Or, banning a book can go like this: A librarian receives a new book. Perhaps it shows LGBT issues or atheism in a sympathetic light. Perhaps it portrays civil rights struggles in a way that might offend some local sensibilities. Whatever the reason, she quietly puts the book in a back room. Then she politely discourages questions about it.

A weekly sampling of articles, blogs and reports relevant to TT educators.

This toolkit for “Segregation Forever?” provides an activity for students to use statistics and written analysis to express complex ideas about history.

Our online Teaching Hard History Text Library includes a wealth of primary and secondary source documents about slavery to share with students of all ages.

Children should learn about American slavery starting in kindergarten—and starting with Indigenous enslavement.

Primary students learn the value of questioning their social studies book.