Interactive gallery walk launches civil rights unit at Mariner

Mariner Middle School seventh-grade English language arts students marked the beginning of Black History Month and and their civil rights unit of study with a gallery walk Feb. 3.

As students rotated through 13 interactive stations, they explored the history and impact of the Civil Rights Movement through powerful primary sources that brought the era to life. The experience encouraged students to think critically, ask questions, and make meaningful connections between past and present.

Among the artifacts examined were photographs documenting key moments in the movement, the Lovings’ marriage license and arrest records, multiple poetry drafts by Langston Hughes, newspaper clippings related to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision, copies of the Green Book, handwritten letters sent to President Eisenhower regarding school segregation, and the 1965 Alabama Literacy Test. 

Students also analyzed Norman Rockwell’s iconic painting, “The Problem We All Live With,” reviewed mugshots of Freedom Riders, and listened to jazz music by Nina Simone and Sam Cooke. The gallery walk also featured Cesar Chavez’s powerful speech, “The Wrath of Grapes.”

By engaging directly with these historical documents and works of art, students gained a deeper understanding of the struggles, voices and actions that shaped the Civil Rights Movement. The interactive format allowed students to see history not just as events in a textbook, but as real stories of individuals whose courage and determination continue to influence society today.

The gallery walk set a thoughtful tone for the unit, inspiring students to reflect on the movement’s legacy and its relevance in the modern world.