LEGACIES OF CULTURE

Exploring History Through the Arts

This comprehensive series of multi-lesson units invites students to see history not only as a timeline of events, but as a living story told through the arts. Each unit focuses on how music, dance, theater, literature, visual art, film, and even culinary traditions act as windows into the struggles, triumphs, and everyday lives of people across time. By tracing icons and symbols in these art forms, students learn how communities have expressed identity, resisted oppression, celebrated culture, and shaped collective memory.

Through works like August Wilson’s 20th Century cycle of plays, Ryan Coogler’s films, Dawoud Bey’s photographs, and the Metropolitan Museum’s Superfine: Tailoring Black Style, learners uncover how the arts both mirror and influence historical change. Units pair historical context with artistic analysis, asking students to decode symbols, create their own works, and connect family or community stories to broader social movements. Each lesson is designed to highlight Black artists and cultural leaders while situating them in the wider sweep of world history.

The goal is for students to emerge with a deeper understanding that history is not just told in textbooks — it lives in song, image, performance, and tradition. By engaging creatively with the past, learners gain tools to recognize their place in the ongoing story of culture and to imagine the icons they will leave behind for future generations.