Special Collections seeks to connect educators with local history. State history begins in 4th grade and various classes in Social Studies and History are taught through 12th grade. The following resources try to match archival resources with Alabama's specified curriculum standards, with the hope that educators can supplement their curriculum with examples from local Huntsville/Madison County History.
A full list of curriculum standards can be found through the Alabama Department of Education:
2010 Approved Standards
2024 Draft Standards
“The Fabric of Control” is an article written by Dr. Randall Miller, a professor of History at St. Joseph’s University, and features the use of slaves in a burgeoning industry being built in the South during the Industrial Revolution, during the antebellum period. This article does a good job of describing the greater market of slavery and its changes through the 1840s and 50s, especially how demand changed and prices grew. There are also sources of Black experiences with slavery written in the text, and provide good context for students learning how enslaved individuals were seen during this period. This article, in what is perhaps its most important function, explains a relationship that is important to understand the culture of slavery in the Antebellum South, namely the social relationship between enslaved individuals and poor whites. There is some harsh language in this article, but can easily be redacted.
Run time: 12 1/2 minutes
Run time: 5 1/2 minutes
The content on the Teacher Resources pages originated from a Special Collections intern who conducted a survey of Madison City School history and social studies teachers in Fall 2024. Survey findings can be found here: