ABMC War Dead Database

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Annotation

This American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) Burials and Memorializations database features over 224,000 records of individuals buried or memorialized in ABMC cemeteries and memorials worldwide. Covering 24 cemeteries in 10 foreign countries and 3 additional memorials in the U.S., this database provides online access to burial information of those killed in action primarily during World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

Additional individuals include veterans, active duty military, and civilians. The database also provides information on individuals in the Corozal American Cemetery (Panama) and the Mexico City National Cemetery (Mexico), including civilians and veterans of the Spanish-American War and the Civil War.

The database interface allows students to search by name, war or conflict, service or serial number, branch of service, unit, service entry location, cemetery/memorial, date of death, and keyword. Users can also search for service members who are missing in action and Medal of Honor recipients who are buried or memorialized by ABMC.

This organization of the material allows the user to explore a wealth of information. Students can research the geographic distribution of burials or explore representation among military branches in individual cemeteries. The ABMC database allows users to focus on who is buried and memorialized and to explore the experiences of individual soldiers as well as patterns and commonalities.

Students, for example, could begin to explore the number of women who served as nurses during World War I and the Influenza epidemic of 1918, or the experiences of the 100th Infantry Battalion of the U.S. Army during World War II. Or they could chose to search for an individual from their home state or community and use the database’s information as a starting point to research the life of this individual. They can download search results and print, email, or share individual records.

This valuable research and teaching resource is accompanied by a robust “Education Resources” section featuring interactive timelines and campaign narratives, cemetery or memorial-specific mobile apps, publications, videos, lesson plans, and curriculum ideas. The “Flying Yanks: American Airmen in WWI” interactive, for example, provides historical background for students exploring the air war in WWI, a timeline and map with primary sources, as well as individual stories of airmen.

Students can use the database in conjunction with the learning materials to enrich their understanding of U.S. military history, memorialization, public history, and numerous other historical topics.

The March on Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project

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A project of the University of Wisconsin—Milwaukee, The March on Milwaukee Civil Rights History Project preserves the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Milwaukee, WI. In the late 1960s, the open housing movement worked to break down housing restrictions that segregated the city's population. Milwaukee residents of all ages and walks of life supported or opposed this movement.

The site features more than 150 digitized primary sources from the period, including oral histories, letters to organizations, support and hate letters, meeting minutes, Henry Maier's 1967 mayor's log, speeches, press releases, photographs, official reports and research studies, video clips, curriculum and programming from Freedom Schools (alternative schools children could attend during school boycotts), and more. Sources can be searched by keyword and browsed by media type (audio, documents, photos, or video) or collection (materials are divided into 10 collections by relationship to prominent individuals and groups in the movement). Visitors can add sources to "My Favorites" and review them as they browse.

In addition, a downloadable map shows the division of Milwaukee neighborhoods in 1967 and the path of the Aug. 28 open housing march, and a timeline tracks local and national events from 1954 to 1976. A glossary of key terms gives the context for more than 60 acronyms, names, places, and other terms, and a bibliography lists more than 40 primary sources and more than 50 secondary sources.

Teachers may need to do a little extra legwork to contextualize the primary sources, but the collection can bring Civil Rights Movement history home to Wisconsin students, particularly those in Milwaukee and the surrounding area. Teachers nationwide can use the materials to explore the work of the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), NAACP Youth Council, and local institutions like Freedom Schools and integration committees.

My Piece of History

Teaser

Even the recent past was very different from the present. Students analyze photos from the 1960s and 1970s to identify differences between then and now.

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Description

Students analyze two pictures from the mid to late 20th century—a recreation room, and a set of wedding gifts—and use objects in the picture to identify differences between the past and the present.

Article Body

This lesson uses everyday objects from the past to facilitate the development of two foundational historical thinking skills for young students:

  1. understanding that people of the past lived differently than we do today and;
  2. that history consists of stories constructed from artifacts left from the past.

The lesson begins with the teacher introducing an object from his or her own past that is unfamiliar to students, and a discussion of what that object’s purpose might have been. Then, students observe photographs of everyday items from the 1960s and 1970s to identify both familiar and unfamiliar objects.

