The Southwest branch of the National Archives provides access to documents—such as letters, photographs, architectural drawings, and maps—which originated from federal agencies and courts. Documents on the premises date from the 1800s to late 1900s; and were created in Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

Areas of collection emphasis include Native American removal, westward expansion, Chinese exclusion, segregation, repatriation, the World Wars, economic history, oil, the Civil War, slavery, and the U.S. space program.

Groups and classes are welcome to visit—with advance notice—for activities such as research, tours, internships, exhibit viewing, lectures, learning to teach history with primary sources, and genealogy workshops.

Educators may be interested in available professional development workshops on archival holdings and using primary sources. If the workshop does not take place at the archives, travel expenses may require payment.

You may also want to check the main page for links to the latest annual K-12 education newsletters.

If you are looking for a way to bring the archives into your classroom, rather than taking your class to Fort Worth, several digital options are available. For one, you could make use of student activities, such as an examination of historical U.S. census documents. You can also explore lesson plans on the domestic slave trade or illegal Chinese immigration, created by teachers; or you can even submit you own, inspired by the archives' sources. Finally, you might consider scheduling a roughly hour-long distance learning program. Available topics vary, but all programs are document-based and provided free of charge.

Interested in art? Looking for more lesson plans? Consider taking some time to explore Art and Archives, a collaboration between the Southwest branch of the National Archives and the Sid Richardson Museum. The website defines primary and secondary sources, offers art and archival vocabulary lists, and contains a collection of lesson plans which utilize art to think about history. Topics include Lewis and Clark, westward expansion, the Louisiana Purchase, cowboys, Wounded Knee, and black soldiers in the Civil War. These lesson plans are generally for middle and high school students. However, a version of the Louisiana Purchase lesson plan is listed for grade five.

From the museum's website:

"Find art, history and culture at one of the largest museums in the nation. Interpretive exhibits begin 15,000 years ago with prehistoric people and continue through the early 1900s, with special displays of furniture, silver, weapons, quilts, and paintings. The museum's Civil War holdings of uniforms, battle flags and weapons are among the finest in the nation. Visit the museum's changing gallery for special exhibitions."

Across the street from the State Museum, and affiliated with it, is the Military Branch Museum. According to the museum website, "Exhibits deal with America's overseas conflicts, beginning with the Spanish-American War in 1898 and ending with World War II in 1945."

The museum also manages guided tours of the Tennessee State Capitol, first opened in 1859.

The museum offers 35-to-40-min. state-curriculum-aligned tour programs for all grade levels. Programs focus on specific periods in history and exhibits; some include hands-on activities and first-person interpretations of historical figures. Self-guided tours of the museum are also available. All programs, included self-guided, require reservations. The museum may also offer programs associated with changing exhibitions. Check out the Teachers section of the website for further information on programs for students and educators.

The Heritage Center preserves and presents the history of the Cherokee County region, displaying artifacts from pre-contact, the Civil War, World War II, and the timber industry, as well as other times and subjects.

The museum offers exhibits.

The Amon Carter Museum houses paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, artists who focused on the American West. It also presents exhibits of artwork by other American artists, on subjects ranging far from the original collection's American West focus.

The museum offers exhibits, self-guided and guided tours for student groups (including custom tours and tours for AP students), professional development opportunities for educators, videoconference outreach programs, teaching materials borrowable by Texas educators, research library access, and other recreational and educational events.