American Experience: We Shall Remain

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In April 2009, the award-winning PBS series, American Experience launches an immersive look at the Native American experience with the five-episode series We Shall Remain.

Watch the series trailer and film clips to get an idea of content and concept. Actor Benjamin Bratt narrates this documentary that explores how Native peoples valiantly resisted expulsion from their lands and fought the extinction of their culture. The chronological range is impressive—from the Wampanoags of New England in the 1600s who used their alliance with the English to weaken rival tribes, to the bold new leaders of the 1970s who harnessed the momentum of the Civil Rights Movement to forge a pan-Indian identity. We Shall Remain represents a collaboration between Native and non-Native filmmakers and involves Native advisers and scholars at all levels of the project.

A teacher's guide is forthcoming in April and promises to offer techniques to integrate Native American history into the school curricula—including film-specific questions for analysis and comprehension, discussion questions, and classroom activities.

The film website includes additional resources and a bibliography of books and digital resources tied to each episode.

Local PBS stations, libraries, and educational institutions also plan events related to We Shall Remain, and an Event Calendar lists what, when, and where.

Voices of Civil Rights

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Photo, Protesters on Beale Street, 1968
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This website represents the initial effort to create an archive of stories about the civil rights movement (both historical and contemporary), including essays, interviews, project updates, and special reports. While the site is under construction, currently there is already substantial material available, most of which is organized into one of five sections.

An interactive "Timeline" serves as in introduction to the Movement, highlighting major events and accomplishments. "Stories" allows visitors to read more than 100 personal stories about America's civil rights history (10 stories include audio excerpts). Visitors can peruse the section devoted to the contemporary civil rights movement and its historical legacy. Here visitors can listen to interviews about the promise of equal education with Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, as well as many other activists. Students and teachers will find this site a convenient collection of primary accounts of the Civil Rights Movement, including the Chicano Movement and the National Organization of Women.

Making History on the Web: Creating Online Materials for Teaching U.S. History

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Cartoon, Of McKinley, From Puck
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Designed around a sample American history survey course, this site offers 10 teaching units, each comprised of eight to 12 documents (texts and images), and introductory essays by various scholars. Additionally, some units provide manuscript sources from the University of Virginia's (UVA) archival collections.

The units, covering American history from the Revolution to the First World War, are uneven, and the teaching suggestions are sparse. Still, the materials here are useful as a general introduction. The site, which includes links to teaching and history resources, is a product of a 1996 summer seminar held at UVA.

Click "A Sample U.S. History Resource Course" to reach the available units.

The American West

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Logo, American West, a Celebration of the Human Spirit
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Created by a Western history enthusiast and Swedish immigrant, this gateway provides more than 500 links to educational and commercial sites related to Western history. Topics include westward expansion, western trails, Native Americans, European immigration, women of the west, gold and silver mining, railroads, outlaws, cowboys, Roy Rogers, Buffalo Bill, and "anything of interest or of significance west of the Mississippi River." In addition, visitors can post their stories, reviews, and comments about Western history.

Created to celebrate the American West, this site lacks categories explicitly relevant to issues of conquest and colonization; however, its extensive collection of links is indispensable for students, teachers, and researchers.

History of the Cherokee

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Logo, History of the Cherokee website
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Created by a tribal member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. From five sections--History; Images and Maps; Genealogy: Cherokee and other Native Americans; Books and Newspapers; and Related Links--users can access excerpts from 12 historical texts; 18 images dealing with Cherokee history; and seven maps. In addition, the site provides a bibliography of 18 books and newspapers on Cherokee history; information on seven relevant booksellers; and 43 links on such topics as Cherokee genealogy, language, and tribal organizations. A useful starting point for those interested in Cherokee history and culture.

Federal Resources for Educational Excellence: History & Social Studies

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Portrait, George Washington
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This megasite brings together resources for teaching U.S. and world history from the far corners of the web. Most of these websites boast large collections of primary sources from the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the National Archives and Records Administration, and prominent universities. There are more than 600 websites listed for U.S. history alone, divided by time period and topic: Business & Work, Ethnic Groups, Famous People, Government, Movements, States & Regions, Wars, and Other Social Studies. While most of these websites are either primary source archives (for example, History of the American West, 1860-1920) or virtual exhibits, many offer lesson plans and ready-made student activities, such as EDSITEment, created by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

A good place to begin is the (Subject Map), which lists resources by sub-topic, including African Americans (67 resources), Women's History (37 resources), and Natural Disasters (16 resources). Each resource is accompanied by a brief annotation that facilitates quick browsing.

Who Killed William Robinson?

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Text, "Who Killed William Robinson?"
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The deaths of William Robinson and two other black men on the British colony of Salt Spring Island (British Columbia) between 1867 and December 1868--attributed by an all-white jury to an aboriginal man--are examined in this site, which offers inquests, trial records, newspaper accounts, diary entries, maps, private correspondence, and artists's depictions and reconstructions. Through these hundreds of images and documents--which together constitute a social history of ethnically and racially-mixed Salt Spring Island--students may pursue explanations for Robinson's murder, and, more broadly, relations among white colonists, black settlers, and aboriginal peoples. Also gives four links and a 39-title bibliography for further research. A "teacher's guide" is available upon request. The authors are affiliated with the history department at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. Useful for student-teacher explorations into race relations in 19th-century Canada.

Western Trails: An Online Journey

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Photo, Heliotherapy treatment at the Jewish Consumptive Relief. . ., U. Denver
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This archive of thousands of photographs, paintings, maps, and other primary documents on the history and culture of the trails of the American West brings together the "western trails" collections of the six libraries and institutions. The main features are exhibits and search function, but the site also offers some limited teaching resources. "Trails through Time Exhibits" features 10 exhibits on Native American, explorer, military, settlement, freight, cattle, railroad, tourism, health, and population trails. Each exhibit has a short essay, images, and links to related exhibitions and websites. "Western Trail Collections" allows the visitor to browse through 10 pre-selected categories or conduct a keyword search by creator, title, subject, or date.

The teaching section, "Trails for Teachers," offers one lesson plan for grades 1-6, two plans for grades 6-8, and two multi-grade level plans, all utilizing the collection's materials. Subjects include such diverse topics as ranch life and the early history of Jews in Colorado. A useful resource for researching the history and culture of the American West and for a basic introduction to the various movements in and across the West.

The Indian Wars

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes how the Native Americans fought back throughout the 19th century, as the U.S. Army tried to contain them on smaller and smaller parcels of land.

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Proclamation of 1763

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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes Chief Pontiac's attempts to push British and Americans out of Indian territory in the Ohio Valley. In a concession, the British government issued the Proclamation of 1763.

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