Waco and Texas Themes for the History Fair:

• William Cowper Brann and the Iconoclast

• Buffalo Soldiers on the Texas Frontier

• Slavery and Revolts in Texas

• Suffrage Movement

• Texas independence, especially its impact on relations among Mexicans, African Americans, and Anglos

• Annexation of Texas and the Compromise of 1850

• Immigration—patterns of cultural conflict and adaptation among the many immigrant groups and the diverse native Texans

• Language policies in public schools—history of requiring English, teaching English, encouraging bilingualism Child labor in Texas cotton mills—Waco and West both had cotton mills

• Water rights and water politics in Texas history

• Cattle, sheep, and crops—conflicts and compromises over land, fences, and water

• Railroad expansion in Texas—conflicts between public and investor interests

• General Tire and Rubber Company—labor unions, management and labor conflicts and compromises

• Urban renewal in Waco

• Desegregation of Waco schools and public facilities

Scopes Monkey Trial and the Reaction of the People of Waco, TX

I was absolutely clueless as to picking a topic for history fair. So, I looked around for people to help me. I found one lady who was especially helpful. She and I talked about my favorite subjects. I really like science, math and video games. She said there have been many conflicts in the area of science. We discussed some of them and she mentioned the Scopes Trial. I remembered I had watched a “Brain Pop” on the Scopes Trial and I thought it was very interesting. I told her I liked the Scopes Trial idea. The lady said that a good idea is to take a national subject and being it down to a local level. My mom said I should take her advice because she had written some local history books. Mom had read one and said it was very good. I slept on this information and took that lady’s advice so my topic is “The Scopes “Monkey” Trial and the Reaction of the People of Waco, Texas.”

First, I got on the internet and looked at many secondary sources about the Scopes Trial. I read biographies about the important people. I studied timelines. I went to the public library and checked out books to read for background, I went to the video store and bought a dramatized version of the trial called ‘Inherit the Wind’ which I watched. I also looked up old newspapers on microfiche at the public library. I read the main headlines and stories from Dayton. But, my main focus was on the local editorials and views. I understood from my research that this trial was the "talk of the day". Reading and understanding the editorials helped me understand the concerns of Wacoans. Some of the editorials tried to correct misunderstanding, some tried to keep calm Wacoans who were in an uproar, and some shared people's experiences and thoughts about the trial.

I chose to do a display board. First, I chose the display board because I am very visual and like to have everything laid out. I’ve done display boards and I enjoy making them. I also made a blog not for the competition because I enjoy modern technology and consider myself good at it. Go to www.scopesmonkeytrial.blogspot.com. Besides posting the information from the display board in the site, I also have some polls, and places to write your own opinion.

“Conflicts and Compromises” relates to the Scopes Trial because of the conflict between creationism and evolution and what is the correct form of teaching. Another cool part about this is that the conflict still goes on. People are still debating Also whether to include creationism or evolution in science class today.

Visit MacKenzie's blog at scopestrialhomepage.blogspot.com. See more about the subject at  http://www.scopesmonkeytrial.com/

A Timeline of the Civil Rights Movement in McLennan County: A Microcosm of the Events Related to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States

Shakayla Furlow and Lauren Hernandez of Tennyson Middle School shared a $100 prize from the Waco History Project for their entry in the 2008 Heart of Texas Regional History Fair. Here's their summary:

As we began to preparing for the National History Day project, we considered this year’s theme – Conflict and Compromise. In considering the theme, we thought about topics that were meaningful to us. Social injustices have always been of interest to us, so we began exploring various events in history such as the Holocaust, slavery, and school segregation. After much deliberation, we decided upon the Civil Rights Movement.

As we began my research, we quickly learned that this topic could be broken into numerous subtopics that seemed overwhelming. We talked with one of our mother’s about how we could narrow down our topic. Through this discussion, we decided to look at the various components of the Civil Right Movement in our county, McLennan County. This excited us tremendously as we thought of the possibilities that could be explored. Immediately we started focusing on the components of the Civil Rights Movement in McLennan County that we felt were relevant such as school segregation, housing patterns, and separate businesses that served only one sector of the community. As we began our research, one tragic event in McLennan County’s history came to light. The “Waco Horror”, as it has become known, was a shameful piece of history that involves the lynching and desecration of Jesse Washington’s body.

The experience of visiting the Baylor University Library was a bit overwhelming in that there were so many choices for resources. We found several books that were located in the Texas collection. This was very useful.

One of our parents arranged the appointments to interview two community members. We were very nervous about talking to them. We wrote out questions beforehand so we would be prepared. Both of the men we interviewed were very eager to share their stories.

The hardest part of this project was narrowing down the information to put on the board. We had much more than would actually fit on the board. We had to go back and eliminate some of the events that seemed not to fit perfectly.

Overall, we learned so much about the civil rights movement in McLennan County. Most of what happened here was happening all across the United States. In many ways, the events were a reflection of what was happening in other places. None the less, it is very easy to note the positive social changes that have occurred in our community.

