The Art of Weaving

Description

Max Hamrick, a Colonial Williamsburg weaver, talks about the process and place of weaving in colonial-era society.

To listen to this podcast, select "All 2006 Podcasts," and scroll to the May first program.

Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site [NY]

Description

The Old Fort Niagara State Historic Site preserves Fort Niagara, founded in 1726. The majority of structures on site date from the 18th and 19th centuries. The fort is strategically located at the mouth of the Niagara River. As a result, it was crucial to deciding American dominance in the Great Lakes Region, as opposed to control by the French or British. Both the British and French controlled either the fort itself or the site of the fort at various points of time. Soldiers lived and trained on site for both World Wars. The fort also shaped the history of the Iroquois. Collections include more than 102,000 artifacts.

The site offers period rooms, student programs, guided tours for students, school overnight programs, school outreach programs, and school distance learning programs. The website offers a virtual tour.

Point State Park [PA]

Description

Point State Park is located in central Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the intersection of the Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela rivers. The Park is home to a partially restored Fort Pitt, which houses the Fort Pitt Museum and the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, the oldest authentic building in Western Pennsylvania.

The Fort Pitt museum offers guided tours, field trip programs, presentations and exhibits. The Fort Pitt Blockhouse is open to the public year round and offers self guided tours. The website offers visitor information and a basic history of the site while the Fort Pitt Museum website offers lesson plans and field trip guides.

Fort Pitt Museum [PA]

Description

Situated in the recreated Monongahela Bastion at Point State Park, the Fort Pitt Museum commemorates the strategic importance of the Forks of the Ohio during the Great War for Empire in which British, French, Colonial, and Native American forces struggled for control of North America. Through exhibits and programs, the museum also addresses the important role of Fort Pitt during the American Revolution and the early development of the city of Pittsburgh. The site presents tours, exhibits, educational programs, and publications to broaden understanding of the significance of the area known as "the Point." In meeting this goal, Fort Pitt Museum closely examines the French and Indian War, the American Revolution, the various military fortifications established on the site, the many cultures that influenced the development of the region, and the importance of the fur trade and other early commerce.

The museum offers exhibits, tours, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events.

Olympic Spirit: Teaching with the Olympics

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Poster, Up where winter calls..., c.1936-1941, Jack Rivolta, LoC
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The 2012 Summer Olympic Games begin on July 27 and continue through August 12. London hosts them this time, but in the past, the U.S. has hosted the Olympics eight times (four times in the summer and four in the winter), the most of any country! The U.S. also holds the greatest number of Olympic medals of any nation—more than 2,500.

What place have the Olympics had in U.S. history? The games can be many things: a focus for cultural exchange, a showcase for new technology and development, an economic boon (or bust), and a platform for international political tensions. Explore the history of the Olympics with these ideas:

  • Read oral histories of Olympic participants from 1932 to 1968 and official Olympic reports from 1896 to 2010 at the Amateur Athletic Foundation Digital Archive. What were the experiences of American women who competed in the early Olympics like? How did being Korean American influence the experiences of diver Sammy Lee, who competed shortly after World War II? How do the Olympic reports from Los Angeles in 1932 and Salt Lake City in 2002 compare? Do the reports from Berlin, 1936, show any signs of the tension between the U.S. (and other nations) and Nazi Germany?
  • Learn more about the 1936 Olympics and the significance of African American track-and-field star Jesse Owens's wins (and the wins of other African American athletes) in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's exhibit The Nazi Olympics: Berlin 1936. Here you can also learn about Jewish American athletes who competed in these Olympics.
  • Watch PBS's documentary American Experience: Jesse Owens online, and follow the supporting links for more about Owens and the Olympics.
  • Pick up quick facts on each of the past Olympic Games (and count down to future Olympics) at Olympic.org. What technological developments have changed how the Olympic Games are played, watched, and celebrated? You can also search for athletes, sports, and countries.
  • Compare and contrast the Olympics with other international sporting events, like the Paralympics or the FIFA World Cup. Where have these taken place? How do different countries, including the U.S., relate to these events? When did they begin?