Activities 2 and 3 focus on students acting as “historical detectives,” as they generate hypotheses for the purposes of unfamiliar objects in the pictures, and then brainstorm methods for verifying these hypotheses—including interviewing older family members for additional information. Finally, students construct their own historical narratives about an object by creating a museum label for that object. In activity 4, students repeat the process using an object found in their own home.

This lesson walks students through the steps of historical inquiry and introduces them to key historical concepts (historical context and evidence) in an engaging and age-appropriate way.

Topic
Daily life; popular culture and leisure
Time Estimate
2-3 Class Sessions
flexibility_scale
4
Rubric_Content_Accurate_Scholarship

Yes

Rubric_Content_Historical_Background

Yes
Several other museum exhibits from the mid to late 20th century are available here, and may be useful for augmenting the lesson as well as providing background for teachers.

Rubric_Content_Read_Write

Yes
While no reading of text is required, students write during the interview process, as well as in the final activity, creating museum labels.

Rubric_Analytical_Construct_Interpretations

Yes
This is the central feature of the lesson.

Rubric_Analytical_Close_Reading_Sourcing

No
While no reading is required, close analysis of the photographs and attention to time period is necessary.

Rubric_Scaffolding_Appropriate

Yes

Rubric_Scaffolding_Supports_Historical_Thinking

Yes
Discussion questions are provided to help students analyze unfamiliar objects, as well as a chart for students to organize information gained from interviewing older family members about “mystery objects.”

Rubric_Structure_Assessment

No
While no specific assessment or criteria is provided, the final activity allows students to engage in the inquiry process independently, and may be used to assess student understanding.

Rubric_Structure_Realistic

Yes

Rubric_Structure_Learning_Goals

Yes

The Short-Handled Hoe

Teaser

History is imbedded in the smallest objects. In this lesson, students examine how a simple farming tool connects to the work done by United Farm Workers.

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Description

Students view a variety of documents and artifacts related to the short-handled hoe, migrant labor, and the United Farm Workers. They then draw on these sources to develop an online museum exhibit for the hoe.

Article Body

This lesson uses a simple farming tool, the short-handled hoe, to introduce students to migrant labor in California and the farm worker labor movement.

After a brief introduction to the hoe and the bracero program that brought workers to California from Mexico, students explore a variety of artifacts to understand the context of the hoe’s use, as well as the United Farm Workers’ role in the 20th-century labor and civil rights movement. Students then draw from these varied sources to create an online museum exhibit centered on the hoe.

One of the great strengths of this lesson is that it starts with what seems a simple artifact, the short-handled hoe, but leads students towards more complex thinking, including grappling with the artifact’s larger symbolic and political meanings and its historical significance. The lesson also provides an excellent opportunity for teaching about historical context because placing the short-handled hoe in the context of the other artifacts and documents clarifies the meaning of this particular artifact (labeled a “barbaric instrument” by one doctor).

While the lesson provides only minimal structure, teachers will appreciate the wealth of companion resources, including historians’ commentary, images of other farming tools, and primary sources related to California farm labor, and the work of César Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

Topic
20th Century Labor
Time Estimate
1-2 Class Sessions
flexibility_scale
2
Rubric_Content_Accurate_Scholarship

Yes

Rubric_Content_Historical_Background

Yes
In addition to a brief introduction, teachers can find additional resources listed here.

Rubric_Content_Read_Write

Yes
While many of the primary sources are artifacts, others are written documents. In addition, in the final activity, students must give a written justification for items included in their exhibit.

Rubric_Analytical_Construct_Interpretations

Yes
Students create a thesis statement for their exhibit and have to explain why they chose each of the items in their exhibit. Ideally, this explanation should connect to the thesis.

Rubric_Analytical_Close_Reading_Sourcing

Yes

Rubric_Scaffolding_Appropriate

Yes

Rubric_Scaffolding_Supports_Historical_Thinking

No
Teachers may want to provide additional support for struggling readers and English Language Learners in understanding some of the historical documents.

