"Students consider how the debate around the Wagner-Rogers Bill reflected competing ideas in the United States about national identity, priorities, and values.
Guiding Questions
How did competing ideas about national identity, priorities, and values surface during the debate over the 1939 Wagner-Rogers Bill?
To what extent did these ideas reflect a gap between Americans’ willingness to sympathize with refugees and willingness to act on their behalf?
Learning Objectives
Through an analysis of the radio play “Miss American” and sources covering the range of positions on the 1939 Wagner-Rogers Bill, students will be able to explain how the debate reflected competing ideas about national identity, priorities, and values.
Students will reflect on how the history of the Wagner-Rogers debate can inform our understanding of contemporary debates concerning multiple refugee crises."
- Civic Education
- Social Justice
- 3 - 5
- 6 - 7
- 8 - 12
- After School Programming
- Congregational Learning
- Day Schools and Yeshivas
- Teen Engagement
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