Place a source in its time and judge what it can tell us

Grade 11 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Cards A to G. Card A. Maker: a laborer in Dallas, Texas (name not printed). Date: April 23, 1917. Reader: a person in Chicago named by the Chicago Defender (the printed letter does not say who). Exact, from The Journal of Negro History, vol. IV, no. 3, July 1919, "Letters of Negro Migrants of 1916-1918" (collected under the direction of Emmett J. Scott), p. 291: "Dear Sir: Having been informed through the Chicago Defender paper that I can secure information from you. I am a constant reader of the Defender and am contemplating on leaving here for some point north. Having your city in view I thought to inquire of you about conditions for work, housing, wages and everything necessary. I am now employed as a laborer in a structural shop, have worked for the firm five years. … I am 31 yrs. old have a very industrious wife, no children. If chances are available for work of any kind let me know." Card B. Maker: a laundress in Mobile, Alabama (name not printed). Date: April 27, 1917. Reader: a Chicago advertiser in the Chicago Defender (the printed letter does not say who). Exact, same Journal, pp. 291-292: "Sir: Your advertisement appearing in the Chicago Defender have influenced me to write to you with no delay. For seven previous years I bore the reputation of a first class laundress in Selma. … I have a written recommendation from the foreman of which I largely depend upon as a relief. You will do me a noble favor with an answer in the earliest possible moment with a description all about the work." Card C, an editor's introduction in our words, unsigned, July 1919: the letters come from Black southerners of all conditions in almost all parts of the South, and they show the reasons people gave for leaving. It does not say how many letters were collected or how they were chosen. Card D, a note in our words: the United States entered the World War on April 6, 1917. The National Archives says war work then opened jobs in northern cities, and that about six million Black Americans moved from the South to other regions from the 1910s to the 1970s. Card E, an example made up for this sheet, not a quotation: an undated note to Chicago in which the writer says the whole town is talking about the war news since Congress voted, and asks about jobs. It appears in a collection printed in July 1919. Card F, an example made up for this sheet, not a quotation: a student's report that quotes the July 1919 article and adds a short list of the cities the writers named. Card G, a note in our words: the letters were written in April 1917 and printed in July 1919, two years and about three months later. Both letters answer or refer to the Chicago Defender, a newspaper that circulated in the South.

2. 1.

   Card C says the editor does not say how the letters were chosen. What is the main limit on Bo's use of cards A and B?

   • They are typical, since the editor says they come from people of all conditions
   • They are untypical, since a journal prints only the most striking letters it receives
   • No one can tell if the printed letters are typical of those sent or all migrants
   • They are typical of the South but not of the migrants, since the writers stayed in place
3. 2.

   Esme reads cards A, B and D together. Which statement do the three cards support?

   • Both asked about work, but D is a later note, so jobs cannot count as a reason
   • Both writers asked about Chicago work, and D says war work opened jobs, so jobs were one reason
   • D shows jobs opened and the letters show the writers got them
   • Both asked about work and D says jobs opened, so jobs were the main reason for the move
4. 3.

   Card G says the letters were written in April 1917 and printed in July 1919. What does the gap tell Jun?

   • The editor held the letters until the migration ended, so they show how it turned out
   • The letters were revised for print, so the words are not the writers' own
   • Editors had two years to choose and arrange them, so the set shows 1919 choices
   • The gap does not matter, since a letter's words stay as written
5. 4.

   Card E is undated. It mentions the war news "since Congress voted" and appears in a collection printed in July 1919. Kira places it.

   • After July 1919, since the collection that prints it could include later notes
   • After April 6, 1917 and before July 1919
   • Before April 6, 1917, since talk of war in town began before Congress voted
   • After April 6, 1917 and before the end of that April, since the other letters are dated then
6. 5.

   Luz's report says: "The two letters prove why six million Black Americans left the South." Which fix is best?

   • Say D supports the letters, since both show that war work opened jobs
   • Say the six million come from letters like these, which the Journal counted
   • Say the letters show two writers' reasons; the six million comes from card D
   • Say the letters show typical reasons, since D's six million confirms that many wrote
7. 6.

   Card F lists cities the letter writers named. What should Milo check before saying "most migrants went to Chicago"?

   • Whether other letters name other cities, since a larger sample is more typical
   • Whether the letters were typical, since a chosen few cannot show where most went
   • Whether the student cited the Journal correctly, since an error would change the list
   • Whether the cities are the largest in the North, since migrants went to large cities
8. 7.

   The Dallas writer asks about "conditions for work, housing, wages." Noah asks why the letter might be less than a full account of the writer's reasons.

   • It is a practical inquiry to a stranger, not a list of all the writer's reasons
   • The writer wrote after moving north, so the letter records what he found
   • The writer wrote for the Journal, which asked for reasons, so it lists those wanted
   • The writer hid the real reasons, since people who write to strangers hold back
9. 8.

   Which card is the strongest evidence that war work opened jobs in northern cities, Pia asks?

   • Card A, since a worker with five years in a shop knows how jobs were changing
   • Card B, since a written recommendation shows employers wanted her skills
   • Cards A and B together, since two letters count for more than one note
   • Card D, which states it; cards A and B only show interest in jobs
10. 9.

    Writers could write and had seen the Defender. What does that suggest Ren about cards A and B as a sample?

    • They show only northern views, since the letters were sent to Chicago
    • They may leave out people who could not write or never saw the newspaper
    • They are people who left, so they give a complete record of why people left
    • They are a random sample, since the editor picked them from many letters
11. 10.

    Tala asks how a historian should treat the list of cities named in the letters on card F.

    • As a list of cities the printed letters named, not a count of where most went
    • As invalid, since a student's report cannot be a source for anything
    • As a count of where most migrants went, since writers chose their own destinations
    • As a primary source for 1917, since it lists cities named in 1917 letters