Overview

TeachRock’s lesson collection “Segregation and Integration in Asbury Park” provides educational materials for the film Asbury Park: Riot, Redemption, Rock & Roll. In this three-part lesson collection, students discover the impact the city of Asbury Park has had upon the history of American popular music, and investigate the local conditions that led to the emergence of artists such as Steven Van Zandt and Bruce Springsteen.

More than this, the lesson collection asks students to think of Asbury Park as a case study for the racial dynamics in the United States. By watching clips from the documentary, examining interviews with local activists, and analyzing historical documents, students discover the long history of segregation in Asbury Park, the effects it had on the city, and how it relates to the United States’ history of segregation more broadly.

Learn more about this lesson plan below:

Lessons

lesson:
Part 1: Segregation and the Founding of Asbury Park

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Civics, Social Studies/History

What does the founding and early history of Asbury Park reveal about practices of segregation in the Northern United States?

lesson:
Part 2: Riot or Rebellion? Asbury Park in the Summer of 1970

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Civics, Social Studies/History

What factors led up to the Asbury Park "Riots" in New Jersey in the summer of 1970?

lesson:
Part 3: Asbury Park from the 1970s to Today

Grades: AP/Honors/101, High
Subjects: Social Studies/History

What social issues continue to confront Asbury Park today, and how are activists tackling them?