This lesson is designed to introduce students to the work of historians through an exploration of historical documents related to a civil rights case that made national news in 1867 brought by Frances Rollin Whipper. Though not among the best-known Americans, Rollin Whipper lived a remarkable life and was active in the causes of civil rights for African Americans and women. Through document analysis, students work as historians to investigate what occurred when Rollin Whipper attempted to board a steamboat to travel from Charleston to Beaufort, South Carolina.
Scrapbook page with photograph of Mrs. Frances Anne Rollin Whipper from the 1870s. From The New York Public Library Digital Collections.