Rubric_Structure_Assessment

No
While no specific assessment is provided, teachers may use the culminating activity as an assessment. Criteria for assessment would need to be established.

Rubric_Structure_Realistic

Yes

Rubric_Structure_Learning_Goals

Yes

IWitness

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What is it?

IWitness is a free resource developed by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute to help students develop a deeper understanding of 20th-century history alongside digital and media literacies. It houses approximately 1,000 Holocaust survivor and witness testimonies and allows students to construct multimedia projects using the testimonies. Users need only an Internet connection; all of the tools—including an online video editor—are self-contained on the server and are compatible with both Macs and PCs.

Getting Started

In order to start using IWitness, click here and select “register.” Once registered, you will be able to create classes and generate access codes students can use to register.

Teachers are using IWitness as a way to integrate 21st-century literacies into a range of subjects.

Even prior to registering, the IWitness home page features a rotating group of curated clips. These short clips run less than five minutes and draw learners into compelling stories. Linked from the home page, the Browse All Topics page provides more clips from a breadth of topics to anyone visiting the site. Registered users are able to search among more than 1,000 full-length testimonies, then save clips from the testimonies for use in projects. Testimonies have been indexed to the minute with keywords. If, for example, students search for “music,” they will get a list of clips where the interviewee discusses music, and they can go right to the exact minute in which music is discussed in a testimony. Users also can narrow search results in various ways.

Once signed in, you should go to your “Dashboard” to get started exploring IWitness. From here you will notice videos located on the left side under “Connections.” The Connections videos will help you address important topics with your students: ethical editing of video clips, effective searching, and defining terms like “archive” and “testimony.” There is an Educators page designed to orient teachers to the site and highlight available resources. There is also a resource tab on the top of the screen with links to reliable information. For students and teachers alike, IWitness offers a Tool Kit, which can fly out from the right side of the screen. The Tool Kit provides users with quick access to their assigned activities, as well as to an encyclopedia, glossary, and note-taking tool.

IWitness has numerous activities you can assign to your students. More than 200 activities are available in several languages and cover an array of subjects from the Holocaust and genocide to cinema and media & digital literacy. Different types of activities present information in diverse formats and can be filtered for different age or subject levels. “Information Quest”, for example, focuses on a single survivor or witness of the Holocaust. Students listen carefully for information in testimony clips and then reflect on their learning by using, among other things, a world cloud tool. As an educator, you are also able to build your own activities for your students in IWitness with the “Activity Builder”. The additional resources offered on the “Resources” page provide bibliographies, glossaries, and timelines that may be useful when assigning activities for students to build or complete.

Examples
IWitness allows students to learn about . . . the 20th century while creating meaningful projects and making connections with their own lives.

Teachers are using IWitness as a way to integrate 21st-century literacies into a range of subjects, including social studies, language arts, media studies, psychology, and more. One history teacher built an IWitness activity so his students could compare and contrast the Hollywood portrayal of the Sobibor Uprising in film with how survivors of the event remember and describe it. Through his IWitness activity “Escape From Sobibor: Hollywood and Memory,” his students were able to use critical thinking as they watched testimony and compared it to the film, then select clips of that testimony to construct a more historical depiction of daily life in the concentration camp.

You can also use IWitness to help teach online etiquette and respectful dialogue skills. Within IWitness, students finish their activities by viewing and commenting on their classmates’ projects. This is a great way to spark conversation that can continue in IWitness through social-media-style commenting tools. Teachers are able to mediate conversations and communicate with students within the application. IWitness also provides reminders to students about good digital citizenship when communicating with their peers within the site. IWitness allows students to learn about important events in the 20th century while creating meaningful projects and making connections with their own lives.

For more information

Want to learn more about IWitness? See Teachinghistory.org's Website Review for more information.

Looking for more resources on the Holocaust? Teachinghistory.org has gathered website reviews, lesson plans, teaching strategies, and more on the Days of Remembrance of the Victims of the Holocaust spotlight page.