Index: Teaching Resources

Social studies

Page Contents

Digital Archaeological Archive of Chesapeake Slavery Elections Experiencing War (Voices of War): Stories from the Veterans Exploration and Explorers From Slavery to Freedom, 1824-1909 Idea of America Essay Contest Lincoln/Net Pearl Harbor Raid Presidents of the United States Presidents: The Secret History Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection Stephen Ambrose: Victory in Europe: May 1945 Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers The Floating World of Ukiyo-e: Shadows, Dreams, and Substance Vote: The Machinery of Democracy Westpoint in the Making of America, 1802-1918 What in the World Is That? Within These Walls

Digital Archaeological Archive of Chesapeake Slavery

"Digital Archaeological Archive of Chesapeake Slavery" focuses on enslaved Africans & their descendants living in the Chesapeake region of Virginia during the colonial & antebellum periods. Analyze artifacts, deposits, & architectural plans from different sites, including Monticello, Mount Vernon, Stratford Hall, & Williamsburg. Join researchers from different disciplines to discover the cultural dynamics behind slavery & early Chesapeake society. (NEH) http://www.daacs.org/

Elections

"Elections" looks at American political parties of the past, presidential inaugurations, images of presidents & first ladies, our first uniform election day, political cartoons by Pat Oliphant & Herbert Block (Herblock), the 1877 electoral commission created by Congress to resolve the disputed presidential election of 1876, the 19th & 24th amendments (ending the poll tax & giving women the right to vote), & the Nixon-Kennedy debates. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/community/cc_elections.php

Experiencing War (Voices of War): Stories from the Veterans

"Experiencing War (Voices of War): Stories from the Veterans History Project" is the companion website for a book from the Veterans History Project. Video interviews, photos, & letters relate war through the eyes of 60 veterans & civilians. Stories are organized by book sections -- answering the call, a day in the life, combat, coming home -- & by themes: courage, life- altering moments, hurry up & wait, D-Day, POWs. (LOC) http://www.loc.gov/folklife/vets/stories/

Exploration and Explorers

"Exploration & Explorers" looks at Europe's view of North America before & after Columbus, Martin Waldseemuller's 1507 map of the world, Diego Gutierrez's 1562 map of America, Spanish & Portuguese encounters in America, the Dutch in America, exploration & settlement of America from British & American points of view, Lewis & Clark, Henry Hudson, Jacques Cartier, & early images of the U.S. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/learn/community/cc_exploration.php

From Slavery to Freedom, 1824-1909

"From Slavery to Freedom, 1824-1909" presents nearly 400 pamphlets written by African-Americans & others about slavery, emancipation, African colonization, Reconstruction, & related topics. Materials range from personal accounts & public orations to reports & legislative speeches. Authors include Frederick Douglass, Charles Sumner, Mary Church Terrell, Booker T. Washington, & others. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aapchtml/aapchome.html

Idea of America Essay Contest

"Idea of America Essay Contest" invites high school juniors to write an essay explaining how totalitarian ideologies like fascism & communism challenged the ideals that unite Americans & how the ideals embodied in America's founding have prevailed. Essays must be received by April 15, 2005. The author of the best essay will receive $5,000. Five runners-up will each receive $1,000. All six winners will attend an awards ceremony in Washington, D.C., in October 2005. All six essays will be published in a national forum. (NEH) http://www.wethepeople.gov/essay/index.html

Lincoln/Net

"Lincoln/Net" presents writings, speeches, & materials from Abraham Lincoln's years in Illinois (1830-1861). Biographical materials look at Lincoln's boyhood, Indian wars, the Whig Party, the Mexican War, the Republican Party, & the 1859-61 campaign. Themes include economic development, frontier settlement, racial attitudes, politics, religion & culture, & social relations of the era. Lesson plans focus on the Lincoln-Douglas debates, anti-slavery movement, Black Hawk War, & more. (NEH) http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/

Pearl Harbor Raid

"Pearl Harbor Raid" is a detailed account of the December 7, 1941, attack. More than 100 photos & descriptions look at the 7 U.S. battleships moored along Battleship Row that morning, attacks off Ford Island, attacks in the Navy yard area, attacks on airfields, Japanese aircraft & midget submarines used in the attacks, aerial combat, & more. (NAVY) http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/wwii-pac/pearlhbr/pearlhbr.htm

Presidents of the United States

"Presidents of the United States" offers a biography, portrait, & facts about each U.S.

