Remembering Pearl Harbor: Resources for the 70th Anniversary

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September 11, 2011, marked the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, DC. Next week, December 7, 2011, will mark the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Though news sources, lesson plans, and other materials draw parallels between the attacks, it is important to remember that they occurred in different times and places. What led to the attack on Pearl Harbor? What did the attack entail? What effect did it have on the U.S.? How was the attack memorialized (or not) in later years?

We've gathered all of our resources on the attack on Pearl Harbor on our spotlight page, Remembering Pearl Harbor. Learn about the attack and popular memory with oral history, discover lesson plans and more exploring the context of the attack, and uncover photographs of U.S. participation in World War II.

After you've explored our spotlight, check out these websites for more resources on Pearl Harbor and the anniversary:

  • Read the one-line naval dispatch that was the first official announcement of the attack at the Library of Congress's December 7 "Today in History" feature, and check out suggestions for teaching about Pearl Harbor with oral history and music. The Library has also assembled a small collection of oral histories in honor of the anniversary.
  • NARA examines the same naval dispatch, and suggests ways to use it with students. You can also view photos of the attack.
  • Take advantage of EDSITEment's lesson plans on pre-World War II relations between the U.S. and Japan and on World War II's Pacific theatre.
  • Find lesson plans and essays on U.S. involvement in World War II in the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History's online journal, History Now.
  • At HISTORY.com, watch video clips of the attack, oral history interviews, and presidential addresses, and explore an interactive on the theatres of World War II.
  • Get students thinking about the attack's connections to today with a lesson plan from the New York Times.
  • Read front-page headlines from the day of and the day after the attack, courtesy of the Washington Post. The Post also lists widespread myths about Pearl Harbor.

Lincoln Bicentennial: A Teachable Moment (updated February 24)

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bicentennial poster, Abraham Lincoln
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The calendar date of President Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday on February 12, 2009, by no means circumscribes the exhibits, events, lectures, reenactments, ceremonies, and other tributes commemorating the significance of his life and his presidency. They continue throughout the year in libraries, schools, museums, towns, and cities.

The Clearinghouse will continue to highlight resources on Lincoln that are helpful in the K–12 classroom: lesson plans, projects, and professional development opportunities of particular interest to educators. Please visit the Clearinghouse Digital Classroom section for information on events and online programs. The Clearinghouse Project Spotlight will also highlight Teaching American History (TAH) grants with modules related to teaching about Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln Bicentennial Commission

The most complete centralized information center is the Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, website of the Library of Congress, offering a comprehensive compendium of events, materials, information, and resources surrounding this event the Commission has labeled "a teachable moment." We particularly invite your attention to Resources for Teachers. The Learning About Lincoln section includes lesson plans and other classroom resources, reading lists, podcasts, ideas for community projects, and a calendar of professional development opportunities.

Recent Discoveries

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History (added February 24)

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History announced two podcasts by Lincoln historians Catherine Clinton and Andrew Delbanco. Clinton looks at how early tragedy helped prepare Lincoln for crises later in life; Delbanco examines how Americans have perceived Lincoln throughout history. Other resources from Gilder Lehrman are available on the Institute's Lincoln page.

21st Century Abe (added February 16)

On February 12, the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia launched 21st Century Abe. This interactive website is an exploration of history, memory, and popular culture and invites visitors to find their own version of Abraham Lincoln, asking why we in the 21st century "are still obsessed with this 19th-century man?"

The project points out that Abraham Lincoln is prevalent in popular culture and asks what this popular culture has to do with the historical Abraham Lincoln. It's a collaborative venture. Visitors may upload their own images of the "found Abe." There's a portrait in cupcakes, videos, and contemporary artists' paintings and illustrations. You can add your own creation and design a poster to show what Abe means in the modern world. The site blog shares other representations of the "found Lincoln."

Lincoln at 200

Lincoln at 200, a collaborative project from Chicago—the city where Lincoln was nominated for president—combines resources from the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, the Chicago History Museum, and the Newberry Library.

The thoughtfully analytical site includes two web exhibits and a databased archive of 270 prints, images, and artifacts.

Abraham Lincoln and the West, 1809–1860 is a web-only exhibition that takes its organizing structure from Lincoln's 1860 autobiography, written to introduce him to voters. The exhibit looks at America between 1809 and 1860, focusing on changes in transportation, commerce, political alliances, and growing divisions on the question of slavery.

The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War is a digital version of a temporary exhibition at Chicago History Museum (October 10, 2009 to April 4, 2010). This exhibit examines the course of Lincoln's ideological and political transformations as president from a moderate Republican opposed to slavery yet willing to accept it to maintain the Union to becoming the author of the Emancipation Proclamation—a document that changed the course of American citizenship and democracy. The exhibit also looks at how time and memory alter the historic perception of Lincoln.

Gilder Lehrman Institute

The Gilder Lehrman Institute publishes a Lincoln page offering highlights of current events about Abraham Lincoln, bibliographies of prize-winning books, links to online exhibitions on Lincoln and the Civil War, and audio podcasts and videos of prominent historians focusing on themes and events in the life of Abraham Lincoln.

Inventing the Submarine

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From the Colonial Williamsburg: Past and Present Podcasts site—

"The first combat submarine was invented as a vehicle to transport underwater bombs. Jerry Roberts of the Connecticut River Museum tells the story of an intrepid American inventor."

Interested listeners can also learn more about David Bushnell's American Turtle here.

Women of the Revolution

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From Colonial Williamsburg: Past and Present Podcasts

"Could the Revolution have been won without women? Author and Professor Holly Mayer thinks not. Learn more about the inner workings of the Continental Army."

The Colonial Williamsburg site also has an informative essay that offers interested readers more information on the roles women played during the Revolutionary War.

Call Forth the Militia

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Colonial Williamsburg's Harmony Hunter interviews milita expert John Hill to discover how local militas participated in the war effort during the Revolutionary War.

To learn more about the militia in Colonial Williamsburg, click here to read about the Power Magazine.

Constitution Day

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Colonial Williamburg's Harmony Hunter interviews author and historian Pauline Maier to discover more about the ratification and malleability of the United States Constitution.

The podcast also has an accompanying video, or vodcast, on the Constitution that can be viewed here.

The Colonial Williamsburg site also offers more resources on the Constitution, such as transcript of the text and a link to a site where you can explore the original document.

Prisoners of War

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Colonial Williamsburg's Tom Hays's comments on the treatment of Loyalist prisoners of war kept in Williamsburg during the American Revolution, contrasting it with that of Patriot prisoners under Loyalists.

There is also a short video that accompanies this podcast, which can be accessed here.

To learn more about 18th century jails, check out this article describing Colonial Williamsburg's public gaol.

The Joy of Discovery

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Colonial Williamsburg's Director of Historic Trades, Jay Gaynor, sits down with interviewer Harmony Hunter to describe the the process of recreating an 18th-century cannon. According to Gaynor, the cannon "is a reproduction of a British light three-pounder, which was a gun that was developed about the time of the American Revolution and saw deployment over here during the Revolution."

The Colonial Williamsburg site also offers resources for interested readers to learn more about gunsmiths and all of Williamsburg's attempts to recreate historic trades.

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