Each year, Prof. Pinsker adds to his online Student Hall of Fame, a collection of more than 250 examples of outstanding student work derived from some of the best submissions to his classes over the last decade, including by high school students in the Knowledge for Freedom seminar. On this page, we have featured those seminar Hall of Fame entries from Summer 2021 through Summer 2026.
Close reading essays
- Peter Hass, Lincoln, private letters on slavery (HS –Summer 2022)
- Parker Hayes, Wheatley, On Being Brought from Africa (HS –Summer 2022)
- Elizabeth Huston, Douglass, Emancipation Memorial (HS –Summer 2026)
- Calder McGirl, Truth, Woman’s Rights Speech (HS –Summer 2026)
- Cameron Nye, Wheatley, On Being Brought from Africa (HS –Summer 2022)
- Cameron Nye, Flag Salute (1934) by Esther Popel (HS –Summer 2022)
- Laghima Pal, Aristotle, Politics (HS –Summer 2024)
- Lance Perkowski, Anthony, Trial Statement (1873) (HS –Summer 2026)
- Jake Sokolofsky, Douglass Editorial (1861) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jake Sokolofsky, MLK, Letter from Birmingham Jail (HS –Summer 2022)
- Etsub Taye, Declaration of Sentiments (1848) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Etsub Taye, Close Reading on Popel (HS –Summer 2022)
Audio document readings
- Chinue Kinsale, Gettysburg Address (1863) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Lea Quigley, Susan B. Anthony trial (1873) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Ajla Salkic, Toni Morrison’s Beloved (1987) (HS –Summer 2021)
- Ava Yuninger, Douglass’s Fifth of July speech (1852) (HS –Summer 2021)
Video document readings
- Shereen Ahmad, John Adams letter (1776) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Shereen Ahmad, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Amber Fienagha, Equiano’s Narrative (1789) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Amber Fienagha, Sojourner Truth, Woman’s Rights (1851) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Amber Fienagha, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Sara Geleta, Sojourner Truth, Woman’s Rights (1851) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Sara Geleta, WEB DuBois, Souls of Black Folk (1903) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Parker Hayes, Lincoln’s Second Inaugural (1865) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Will Stover, Douglass, Emancipation Memorial (1876) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Ariana Suggs, Lincoln’s First Inaugural (1861) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jonah Weaver, Declaration of Independence (1776) (HS –Summer 2022)
- Jonah Weaver, Blind Memorandum (1864) (HS –Summer 2022)
Website projects and Final Essays
- Sasha Barnes, Lincoln and Douglass (HS –Summer 2025)
- Jackson Kane, Right By Necessity (HS –Summer 2024)
- Lance Perkowski, Restrained Radicalism (HS –Summer 2026)
- Jake Sokolofsky, On Ideology and Freedom (HS –Summer 2022)
- Etsub Taye, On Freedom (HS –Summer 2021)
Teaching with the Student Hall of Fame
Here is a 25-minute video showing Director Matthew Pinsker illustrating for other Knowledge for Freedom directors in October 2022 how he teaches Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address, in part using an entry from the Student Hall of Fame by Ariana Suggs.
To find out more, visit the Teagle Foundation on “How I Teach This Text”