David Eisenhower of the Foreign Policy Research Institute considers the current necessity of approaching terrorism and the current war as teaching subjects, and looks at how national crises—such as 9/11—pose certain rhetorical and leadership demands on presidents, and how President Bush reacted to these demands.
Video and audio options are available.
Paul Dickler of Neshaminy High School reviews several points he considers important in teaching on 9/11 and terrorism, as well as in teaching history more generally.
Audio and video options are available.
Michael Radu and Stephen Gale, co-chairs of the Foreign Policy Research Institute's Center on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism, and Homeland Security, present the FPRI's annual report on the current state of the War on Terrorism.
Norman Ornstein discusses the changing U.S national political atmosphere following the 9/11 attacks and his opinions on these changes, as well as speaking briefly on his career as a political writer.
To listen to this interview, scroll to "Norman Ornstein" and select "Watch the Video."
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has digitized thousands of formerly secret documents declassified to comply with Freedom of Information Act requests.
Keyword search capabilities are provided for the complete site. In addition, there are eight collections designated as "frequently requested records" that total nearly 8,000 documents. These collections cover a number of Cold War topics: CIA involvement in the 1954 coup in Guatemala; convicted spies Ethel and Julius Rosenberg; the 1961 Bay of Pigs affair; and two well-known espionage incidents.
Additional topics include POW MIAs in Vietnam, human rights abuses in Latin America, and UFOs. A disclaimer notes that some material cannot be disclosed due to national security laws, and released pages often have material deleted or blacked out. Still, the material offered is voluminous and useful for studying Cold War foreign policy and military history.
Yale University has made a sampling of their courses available for listeners, viewers, and readers.
As of writing, the history subsection contains six courses—two of which relate directly to U.S. history ("The American Revolution" and "The Civil War and Reconstruction Era, 1845-1877") and one which touches on relevant issues, "Epidemics and Western Society Since 1600." Each of these courses offers links to individual pages for each lecture. Lecture pages contain short text overviews of the topic at hand; a list of any reading which was required for the day; and links to lecture audio, video, and transcriptions.
Our site links you directly to the Yale's history courses. However, consider exploring other topics as well. Maybe a lecture on Roman architecture will give you background for discussing monuments in Washington, DC, or an economics course will give you a new way of thinking about the American Revolution. Interdisciplinary possibilities are endless.
Fort Negley was the largest fortification built by the occupying Union Army in Nashville and the largest inland stone fort built during the Civil War. Measuring 600 feet by 300 feet, Negley covered four acres and was constructed from October to December 1862. The stronghold was constructed by conscript laborers, both slaves and free blacks, of stone, logs, earth, and railroad iron. More than 2,700 African American men worked to build Fort Negley; only 300 were paid for their labor. The Visitor Center features exhibits, monthly activities, annual events, and self-guided tours of Fort Negley Park.
The fort offers tours, exhibits, educational programs, and occasional recreational and educational events (including living history events).
Throughout the Ages was created to meet the primary source needs of New York state K-6 history teachers. The site collection includes more than 500 photographs, letters, paintings, advertisements, and maps.
To navigate the site, choose an area of interest and subtopic (for example "leisure" under the heading "community"), and scroll to a source of interest. The source will offer a caption. In some cases, historical context, focus questions, and the correlating New York state standards will also be listed. Be sure to click on each of these section titles, as items such as resources and historical background only display once selected.
One feature to look into is the automatic handout maker. For each image, you can automatically generate a handout by selecting any or all of the following categories: caption, historical background, standards/key ideas, historical challenge, interdisciplinary connections, and resources. For some images, these will already be filled out. For others, you can type anything you want for all, some, or one of those categories. Don't worry about deleting existing text if you don't want it on your handout. It will be back the next time you load your page.
The Williamson County Historical Society seeks to preserve and share the history of Williamson County, Illinois. To this end, the society operates a museum of local history, housed within the 1916 jail and sheriff's residence. Rooms are set to period appearance. Settings include domestic spaces, a garment shop, a doctor's office, a country store, and a schoolroom. A military exhibit is also located on site.
The society offers period rooms, exhibits, one-hour museum tours, research library access, and research assistance. A fee is charged for research conducted on request.
This extensive collection includes 22,000 pages of sheet music. The site features collections of war songs and minstrel songs, including scanned manuscripts of 18 war songs (primarily from World Wars I and II) and 24 scanned minstrel song manuscripts. In addition, the site includes collections of showtunes and Irving Berlin compositions. The collection is divided into 14 categories, including "Showtunes," "Foxtrots," and "Movie Tunes." All music is searchable by several fields, such as copyright holder, date of publication, and composer. While the music itself is an important primary source, there is little background or contextual material available.