The Smithsonian institution recently opened a new museum on African American history. You are applying
for a position at this new museum. One of the requirements for the job is to demonstrate written and analytical
qualifications by submitting a paper addressing one of the following questions. When completing this
assignment, think of your audience as someone for whom you are applying for a job, and give this your best
effort. Revise and proofread your work, again and again, to improve your chance for getting hired.
This assignment requires you to write a paper of 900 to 1,000 words (about four pages) using only course
readings on one of the following questions. You may use any of the relevant primary and secondary sources
read so far (e.g., the on-line textbook, Jourdon Anderson, Henry Blake, sharecropping contract, Centennial,
Booker T. Washington, and Du Bois), but you must use James West Davidson’s They Say book on Ida B. Wells
as the main source (at least 75%) for your information.
Before you answer any of the following questions, I recommend that you start by reviewing course readings and
notes and brainstorming about them. Then focus on the question that interests you most. Before you write,
determine if you have sufficient readings/evidence to support your thesis in sufficient depth for the length of
this paper. If not, you may need to develop a new thesis. Remember, the Smithsonian is looking for the clarity
and sophistication of your argument as well as in how well you support it.
1. From 1865 to 1910, how important was one’s class status, racial status, and/or gender to restricting or
expanding the opportunities an individual had? Explain your answer using specific evidence and short
quotations from They Say and other sources.
2. Why, according to what you learn in Davidson’s book, was being a “lady” in the 1870s-1890s so
important? Was Ida B. Wells a lady? Explain your answer using specific examples and short quotations
from They Say.
3. Does Wells’s life provide support for, or contradict, one historian’s argument that the late 19th century
was the lowest point or the “nadir” of the black experience in America? Explain and defend your
argument with specific examples and short quotations from They Say.
4. In general, how would you characterize the years from 1865 to 1910 for African Americans? Were
these years of opportunity, a time of gains and losses, years in which opportunities declined or
improved, or how else might you label them? Explain and defend your argument with specific examples
and short quotations from course readings. Be sure to use They Say as your main source.
5. To some extent the They Say book is a coming of age story about a young woman finding her identity;
what do you think were the most critical events in Ida B. Wells’s life that led to making her who she
became? Explain and defend your argument with specific examples and short quotations from They Say.
6. After the Civil War, African Americans were free, but what did this freedom mean? Write a paper in
which you explain the meaning of freedom for African Americans, and how it changed, during the
years 1865 through 1910. Explain and defend your argument with specific examples and short
quotations from course readings. Be sure to use They Say as your main source.
Write approximately four pages (900 to 1,000 words).
• Use only course readings. Your main source should be They Say.
• Keep in mind that the audience for your paper is the hiring committee at the Smithsonian (in other
words, any educated person like yourself).
• Put your thesis in the first paragraph. Ensure it clearly states what you intend to argue.
• Make sure you have only one point per paragraph and that each paragraph has a topic sentence
connected to your thesis.
• Avoid writing in the first person (e.g., I/we/us).
• Avoid overly casual language such as “a lot” and “huge.” Remember this is a formal paper.
• Quote from or paraphrase evidence from secondary and/or primary source materials (cite sources).
• Cite the sources you use via footnotes or parentheses. For this assignment, you need not type the author
and title but instead merely indicate the author. For example, cite Davidson’s, They Say book as
(Davidson, 148) and a document as (Blake), or put it in a footnote without the parentheses.
• Avoid quotes longer than six or seven words. Phrases or parts of sentences are often more effective.
• Spend additional time tightening up your writing: Avoid words such as “really” and “truly” that do not
add substance to your argument.
Format:
• Use 12 point font, and 1” or 1.25” inch margins.
• Double space your paper.
• Staple your paper. Unstapled papers will NOT be accepted. • Write using your own words
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