Whether you use the Olympics to explore cultural and technological change, international politics, local history (if you're lucky enough to live in one of the U.S. cities that hosted the Olympics!), or any of the many other rich angles possible, take advantage of this opportunity! Though school may not be in session for you right now, investigating Olympics history can lead to primary sources and historical connections you can weave into your curriculum.

For more information

Teaching with sports history doesn't have to stop with the Olympics! Sports can help students connect to history and see how many different forces contribute to a person's life or a historical event. Browse our Website Reviews for sports-related primary sources, take a quiz on sports history, or watch historian Pellom McDaniels III connect athlete Jackie Robinson and Martin Luther King Jr. using primary sources.

Goliad State Park and Mission Espíritu Santo State Historic Site [TX]

Description

The park contains a refurnished replica of Mission Nuestra Senora del Espíritu Santo de Zuniga, reconstructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930s. The mission was originally established in 1722 near Matagorda Bay and moved to its present site in 1749. This mission was the first large cattle ranch in Texas, supplying its own needs and those of Spanish colonial settlements as far away as Louisiana. The park also contains General Ignacio Zaragoza's Birthplace, Plaza, and Amphitheater, which are located near Presidio La Bahia. General Zaragoza assumed command of the rag-tag Mexican Army and welded it into a staunch fighting force, which met and defeated the French on May 5, 1862, in the Battle of Puebla, which led to Mexico's independence from France.

The site offers tours and occasional recreational and educational events.

Harry S Truman National Historic Site [MO]

Description

The Harry S Truman National Historic Site preserves the 1885 Queen Anne residence in which Harry S Truman lived between the ages of 22 and 88 (beginning in 1919); the Truman Farm Home in Grandview, Missouri, where Truman lived between 1906 and 1917; and several family homes. Collections consist of more than 53,000 artifacts. Truman (1884-1972) served as the 33rd President of the United States between 1945 and 1953. During this time he desegregated the military, approved nuclear weapon use on Japan, adopted the Marshall Plan, and witnessed the founding of the United Nations.

The site offers a 12-minute introductory slide presentation, tours of the Queen Anne residence, school tours of the Queen Anne residence, cell phone tours of the farm and Queen Anne sites, and Junior Ranger activities. Reservations are required for all school visits. The website offers four lesson plans, photo tours, an artifact of the month feature, and a list of the more than 1,100 books owned by Truman.

San Felipe State Historic Site [TX]

Description

Twelve acres of this park are set aside in honor of the area's past. Located on the Brazos River, adjoining the old ferry site and a part of the Commercio Plaza de San Felipe, this is the site of the township of San Felipe, the seat of government of the Anglo-American colonies in Texas. It was here Stephen F. Austin, the "Father of Texas," brought the first 297 families to colonize Texas under a contract with the Mexican Government. From 1824 to 1836, San Felipe de Austin was the social, economic, and political center, as well as the capital of the American colonies in Texas. Due to the many historic events that occurred here, the community acquired the reputation "Cradle of the Texas Liberty." San Felipe was the home of Austin and other famous early Texans; the home of Texas's first Anglo newspaper (the Texas Gazette, founded in 1829); the home of the postal system of Texas origination; and the setting for the beginning of the Texas Rangers.

The site offers tours.

Friendship Hill National Historic Site [PA]

Description

Friendship Hill is the country estate of Albert Gallatin (1761-1849), who is most notable for his thirteen year tenure as Secretary of the Treasury during the Jefferson and Madison administrations. In that time he reduced the national debt, purchased the Louisiana Territory and funded the Lewis & Clark exploration." Today, visitors to Friendship Hill can explore the restored Gallatin House as well as view several exhibits to learn more about the history of Albert Gallatin. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of outdoor activities, including picnics and hiking.

The site offers in depth historical and visitor information regarding the National Historic Site.

Bushy Run Battlefield [PA]

Description

Colonel Henry Bouquet and a force of approximately 400 British soldiers left Carlisle in July to relieve the besieged Fort Pitt and end a series of unchecked attacks against frontier outposts. The opening of western Pennsylvania to settlement was the result of a decisive victory over the Native Americans at the Battle of Bushy Run, August 5th and 6th, 1763.

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