Archive of Early American Images

Image
Buffalo, Archive of Early American Images
Annotation

The images in this collection, focusing on the Americas, come from books printed or created in Europe between about 1492 and 1825. Images include woodcuts, copper engravings, and paintings. The database, still being compiled, currently contains 6,685 images and will eventually contain some 7,500 images. Image viewing software is available from the site.

The visitor can browse the entire archive or search by time period, geographical area, keyword, or subject, including indigenous peoples, flora and fauna, artifacts, industry, human activities, geography, maps, city views and plans, and portraits. Some images, such as Ptolemy's map of the world, may be familiar. Others are reproduced for the first time. Navigation requires some practice, but is worth the effort.

Ashland: The Henry Clay Estate [KY]

Description

The Ashland estate consists of an 18-room mansion, outbuildings, exhibit space, formal gardens, and walking trails. Henry Clay (1777-1852) temporarily quelled the regionalism which eventually led to attempted secession, helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent, served as Speaker of the House, supported South American governments, and introduced the Amicus Brief. Clay was also a Senator, Secretary of State, lawyer, farmer, and horseman. The structure itself was completed circa 1812, in the Federal style. Rebuilt in 1857 by later family members, the home is still similar to its original appearance but now includes Italianate, Victorian, and Greek Revival elements.

The estate offers one-hour guided mansion tours, period rooms, thematic and general guided tours for students, exhibits, self-guided outbuilding tours, gardens, trails, and a cafe. It is advisable to schedule as far in advance as possible for school visits. The website offers pre-visit handouts, a trivia game, and suggested reading lists for students.

Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture [WA]

Description

The Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture presents exhibits and information of cultural, historical, and/or artistic note. Collections include more than 68,000 artifacts from Europe, Asia, and both North and South America. Artifacts are of regional historical interest, works of art, and/or related to Native American populations. In addition to these exhibits, the museum operates the Campbell House which interprets daily life circa 1900.

The museum offers exhibits, period rooms, an activity area, activities to be completed throughout the museum, summer camps, thematic tours, traveling trunks, educator's workshops, public lectures, and a small restaurant. Wheelchairs are available. Advance registration of group visitation is appreciated, and appointments are necessary for research library and/or archival access. The website offers teacher resources and podcasts.

Due to financial necessity, the Campbell House is no longer open to the public. School groups may still schedule tours of the building.

Brewing History: An Interdisciplinary Teacher Workshop on Chocolate in New England

Description

Participants in this workshop will learn about the role of chocolate in colonial America. Topics include cacao and rainforest ecology, world trade, the role of chocolate in the colonial diet, and military uses of chocolate. The day includes a presentation of the new exhibition "Stimulating Beverages: Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate Wares at Historic Deerfield," an open-hearth cooking demonstration, and a tasting of American Heritage Chocolate® Finely Grated Chocolate Drink, which captures the form and flavor of historic chocolate.

Contact name
Carlson, Claire
Registration Deadline
Sponsoring Organization
Historic Deerfield
Phone number
413-775-7217
Target Audience
K-12
Start Date
Cost
Free
Course Credit
Education materials and PDPs awarded.
Duration
Five and a half hours

A Community Conversation with Sonia Nazario

Description

Sonia Nazario will discuss her book Enrique’s Journey, based on her Pulitzer Prize-winning series from the Los Angeles Times. This true story of a Honduran boy's dangerous odyssey to rejoin his mother in the U.S. has the potential to reshape our conversations about immigration.

Sponsoring Organization
Facing History and Ourselves
Start Date
Cost
Free
Duration
Two hours

Teaching About Global Child Labor and Human Trafficking Conference

Description

The conference, which is geared towards secondary Social Studies, English and Spanish teachers, offers educators the opportunity to meet and interview former child laborers and trafficking victims, and attend a film festival and lectures by top scholars and human rights activists working in the field. The conference will provide the first forum in the United States for intensive training in the internationally acclaimed, interdisciplinary SCREAM—Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and Media— program, developed by the International Labour Organization, International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO/IPEC). SCREAM offers cutting edge pedagogy, ideal for adapting and differentiating instruction to accommodate students' different learning needs and styles.

The highlight of the program will be the forum where former child laborers from South America and victims of trafficking within the US will share their stories. These stories will be videotaped for classroom use and conference participants will develop teaching ideas to accompany these narratives which will be published for use in the schools.

12.5 Professional Development Hours (1.25 CEUs) available.

Sponsoring Organization
Drew University, International Center on Child Labor and Education
Contact email
Location
Madison, NJ
Contact name
Swerlow, Linda
Phone number
1 973-408-3046
Start Date
End Date

Treaty of Tordesillas

Description

This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces the first years of exploration of the New World, when Spain and Portugal emerged as the biggest colonizing powers. To avoid open war, the Pope Alexander VI drew a line of demarcation that divided the Americas in half.

This feature is no longer available.

Peace Corps

Article Body

The Peace Corps has a three-fold mission. First and foremost, the organization sends volunteers to communities around the world which have requested assistance in creating sustainable solutions to real world problems. Second (and third, really), is an interest in increasing international understanding and friendship—of non-Americans for Americans and vice versa.

One of the most exciting options the Peace Corps offers educators is the World Wise Schools Correspondence Match program. The program permits educators to request a pen pal relationship with a Peace Corps volunteer in a region of the world and area of interest (agriculture, business, education, health, or environment) of their choosing. Maybe your students could discuss the lasting impact of the Vietnam War with a volunteer in Southeast Asia or how U.S. business history has altered life in China or Central America. This could also be an excellent way to introduce social studies students to the connection between history and geography and fields more often taught at the collegiate level, such as anthropology and international relations.

Another feature offered is a collection of more than 120 lesson plans. These are not focused on history per se, but you may be able to find a lesson which will strengthen themes you are pursuing in the classroom. One such lesson involves planning a service learning project. Oral histories are a classic way to combine service learning and history.