Published: July 25, 2008 11:47 pm         

Curriculum combining U.S. history, West Virginia history and civics prepared by J.R. Clifford Project

After winning Williams vs. Board of Education 109 years ago, West Virginia’s first African-American attorney, J.R. Clifford, is impacting lives again, this time, through a curriculum for West Virginia students following his life and legal cases.

The curriculum was prepared by the J.R. Clifford Project, which was founded by the West Virginia Supreme Court and now is independent and affiliated with Friends of Blackwater. It is being presented for students in grades eight, 10, 11 and 12. The program combines U.S. history, West Virginia history and civics.

“When people talk about knowing your history and what that means, it is important to J.R. Clifford,” said Katherine “Kitty” Dooley, an attorney in Charleston.

The course was written by eight West Virginian teachers, who were asked to do so as part of their participation in Project Teach, a separate grant-funded program. The J.R. Clifford curriculum includes classroom projects, exercises, quizzes, activities, historical documents and PowerPoint presentations that will educate students about Clifford and his place in history. In order to bring this program about, funding came from West Virginia Humanities Council, the Appalachian Community Fund and Chesapeake Community Gas.

“We submitted requests for grants to various entities,” said Dooley.

The first presentation of the syllabus took place May 23 at Capital High School in Charleston. West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Larry Starcher and Dooley taught approximately 300 students in three different sections and gave a presentation on the completed first draft. Eventually it will be distributed to school districts throughout West Virginia.

“It’s still in the field testing stage,” said Tom Rodd, senior law clerk for Starcher.

Aside from the curriculum, Starcher has helped to get knowledge of Clifford out to the public. Rodd also wrote a four-act play, “J.R. Clifford and the Carries Williams Case,” that has been performed in Charleston, Bluefield, Morgantown, Harpers Ferry and Huntington.

“He did so much at a time when you expected not a lot to be done,” said Dooley.