Waco History Unit
By Bianca Ochoa Third-grade Teacher at Hillcrest P.D.S. Waco ISD

It was my goal for my third-grade class to learn about the history of the community in which they live. They would learn firsthand through a variety of experiences such as: field trips, interviews, independent study project, and presentations. This is a very short description of some of the types of activities students were involved in with this study of Waco History.

Oral History:

An oral history interview was one of the first skills the students learned to do to gather information about an important event in Waco history – the Waco tornado. The study of tornados had been studied right before this assignment in Science. All students had to interview a person who lived in Waco during the Waco tornado. They were given the same set of questions but could then add their own. Examples of questions that were used by all students included:

• How old were you when the tornado hit?
• Were you working, going to school?
• Where were you?
• How did you hear about the tornado on that day?
• What do you remember about what happened right after the tornado?

Through this oral history interview, students were able to gather information from a person who shared a part of Waco history. The questions often led to stories about what Waco was like then. Stories of where people worked or how schools were different back then than they were today. Students were excited to share their interviews with the rest of the class. This was one of the favorite activities students mentioned in their end of the unit evaluation.

Field Trip Students were able to see and hear about life in Waco history in this all-day field trip. They had questions ready before we arrived at each location, but they had many more once they talked to the guide. Our day included a visit to:

• The Suspension Bridge
• Hippodrome
• East Terrace Historical Home
• Lunch at Miller Steak House
• Dr Pepper Museum
• Heritage Square

The day ended with a wealth of information. Many of our students had the opportunity to visit many of these places.

Independent Research Project:

Every student selected a different topic of study to research and present to the class. Students worked through an eight-step process and timeline to complete this project.

1. Select a topic. Students could select from a list of Waco topics under three main areas: 1) special events, 2) Waco pioneers, 3) landmarks.
2. Organize a topic.
3. Ask questions. Students had to narrow all of their little questions about the topic into one “big” question.
4. Use a study method. Use at least three different types of sources
5. Collect information. Notes and other types of information were kept in the students’ research folder.
6. Develop a product / visual. Examples included: creating a model, pictures, dressing as the person.
7. Present information to the class. It was the students’ choice on how they were wanted to present the material. Examples include: posters, PowerPoint, and show.
8. Evaluate the independent study. Students were involved in evaluating student presentations.

Presentations to the School

Students shared their independent projects to the whole school in the school cafeteria. It was an opportunity to have parents, teachers, and other students ask questions and hear information about the topics of study. The third-grade students were able to be the “expert” and shine one more time as they proudly shared their topic of research.

About the Teacher

Bianca Ochoa is a third-grade teacher at Hillcrest Professional Development School. Mrs. Ochoa has been teaching at Hillcrest P.D.S for 14 years. Prior to that, she taught first-grade for five years and then served as a gifted and talented teacher for five years with Waco ISD. Mrs. Ochoa has an associate’s degree in child development. She has a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in education with an endorsement in gifted and talented education from Baylor University and she is currently working on her dissertation to complete her doctoral degree in education psychology also from Baylor University.

Katelynn Kaska’s Tragedy of the 1953 Waco Tornado was winner of the Waco History Project Special Award (Junior Division) in the 2007 Heart of Texas Regional History Fair. She is a student at West Middle School. She received a $100 prize from the Waco History Project.

Katelynn's Comments

Hailey Henkel and Julia DeLaRosa of St. Louis Catholic School (picture unavailable) won the Waco History Project Special Award Group Exhibit, Junior Division, for It’s a Twister, It’s a Twister – Waco Tornado. They shared a $100 prize.

Amberlee Pendleton, a fifth-grader at Hillcrest PDS, did her history fair project on Waco World War II hero Doris Miller. She is in Mary Helen Battle's social studies class.

Story by Amberlee Pendleton

My fourth grade students in 2005--2006 studied Texas History all year, including events in Waco History.

We compiled a Waco History timeline database and created shoebox dioramas for many scenes from Waco History.

The result was a classroom museum of shoeboxes. We gave several tours to younger classes.

Ms. Melody Strot, teacher
Viking Hills Elementary, Waco ISD

Stories written by the students

Mountainview Elementary students Micah Click (left) and Sarah Vladut prepared a power-point presentation on Waco Mayor Mae Jackson and sculpture for the Waco Expo GT Product Fair. View it here.

Teachers: Have any of your students done written projects about Waco history? We'd like to show them off here.

E-mail the Waco History Project at jyoung@wacotrib.com

To top

Size: 1,257KB

Size: 16,866 KB

These books have been reproduced in a PDF format that you can view online or download.

This website is provided by the Amon Carter Museum

Within its collection of more than 200,000 objects,
the Amon Carter Museum houses over 300
nineteenth-and early twentieth-century “bird's-eye views” of cities throughout the United States. Texas Bird's-Eye Views is a Web site dedicated to the study and appreciation of the Texas city views in the museum's collection, along with a number of additional Texas views from private lenders and outside institutions.

This is a wonderful site for both teachers and students.