Railroads Change Florida

Zora Neale Hurston and the Railroad Track Lining Chants
4th Grade Lesson Plan

Overview

The arrival of the railroad in Florida marked the beginning of a steady increase in transportation efficiency throughout the state. The labor required to build and operate the railroads, however, was often tedious and difficult. Workers plowed their way through swamps, sandhills, and other challenging terrain, cutting cross-ties and laying them down along with the rails. Over time, railroad labor developed a culture all its own, complete with songs, stories, and traditions.

Zora Neale Hurston is most often remembered as a gifted novelist with a knack for capturing the essence of the lives of rural Southerners, especially in Florida. She was also, however, a folklorist who helped the Federal Writers’ Project document the lives and traditions of African-Americans during the Great Depression. Hurston’s work has been instrumental in writing the history of African-American individuals and communities.

Zora Neale Hurston recorded several railroad lining rhythms that she collected across Florida. These chants were sung by workers to keep pace as they built railroad tracks across Florida.

In this audio recording from 1939, Hurston describes and sings a railroad lining rhythm.

Objectives

Students will:

• Analyze primary source documents (audio recordings).
• Write about history using primary sources.
• Write about the Floridians who built the railroads.

Grade

4

Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

• MU.4.H.2.1: Perform, listen to, and discuss music related to Florida’s history.
• SS.4.A.1.1: Analyze primary and secondary resources to identify significant individuals and events throughout Florida history.
• SS.4.A.1.2: Synthesize information related to Florida history through print and electronic media.
• SS.4.A.6.1: Describe the economic development of Florida’s major industries.
  Examples of industries may include, but are not limited to, timber, citrus, cattle, tourism, phosphate, cigar, railroads, bridges, air conditioning, sponge, shrimping, and wrecking (pirating).

Florida Standards

• LAFS.K12.R.2.4: Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.
• LAFS.K12.R.2.6: Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.
• LAFS.4.RI.3.7: Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.
• LAFS.4.SL.1.2: Paraphrase portions of a text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Materials Needed

1. Sound Recording Analysis Worksheet from the National Archives.
2. Zora Neale Hurston audio recordings.

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This a track-lining chant that Hurston learned at a railroad camp in Callahan, Florida. “A rail weighs 900 pounds and the men have to take these lining bars and get it in shape to spike it down and while they’re doing that they have a chant and also some songs that they use the rhythm to work it into place. And then the boss hollers ‘bring me my hammer gang’ and they start to spike it down.”

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Procedure

Part I: Introducing Content

1. Introduce the text by saying, “Today we are going to listen to a track lining song that was collected by Zora Neale Hurston.”
   
   
2. Play the recording of Zora Neale Hurston talking about and singing the railroad track-lining rhythm “Let’s Shake It.”
   

 

Part II: Sound Recording Analysis

1. As a whole group, discuss the following text-dependent questions to promote general understanding of the recording:
   
   
   • “What is this recording about? How do you know?” Students should provide examples from the recording as they answer the questions.
     
   • “What words and phrases did the author use to describe what was happening?”
   • How do you think Hurston felt about the people she was describing? What word choice or tone of voice did you notice?
   • What was the purpose of this recording? Why was it made?
2. Record students’ answers on chart paper.
3. Distribute copies of the sound recording analysis worksheet.
4. Have a student read the pre-listening questions on the worksheet and provide the answers.
   1. Whose voices will you hear on this recording? Zora Neal Hurston and Herbert Halpert.
   2. What is the date of the recording? This recording was made in 1939.
   3. Where was this recording made? Jacksonville, Florida.
      
      
5. Have students work individually to complete the worksheet.
   
   
6. Bring the class back together to discuss what they learned about the railroad industry in the 1930s in Florida. How does this add to their knowledge of the challenges that Floridians faced during the Great Depression?

Part III: Writing About the Railroad Industry

Students should write brief journal responses to the recording, focused on what they learned about the railroad industry in the 1930s in Florida.

Extension Activity

Students may analyze a second recording of Zora Neale Hurston to glean additional information. In this recording, Hurston discusses track lining and sings the railroad track lining rhythm, “Shove it Over.”

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