Digital History

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Image for Digital History
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These multimedia resources for teaching American history focus on slavery, ethnic history, private life, technological achievement, and American film. There are more than 600 documents on the history of Mexican Americans, Native Americans, and slavery, from "first encounters" through the Civil War.

A complete U.S. history textbook is presented, along with historical newspaper articles and more than 1,500 annotated links, including 330 links to audio files of historic speeches, and nine links to audio files of historians discussing relevant topics. Ten essays (800 words) address past controversies, such as the Vietnam War, socialism, and the war on poverty. Seven essays present historical background on more recent controversies and essays of more than 10,000 words each address the history of American film and private life in America. Exhibits offer 217 photographs from a freedmen's school in Alabama and seven letters between 18th-century English historian Catharine Macaulay and American historian Mercy Otis Warren.

America on the Move, Part One: Migrations, Immigrations, and How We Got Here

Description

Students and Smithsonian National Museum of American History curators give a tour of the exhibition "America on the Move," which looks at how immigration and migration impacted American history and at the role of various forms of transportation.

To view this electronic field trip, select "America on the Move, Part One: Migrations, Immigrations, and How We Got Here" under the heading "Electronic Field Trips."

A Cybrary of the Holocaust

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Oil on Canvas, Marching Out to Work, Mieczyslaw Koscielniak
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Created in 1995, this site presents an impressive body of primary and secondary source materials about the Holocaust. Offers an wide range of contemporary and historical resources, including more than 100 images from concentration camps and the Warsaw ghetto; more than 30 drawings and paintings by Holocaust survivors; interactive maps of two concentration camps; the text of the 1942 Wannsee Protocols; four interviews with historians; lesson plans for teaching about the Holocaust to school children; background essays; survivor narratives, poetry, and literature; letters, speeches, and posters by Nazi perpetrators; and scores of links. A sophisticated search engine guides users through the site's poorly organized and sometimes confusing interface. The site's author is a website marketing consultant. Particularly useful for secondary school teachers seeking to design student projects, this is an extremely rich collection of material.

IWitness

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Film still, Ellis Lewin, 4 December 1996, IWitness
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IWitness is an incredible resource for educators intent on bringing awareness and analysis of the Holocaust to their classroom. The site offers more than 1,000 video testimony clips from Holocaust survivors, liberators, and others. These videos can be browsed by topic (from "Anti-Jewish Laws" to "Warsaw Ghetto Uprising") or searched by name or topic. Searching provides a few benefits for lesson planning. For one, video search results will play the portion of a clip containing information related to your search, making it easy to decide if the result is actually relevant to your classroom plans. In addition, searches may reveal related materials such as photographs of artifacts in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum collection or encyclopedia articles providing additional information and context.

You can also register as an educator or a student. Educators can assign activities and view student work (only viewable by the specific student and the teacher). Students can watch videos on items such as understanding testimony and archives or editing video interviews in an ethical manner. Activities that call for video editing allow students to save clips into a library for future use in their projects and prepare their own videos using video-editing tools which are part of the website—no download needed.

For a quick introduction to the site, consider watching the six-minute demonstration video linked at the top of the About Us page.

Interested in learning more about IWitness? Read teacher Brandon Haas's Tech for Teachers article.

A New Story: Narrating the Lives of African-Americans

Description

Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews historian Cary Carson, former Research Vice President. In the podcast, Carson describes how she helped develop programs to integrate African-American history into the preexisting historical narratives offered at Colonial Williamsburg.

To learn more about African-Americans and the institution of slavery in Colonial Williamsburg, visit Williamsburg's African American Experience page.

Migrating Cultures

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Colonial Williamsburg manager of museum education discusses the work behind a museum walking tour called "Migrating Cultures," which looks at artifacts brought to the British colonies by colonists or made by them in styles reminiscent of those in their countries of origin.

To discover more about the art on display at Colonial Williamsburg, peruse the The Colonial Williamsburg Art Museums website.

Honey Springs Battlefield [OK]

Description

The Engagement at Honey Springs (called the Affair at Elk Creek by the Confederates) was the largest of more than 107 documented hostile encounters in the Indian Territory. The engagement took place on a rainy Friday, July 17, 1863, between the 1st Division, Army of the Frontier, commanded by Maj. Gen. James G. Blunt and the Confederate Indian Brigade led by Brig. Gen. Douglas H. Cooper. Cherokee and Creek regiments fought on both sides. There were approximately 9,000 men involved, including other Native Americans, veteran Texas regiments, and the 1st Kansas Colored Volunteers (the first black regiment in the Union army). The 1,100 acre site has six walking trails with a total of 55 interpretive signs.

The site offers occasional living history events and other educational and recreational programs.

Jim Thorpe Home [OK]

Description

The Oklahoma Historical Society, with its affiliate, the Jim Thorpe Foundation, preserves and displays the former home of the 1912 Olympian containing exhibited artifacts from Jim Thorpe and his family.

The home offers tours.

Lyndon B. Johnson State Park, Historic Site, and Sauer-Beckmann Farm [TX]

Description

The park's location is historically significant since it is in the heart of the former President's home country. The area has been influenced by three major cultures: Native Americans, Spanish, and German. Indians roamed the Hill Country first, leaving behind artifacts which tell of their nomadic life. The Spanish conquistadors followed, bringing a culture which was to endure to the present. German immigrants settled the Hill Country in the early 1800s and their descendants still call it home. Their culture has had a major impact on the development of the region and the park itself. All of these cultures are represented at the park. The Visitor Center contains memorabilia from President Johnson's presidency and interactive displays about the land and people that shaped a president. Attached to the Visitors Center is the Behrens Cabin, a two-room dogtrot cabin built by German immigrant H. C. Behrens during the 1870s. The furnishings are typical of such homes in that period. Visitors can further explore the history of these immigrants by viewing the 1860s Danz family log cabin located just west of the Visitor Center. Also located in the park is the Sauer-Beckmann Farm, a living history farm. Life on the farmstead is presented as it was in 1918. Park interpreters wear period clothing, do the farm and household chores as they were done at that time, and also conduct tours for the visitors.

The site offers exhibits, tours, demonstrations, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).