The Central Plains regional branch of the National Archives holds federal and court records from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Iowa. Collections include Leavenworth Penitentiary mugshots and files, World War II draft cards, naturalization records, federal land records, and records from the Bureau of Indian Affairs, among other topics.

On site, you can conduct research, take in exhibits, make rubbings of well-known signatures, and watch an 11-minute film. Prior to visiting you can arrange a facility tour (for adults or for children) and/or children's activities. Take a look at this handy .PDF file for an overview of the archives and descriptions of source types. The archives even provides a list of local restaurants to make visiting easy. Additional visit preparation resources include online finding guides for looking through a portion of the available records and a current exhibit listing.

In addition, the archives offers a calendar of free public events. Reservations are required.

The Central Plains archive branch emphasizes hands-on activities for students, which can be customized to meet your current curricula needs and meet either at the archives or your school. Other visit options include guided or self-guided exhibit tours, complete with pre-visit curriculum packets and information on how the exhibits related to state standards, and professional development workshops

In addition to on-site opportunities, you students can also participate in one of five interactive distance learning programs. Topics include using documents, the Civil War, history online, westward expansion, and National Archives online resources. You can also request a free annual primary source CD with documents, information on their relationship to national standards, teacher notes, suggested activities, and analysis worksheets. While you're waiting for the CD to arrive or if you are interested in looking at a sample of its contents, try teaching suggestions on industrialization and/or the Civil War or Constitution Day lesson plans.

If you happen to be looking for federal primary sources from Ohio, Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, or Illinois, a good spot to check is the Chicago office of the National Archives and Records Administration. Records available include bankruptcy records, Chinese Exclusion case files from Chicago and St. Paul, Michigan and Illinois Selective Service System Name Index records, and naturalization records. Other topics represented in the collections include, but aren't limited to, African American history, Depression era history, disasters, espionage, and maritime history.

Consider looking through the site's finding aids to get a sense of the collections available on location.

When visiting, be ready with an official photo ID and willingness to fill out a short form concerning your interests. Leave your pens behind (pencils are permitted), and prepare to leave your belongings in a locker or in your car.

Looking for more directed opportunities? Check out the archives' upcoming events. If you teach in Illinois or Indiana, you may even be eligible for continuing education credit.

In addition to the aforementioned public programs, there are workshops designed specifically for teachers. Find them (and more opportunities) under the Workshops heading.

Archivists are ready and willing to help your students define their research topics and select appropriate primary sources, for National History Day projects or other endeavors.

The National Archives and Records Administration is divided into numerous regional subdivisions—one of which is the Pacific Region. This region has three locations, all within the state of California—San Bruno, Laguna Niguel, and Perris. The San Bruno and Perris locations are open for public research.

The San Francisco/San Bruno location holds federal records from California, with the exception of the Southern portion of the state; Nevada, with the exception of Clark County; Hawaii; American Samoa; and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands. Topics with strong representative materials include environmental issues, Naval history, Native American history, and Asian-Pacific Immigration. Available records include photos, architectural drawings, and maps dating from the 1850s through the 1980s. The location offers occasional public programs.

The Perris/Riverside location holds federal and court records from Arizona; Clark County, Nevada; and southern California. Topics with strong representative materials include Naval history, Native American history, westward migration, civil rights, and Asian immigration. Materials date from approximately 1850 through the 1980s. This location also offers public programs.

Visitors are asked to call ahead, have an ID ready, and be willing to leave personal belongings in a locker.

Students are encouraged to visit to apply for internships, learn to find and use primary sources, and/or discover National History Day contests.

Educators may visit to learn of FREE educational resources, curriculum-specific primary sources, and/or National History Day.

Finally, if you teach grade four, five, seven, eight, eleven, or twelve in California, there's a fantastic resource available to you online. Teaching History in California selects state standards from each of these years, and provides related background information; primary sources; transcriptions; worksheets; PowerPoint presentations; additional documents, such as maps, timelines, and vocabulary lists; and/or teaching activities. Also, consider taking a moment to engage your students in an introductory activity on primary sources.

The National Museum of American Jewish History traces the history of the Jewish people in the United States, while also examining issues of ethnicity in the U.S.

The museum offers exhibits; guided tours for school groups (accompanied by pre-visit materials); guided city tours for fifth grade and up; poetry-writing and -reading workshops for all ages; "Memory Keepers," a program which guides fifth through eighth graders through the processing of designing a museum exhibit; and outreach presentations.

The Yeshiva University Museum presents and interprets artifacts from Jewish history around the globe, including historical objects and contemporary works.

The museum offers exhibits, programs and guided tours for school groups, and other educational and recreational events.

The Center for Jewish History houses five major Jewish cultural institutions: the American Jewish Historical Society, the American Sephardi Federation, the Leo Baeck Institute, Yeshiva University Museum, and the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. The institutions offer galleries of exhibits and access to their collected archives.

The center offers exhibits, research library access, guided tours for groups, the Samberg Family History Program for high school students, film screenings, performances, and other recreational and educational events.

The Arab American Museum, according to its website, "is the first museum in the world devoted to Arab American history and culture."

The museum offers exhibits, programs and guided tours for school groups, a student photography program, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The Holland Museum features permanent exhibits on Holland's history "from settlement to city" and over 400 years of Dutch history in its Dutch Galleries. The Archives and Research Library, in the same building, houses the museum's collection of books, papers, and photographs related to Holland's history. Four Dutch art galleries exhibit a collection of 17th- to 19th-century paintings and decorative arts.

The museum offers educational tours for all grade levels, teaching resources for rent, research library access, and occasional recreational and educational events.

The museum shares the experience of Americans of Japanese ancestry. Through its comprehensive collection of Japanese American objects, images, and documents, as well as multifaceted exhibitions, educational programs, documentaries, and publications, the National Museum shares the Japanese American story with a national and international audience.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, research library access, educational programs, and recreational and educational events.

The Sam Azeez Museum of Woodbine Heritage was created to remember and record Woodbine's past while also actively collecting the materials to preserve its continuing heritage. It is a destination for visitors and a local resource for the entire Woodbine community so that they may continue to use the Woodbine Brotherhood Synagogue building as a place to come together. Built by the early Woodbine colonists, the synagogue is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The sanctuary has been restored and is available for special worship services. The lower level, Brotherhood Hall, houses the museum's permanent and temporary exhibitions. Also included is a community sculpture, the Collective Memory Wall, where the Woodbine community has contributed personal memories of Woodbine.

The museum offers exhibits and occasional recreational and educational events.