Cultural resources manager of the Anacostia Museum Portia James displays and discusses a tool box painted in 1891, depicting a plantation owner and his family riding down into Hell and their slaves ascending to Heaven.
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Curator Richard Murray examines Emanuel Leutze's painting Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way, looking at the mythological view of U.S. westward expansion it represents and how the painting's composition and individual elements justify Manifest Destiny.
Historians Monica Smith and Will Eastman outline the invention and development of the electric guitar in the 20th century.
Professor Lawrence Levine looks at the popular culture of the 1930s, during the Great Depression, and what it reveals about culture and society as a whole at the time. He looks at Superman, comics, and superheroes; private detectives in fiction; and gangsters in fiction.
Professor David Hackett Fischer traces how definitions of the ideals of liberty and freedom have changed over the course of U.S. history, from the American Revolution to the present day. He looks particularly at visual and literary symbols that have been created to stand for these ideals.
Part Two of this lecture is currently not functioning.
Professor Robert Remini follows the life and presidency of Andrew Jackson, considering the great changes that occurred during his lifetime—in literature, religion, the arts, business, science, politics, government, and the presidency itself. This lecture continues from the lecture "Andrew Jackson, Part One."
Professor Robert Remini follows the life and presidency of Andrew Jackson, considering the great changes that occurred during his lifetime—in literature, religion, the arts, business, science, politics, government, and the presidency itself. He begins with a brief digression on the life of John Quincy Adams.
Philadelphia's own Marian Anderson was, according to Arturo Toscanini, “a voice such as one hears only once in a 100 years.” Her famous contralto voice was known in concert halls throughout the world, but perhaps Anderson's most famous legacy was her performance in front of 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution refused to let her sing at Washington D.C.'s Constitution Hall. That refusal caused Eleanor Roosevelt to resign her DAR membership, although Anderson sang for the DAR three years later.
Anderson's home contains rare photos, books, memorabilia and films about her life, and also supports an artists-in-residence program developed by the Marian Anderson Historical Society, to encourage and mentor outstanding classical artists.
Private and group tours are offered by request.
The Southwest branch of the National Archives provides access to documents—such as letters, photographs, architectural drawings, and maps—which originated from federal agencies and courts. Documents on the premises date from the 1800s to late 1900s; and were created in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.
Areas of collection emphasis include Native American removal, westward expansion, Chinese exclusion, segregation, repatriation, the World Wars, economic history, oil, the Civil War, slavery, and the U.S. space program.
Groups and classes are welcome to visit—with advance notice—for activities such as research, tours, internships, exhibit viewing, lectures, learning to teach history with primary sources, and genealogy workshops.
Educators may be interested in available professional development workshops on archival holdings and using primary sources. If the workshop does not take place at the archives, travel expenses may require payment.
You may also want to check the main page for links to the latest annual K-12 education newsletters.
If you are looking for a way to bring the archives into your classroom, rather than taking your class to Fort Worth, several digital options are available. For one, you could make use of student activities, such as an examination of historical U.S. census documents. You can also explore lesson plans on the domestic slave trade or illegal Chinese immigration, created by teachers; or you can even submit you own, inspired by the archives' sources. Finally, you might consider scheduling a roughly hour-long distance learning program. Available topics vary, but all programs are document-based and provided free of charge.
Interested in art? Looking for more lesson plans? Consider taking some time to explore Art and Archives, a collaboration between the Southwest branch of the National Archives and the Sid Richardson Museum. The website defines primary and secondary sources, offers art and archival vocabulary lists, and contains a collection of lesson plans which utilize art to think about history. Topics include Lewis and Clark, westward expansion, the Louisiana Purchase, cowboys, Wounded Knee, and black soldiers in the Civil War. These lesson plans are generally for middle and high school students. However, a version of the Louisiana Purchase lesson plan is listed for grade five.
According to its website, the Department of the Interior Museum "educates the public and DOI employees about the current missions and programs of the Department of the Interior, the history of the Department, and the art and architecture of its headquarters building in Washington, DC." It maintains some original 1930s exhibits as well as updated exhibits, and the building features murals and other works of art.
The museum offers exhibits, guided tours (which may be accompanied by scheduled outside speakers), lectures, workshops for children, and occasional recreational and educational events.