Historian Steve Puleo reviews his research into the history of Italian immigration to Boston and the lives of the Italian immigrants in Boston. He focuses on the years 1900 to 1918, when Italian immigration soared, while also looking at modern-day Italian Americans in Boston.
The lecture audio is available independently as an mp3 file.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author James M. McPherson examines the contemporary popular perspectives on the Civil War, both of Northerners and Southerners, civilians and soldiers. McPherson uses the popular music of the period as a framework for discussing the changing views, and focuses on the growing desire to end the war and the increasing sense of hopelessness that it would ever end.
An audio version can be downloaded.
Author Jacqueline Tobin reexamines the history of the Underground Railroad, looking at the extension of the Railroad into Canada and the escape of fugitive slaves into Canada. She also examines the life of ex-slaves as free people in Canada.
Video and audio versions are available.
Director of the Center for Ethnicity and Race at Columbia University, Gary Okihiro, delivers the keynote speech for the opening ceremonies of Boston College's Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month. He discusses the difficulty of establishing an identity as an Asian-Pacific American and the history of Asian-Pacific Americans and Asian immigration to the U.S.
Father-and-son writers Steven and Paul Kendrick discuss the legal establishment of segregation (the concept of "separate but equal"), tracing it back to 1847. In that year, an African-American man sued the city of Boston, wanting his daughter to be able to attend a school closer to her home than the nearest all-black school. He was eventually defeated.
This Electronic Field Trip uses the history of early baseball as a window into American life in the 19th century. Watchers journey back in time to discover a young land as its enterprising soul comes of age in the villages and towns of 19th-century America and follow the exploration of a western frontier after an anguishing Civil War to see how natives and naturalized citizens forge a familiar pastime while learning each other's customs and cultures.
Note: Thank you for your interest in our posters. We no longer have the Civil War poster in stock, but you may print a copy or visit the interactive online version.
What can a quilt, a map, some photographs, a haversack, and a receipt tell you about the past? Thanks to Teachinghistory.org’s new FREE poster, “How Do You Piece Together the History of the Civil War?,” these objects can teach a lot about the Civil War and about how historians piece together the past.
This 24 x 36 inch poster features an engaging collage of primary sources and related questions that get students thinking about how we know what we know about the past, especially in relation to our country’s most devastating conflict, the Civil War. The question, “How can geography impact a battle?,” accompanies a map of Gettysburg while a slave receipt prompts students to think about the laws, economics, and people involved in the institution of slavery.
As a special bonus for teachers, Teachinghistory.org has created an interactive version of this poster with links to teaching materials and websites related to the Civil War. Topics include children’s voices during the Civil War, African American perspectives, women’s roles, Civil War era music, and emancipation, as well as military history and life on the battlefield.
This poster and online resources illustrate that it takes many sources and perspectives to develop a rich understanding of the Civil War in all of its complexity.
Catherine Clinton, professor of U.S. history at Queens University Belfast, sifts through the myths and realities of Abraham Lincoln's early life. Lincoln's youth was beset by poverty and loss—his mother died when he was only 10, and his father suffered from bouts of melancholy. Clinton argues that these ordeals helped Lincoln to deal with later obstacles and tragedies.
The 1803 Swetland Homestead contains rooms furnished in period styles ranging from those of the early 1800s to the 1860s. The wide range of stylistic interpretation showcases the changes in domestic life and Wyoming, PA's industrialization, which occurred during this window of time.
The site offers period rooms. Tours are available to groups, including school groups, with advance notice.
The Heslin House, located in Fairview, OR, beside the Columbia River, is an impressive example of Western Farmhouse architecture. The home was purchased by the Fairview-Rockwood-Wilkes Historical Society in 1991, and now stands as a historic house museum.
The house offers guided tours. The website offers a brief history of the home as well as visitor information.