President. (WH) http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/

Presidents: The Secret History

"Presidents: The Secret History" exposes quirky facts about our first 42 presidents. What would kids do if they were president? What qualities do kids think make a good president? (IMLS) http://pbskids.org/wayback/prez/

Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection

"Selections from the Naxi Manuscript Collection" features 185 manuscripts & a 40-foot funerary scroll of the Naxi people of Yunnan Province, China. This is the largest collection of Naxi writings outside of China & is considered among the finest in the world. The Naxi use a unique pictographic writing system. It is the only living pictographic language in the world today. (LOC) http://international.loc.gov/intldl/naxihtml/naxihome.html

Stephen Ambrose: Victory in Europe: May 1945

"Stephen Ambrose: Victory in Europe: May 1945" offers the audio of an hour-long lecture in which Stephen Ambrose reviews the Allied strategy to end World War II in Europe. Ambrose, a leading expert on this period, evaluates success of the strategy & reflects on its long-term implications. (SI) http://smithsonianassociates.org/programs/Ambrose/ambrose.asp

Summer Seminars and Institutes for School Teachers

"Summer Seminars & Institutes for School Teachers" are opportunities for teachers to study (with a stipend) a range of humanities topics: Don Quixote, George Washington, Lewis & Clark, the coming of the Civil War, slavery in New England, China & Islam, poetry, Mozart, Bach, the Pueblo world, jazz & American culture, African American literature, the Arabic novel, works by Horace, Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Yeats, & more. Application deadline is March 1, 2005. (NEH) http://www.neh.gov/projects/si-school.html

The Floating World of Ukiyo-e: Shadows, Dreams, and Substance

"The Floating World of Ukiyo-e: Shadows, Dreams, & Substance" showcases Japanese "Ukiyo-e" -- pictures of the floating, or sorrowful, world. More than 100 prints, drawings, & books are presented, mostly from 1600-1900. Ukiyo-e was born in Edo (now Tokyo) when merchants, relegated to low social status by shogun rulers, turned to art & culture as arenas where they could participate with elites (warriors, farmers, & artisans).

This is the first public viewing of this collection. (LOC) http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/ukiyo-e/

Vote: The Machinery of Democracy

"Vote: The Machinery of Democracy" looks at the history & variety of voting methods in the U.S. - - the voice vote, "party ticket" (paper ballots listing candidates from just one party), Australian ballot, gear & lever machine, & others. Voting reforms of the early 1900s, when the U.S. electorate doubled, are described. Kinds of voting equipment used in counties across the U.S. are shown on a map. Innovative design improvements are discussed.

(NMAH,SI) http://americanhistory.si.edu/vote/

Westpoint in the Making of America, 1802-1918

"Westpoint in the Making of America, 1802-1918" looks at the history of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, its contributions to American history, & accomplishments of selected West Point graduates. Proposed by George Washington in 1783 & created 20 years later, West Point became an important American institution before the Civil War.

(NMAH,SI) http://americanhistory.si.edu/westpoint/index.html

What in the World Is That?

"What in the World Is That?" examines 16 inventions: the submarine, battery radio, cotton gin, reaper, electron microscope, telephone, gramophone, telecommunication cable, snow gauge, ornithopter, airphibian, & others. (LOC) http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/science/flash.html

Within These Walls

"Within These Walls" tells the stories of five families who lived in one house in Ipswich, Massachusetts, over a 200-year period. The 10-room Georgian-style house was built in the 1760s by a wealthy miller & maritime merchant. Subsequent inhabitants fought in the Revolution, against slavery, & in World War II. (NMAH,SI) http://americanhistory.si.edu/house/default.asp