Bisbee Deportation

This active learning-based session was developed for undergraduate students in HNRS 212: Humanities in Context: The Southwest. It introduces students to the University of Arizona Libraries Special Collections and primary sources from UAL Special Collections and the Library of Congress related to the Bisbee Deportation in July 1917, when striking mine workers were illegally deported from Arizona.

Through document analysis, students practice critical thinking and work individually and then collaboratively to construct the facts of the Bisbee Deportation. This exercise is facilitated by the archivist, who guides students with contextual questions about the content, intended audience, purpose, and author of their documents. 

• Students will be introduced to Special Collections, collection areas, and policies.
• Students will be exposed to using textual and visual historical primary sources.
• Students will analyze primary sources.
• Students will collaborate with their peers in their analysis of primary sources.
• Students will develop skills to critically examine, interpret, and evaluate historical evidence.
• Students will be able to access and search for Special Collections materials to use in their own research.
• Students will become familiar with Bisbee deportation in 1917.

Discipline(s)

History

Time Needed

1 class period of 75 minutes

Original Course

HNRS 212: Humanities in Context: The Southwest

Lesson Plan Created By

Jennie McStotts, W.A. Franke Honor's College, University of Arizona, and Lisa Duncan, University of Arizona Libraries