A Bank, a Library, and a Hospital

The Legacy of Benjamin F. Harris and Julia F. Burnham

Peggy Christensen

Summer Fellowship 2007

 

 
To download this lesson in PDF format, click here.

Lesson Five: Students will continue to examine ways in which primary sources about B.F. Harris reflect the history of the period when he lived. In this lesson, they will consider the role Harris played on a national level shortly after Abraham Lincoln was elected president and prior to the Emancipation Proclamation and the Gettysburg Address. They will be reading a few pages from his autobiography where he discussed his trip to Washington to offer support to his old friend, Abraham Lincoln. To understand why Harris felt he was needed, students should be aware that prior to his visit, several states had seceded from the Union to join with South Carolina and form the Confederate States of America. 

 

Procedure:

 

Attachments:

 

Analysis of Local Primary Sources: Three pages from the Harris autobiography, Notes of B.F. Harris, Sr., are examined in this lesson.  This book can be found at the Champaign County Historical Archives, Urbana Free Library, 210 West Green Street, Urbana, Illinois.

 

 

Return to "A Bank, a Library, and a Hospital" page