TEACHER'S GUIDE TO
From 1946 to 1959 the Quonset Auditorium showcased the legendary country, R&B, and bluegrass musicians who traveled the Dixie Highway. It was a regular roadstop for Grand Ole Opry and R&B recording artists in the Upper South. Local musicians got their break playing backup there with big name artists. The history of the Quonset tells a local story of segregation and integration through music history. Use the following lessons as part of a unit on the civil rights era or musical styles.

Resources for Teachers

    • Lessons 
-Types of Popular Music
-The Architecture of Segregation

Lesson: Types of Popular Music

Level: Primary and Middle

Objective: Introduce the musical genres of bluegrass, country, R&B, blues, folk, rap, and rock.
Students will be able to identify different styles of music and musical instruments.

Core Content:

AH-E-1.1.38            AH-M-1.1.38
AH-E-1.1.39            AH-M-1.1.39
AH-E-1.2.32            AH-M-1.1.310
                              AH-M-1.2.32
Assessment: Students will identify individual instruments and classify them according to family. Students should
be able to distinguish between musical forms and compare them verbally. (For middle school students): Students 
should be able to suggest examples of how specific music styles reflect culture, time and place.
           
Lesson Description: Play a sample song from each genre once, and ask students to listen for the 
following musical instruments: (for primary): guitar, fiddle/violin, harmonica, drums, saxaphone. (For middle 
add): electric guitar, bass, piano.

Discuss how the same instrument can sound different ways depending on how it is played. Discuss the 
similarities and differences in genres. Play the samples again and ask students to identify the musical style. (For
middle): Divide students into groups and assign each a song.  Have students analyze and deliver oral reports on 
the meaning of the lyrics and/or the time and place in which a song was created. 
Materials needed for this lesson: Samples of songs from the various musical genres and a tape or CD player. 
Some music collections may be available from your public library. Suggested songs:
  • Bluegrass: "Blue Moon of Kentucky" - Bill Monroe
  • Country: "Keep on the Sunny Side" - The Carter Family
  • Blues: "Stormy Monday" - B.B. King or "Crossroads" - Robert Johnson
  • R&B: "Dock of the Bay" - Otis Redding
  • Rap: "The Message" - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five (This song does not contain explicit lyrics but it does refer to the reality of inner city life. Listen to the lyrics before playing it for your older students.)
  • Rock: "Shake, Rattle and Roll" - Bill Haley and the Comets
  • Folk: "Barbara Allen" - Jean Ritchie

Suggested followup activity:Contact the Kentucky Historical Society for a list of local musicians. Invite one or
two to the school to demonstrate. 

Lesson by Amber Ridington and Jennifer Small, Program in Folk Studies, Western Kentucky University.

Lesson: The Architecture of Segregation

Level: Adapted for both Primary and High School

Objective:Use historical photographs of the Quonset Auditorium to illustrate the realities of segregation and look 
at the role of popular music in breaking barriers. Students will understand the meaning of social segregation and          
be able to discuss its impact on people and society.

Academic Expectations:
1.13 Students make sense of ideas and communicate ideas with visual arts
2.14 Students should understand the democratic principles of justice, equality, responsibility, and freedom,
       and apply them to real-life situations.
2.16 Students observe, analyze and interpret human behaviors, social groupings, and institutions to better
       understand people and the relationships among individuals and among groups.
2.17 Students interact effectively and work cooperatively with the many diverse ethnic and cultural groupings
       of our nation and world.
2.20 Students understand, analyze and interpret historical events, conditions, trends, and issues to develop
       historical perspectives.

Core Content: 

SS-E-1.3.1                SS-M-1.3.1               SS-H-1.1.3
SS-E-1.3.3                SS-M-1.3.3               SS-H-1.3.3
SS-E-2.4.1                SS-M-2.4.1               SS-H-2.4.1
SS-E-2.4.2                SS-M-2.4.2               SS-H-2.4.2
SS-E-5.1.2                SS-M-5.1.2               SS-H-5.2.6

Program of Studies-High School

-Use a variety of tools (e.g.,primary and secondary sources, data, and artifacts) to explore the interpretive
nature of the history of the United States from Reconstruction to the present.
-Examine the impacts of significant individuals and groups.
-Analyze the social, political, and economic characteristics of various eras in the history of the United
States.
-Examine the rights and responsibilities of individuals in American society and the development of 
democratic principles (e.g., liberty, justice, equality, individual human dignity, and the rule of law.)
-Explore how people and cultures of many countries, races and religious traditions have contributed to the
American experience.
-Examine ways in which cooperation, conflict and competition occur as cultures emerge.
-Analyze origins and consequences of stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination.
-Examine the social transformations reflected in the struggles for racial and gender equity and the extension
of civil rights.
-Describe various styles and purposes of music and explain how music reflects historical and cultural
influences.

Lesson Description: 
Primary- Show the pictures to the students and ask them to describe what they see in detail.  Have them 
try to guess the subject of each picture. What is it? When might this picture have been taken? Are there 
people in the picture? What are they doing? Try to get as many details about the pictures as possible 
before revealing the captions to the pictures. Have the students think about and answer the following 
discussion questions: What do you think was the reason for having separate doors? How would you feel if 
you were in this situation? What would you do?

High School
Part 1-Using the worksheet on Reading a Photograph, have students analyze and interpret the pictures alone 
or in groups. After sharing the results with the class, the teacher should lead a discussion on the upsides and
downsides of photographic documents to the study of history.  Students should be able to discuss the 
immediate and long-term effects of segregation and its historical context. Have students share their thoughts 
about segregation as it exists today geographically and socially. 

Part 2-Research the musical history of the Dixie highway. What do you think about 
the Quonset having separate entrances AND an integrated band? What do you think about the integrated 
audiences that responded to popular black musicians? Ask students to discuss or write about how popular music 
has crossed ethnic and racial lines. Is this still happening today?

Materials you will need for this lesson: Photographs of the Quonset Auditorium.
1. Front entrance
2. Side entrance
[optional] Map of Dixie Highway

Lesson by Amber Ridington and Jennifer Small, Program in Folk Studies, Western Kentucky University.

E-Mail kymus@wku.edu. Phone (270) 745-2592. Fax (270) 745-4878.
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Website Created by Jennifer Small. Maintained By Web Site Team. Last Modified October 14, 2003. All Contents Copyright © 1999-2003.
Western Kentucky University.

URL: http://www.wku.edu/library/education/teacherguides/quonset.htm