TRIPTIK: HIGHWAY 31 (STUDY
GUIDE)
Program length: 28:50. To order a copy of the program call 1-800-463-8825.
This program was produced by Brent Davis.
INTRODUCTION
This program takes a tour down one of the roads less traveled since
interstates have spread across our country. Brent Davis travels Highway
31 between Birmingham and Montgomery, using a driving tour originally published
in a 1940 guidebook. He points out a few of the smaller attractions that
most people never stop to see. Along the way he discovers how some
of the towns were settled, shares some of their history and gets to know
some of the residents, past and present.
The book the driving tour is taken from, Alabama, A Guide To A Deep
South State, was a project sponsored by the
Works
Progress Administration during the
Depression.
It was one of many efforts during Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal administration
to create jobs. In this case it offered employment to writers, editors,
photographers, and artists. (The University
of Alabama Press is re-publishing this book with a new foreword.)
Every state had a similar guide prepared under the sponsorship of the
WPA. Check your local library for the edition about your state. It will
prove to be a thorough, thoughtful, and provocative resource for your students.
OBJECTIVE
This program should help students realize how the history of a region
is influenced by many factors, including geography and natural resources.
Viewers will also see that communities are dynamic, and they rise and fall
due to many circumstances such as weather, roads, migration patterns, economic
conditions, wars, etc.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
-
Check out the reference books written about your state. What do they
say about your town or city? How do the older books compare with
the newer ones? How has your city or town changed over the years,
according to the reference guides and the students’ own observations?
How has it stayed the same?
-
How did your town get its name?
-
What Native Americans lived in your area before white settlement? What
happened to the Native Americans?
-
Do you know of any monuments in your town? Who built them and why?
-
What ethnic groups played a prominent role in the settlement of your town?
Can you find evidence of that culture in your town today? Are new ethnic
groups emerging in your area? Why?
-
Ask the students to talk about where their families are from, and how their
families came to the U.S.
-
Ask the students to define the difference between manufacturing and service
industries. What industry does your town or city most depend upon?
-
Tuberculosis was virtually
eliminated in the U.S., but it is becoming a problem again today. Have
students investigate why this easily treatable disease is making a recurrance.
-
Have the students discuss other disease epidemics that we face today, such
as the AIDS problem worldwide, or, on a smaller scale, the 1999 encephalitis
outbreak in New York. How can these diseases be controlled and prevented?
-
Bob Green says he’s not trying to attract business through his ads, he’s
just trying to make people laugh a little bit. Nevertheless his crazy
sayings do bring in customers. Why do you think his advertisements
are effective?
-
Why would owning a dry goods store like Baer's be difficult today?
-
What do you think would happen to your school without a sports program?
-
Devise a driving tour of your own area.
|
A Swedish-style house in Thorsby
|
REVIEW QUESTIONS
-
What was produced at Sloss Furnaces?
(iron)
-
Why did Sloss Furnaces shut down? (growth of the service industry,
cheaper foreign steel, and recession)
-
Why did the demand for steel from Birmingham decline? (cheaper foreign
steel)
-
What industry did the program say was strongest in Birmingham today?
(the services industry)
-
How were we able to put a stop to the spread of TB? (isolation of
tuberculosis patients, and after the 1950's, drug therapy was developed)
-
What is a Sybil? (a mysterious, mythological
Roman
prophetess)
-
Where was the original Temple of Sybil built? (Tivoli, Italy)
-
What is alabaster? (a marble-like mineral)
-
Who were the first people to work the lime kilns in Calera? (Spaniards)
-
What does "calera" mean in Spanish? (lime)
-
Why did the Scandinavian people move to Alabama? (They hoped to build
their own agricultural towns in Alabama.)
-
Why were the homes in Thorsby built with steep roofs? (The homes
were built Northern-style, so the snow would slide off in the winter time)
-
Why did people go to Verbena in the 1860's? (To escape the yellow
fever epidemic in other towns)
-
How did Verbena get its name? (Named for a wild plant that grows
all around the city)
-
Who was Sidney Lanier? (a late 19th century American poet)
-
What is the capital of Alabama? (Montgomery)
|
The Temple of Sybil in Vestavia Hills
Birmingham's Vulcan
|
Produced by Brent Davis
at The University of Alabama Center for Public Television & Radio,
Box 870150, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487, 1-800-463-8825.
For additional information about using these materials in your classroom,
contact Alabama Public Television Educational Services, 1-800-239-5233.
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