Kentucky Center for African American Heritage

 

 

  
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4.2
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Elementary School – Grade 4
    

 

 

 

 

 

Monk Estill
Monk Estill

 

Core Content Guide

1.3.3
In order for a democratic form of government to function, citizens must play an active and responsible role (e.g., participating in election process, obeying the law).

4.4.1
People depend upon the physical environment for food, shelter, and clothing.

4.4.3
The physical environment both promotes and limits human activities (e.g., mountains as barriers or as protection, rivers used as boundaries or transportation routes).

5.2.1
Native American cultures, both in Kentucky and the United States, had similarities (e.g., gender roles, family organization, religion, values) and differences (e.g., language, shelter, tools, foods, and clothing).

 

    

 

4.2 Black Heroes
of the Kentucky Frontier

Pre-Visit
Using an early map of the land area that would become Kentucky, students identify key exploration and immigration routes in the state and locate early settlements. Students read an excerpt from a letter in the Filson regarding a slave's heroism during an Indian attack at Crab Orchard, Ky.

Students review when and how the state was settled. Where were the first settlements? Who were the key explorers and early leaders on the frontier? Why were slaves brought to the frontier? What challenges faced explorers and early settlers? What kinds of skills did the pioneers need? What daily activities took place in these wilderness communities? What roles did blacks have?

In the Museum
In the "Coming to Kentucky" Exhibit, students use exhibit resources to learn more about the roles of blacks in frontier Kentucky. Students discover early settlement in the state by using maps. They can see pioneer tools and get a feel for cabin construction and agricultural activities. They can read about Monk Estill, York, Pompey, and Christopher Gist's slave. They can see implements used to extract saltpeter and manufacture gunpowder, a trade of Monk Estill. A Kentucky rifle will be on display, with more information about the conflicts that arose between Native Americans and Euro-Americans trying to settle in Kentucky.

Standing in the main portion of this gallery, students can look up and see a changing landscape created on a circular soffit high on the wall. Students may describe the types of places they see in the landscape. How does the state seem to change in the mural? How do blacks contribute to these changes in Kentucky?

Post-Visit
Students write a monologue or dialogue about the roles of blacks in frontier Kentucky and then share with the class.