For Us the Living
A series of five primary source based learning modules that encourage high school students to explore American history through the stories found in Alexandria National Cemetery.
100 Years of Parcels, Packages, and Packets, Oh My!
In the age of Amazon, take students back to a time when delivery in the U.S. was still developing.
Digital Public Library of America
Search more than 4,500,000 primary sources from across the country from one website!
The History of Vaccines
Do you remember when everyone got chickenpox as a kid? Your students might not! Learn about how vaccination has changed lives.
After Slavery
Does your textbook make Reconstruction sound simple? Explore the real pain and complexity of Reconstruction with primary sources focusing on the Carolinas.
Civil War in Art
Why did the painter frame Lincoln in greenery? Learn about interpretations of the Civil War through period and recent works of art.
Creating the United States
Even the Founding Fathers wrote rough drafts! Interact with early versions of the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights.
Flashing Across the Country: Mr. Zip and the ZIP Code Promotional Campaign
Have you ever wondered what your zip code means or when the codes came into use?
Hope for America
Do you want to use humor to your advantage in the classroom? Hope for America examines comedy and satire in American popular culture and its influence on political history.
Sewall-Belmont House Museum Collections
Allow the National Woman’s Party to show you their collection on women’s progress to equality.
Joe Hill
Union strikes. Murder. Itinerant songwriting. The life of martyr Joe Hill could hardly have been more dramatic or mysterious.
DocsTeach
Team up with the National Archives and Records Administration to bring primary sources into your classroom!
HERB: Social History for Every Classroom
Find a wide variety of classroom resources focused on social history, from classroom activities to primary sources.
Shaping the Constitution
What role did Virginia play in defining the U.S. and upholding rights we now consider basic and essential?
Lincoln-Douglas Debates of 1858
Compare Republican and Democrat accounts of the great debates.
Center on Congress
What is Congress? Why should anyone care?
Children and Youth in History
Bring history home to young students with sources they can relate to—and prompt older students to think about the construction of concepts like “child” and “teenager.”
Union or Secession: Virginians Decide
Trace Virginia’s route to secession in the Civil War with more than 200 primary sources.
Virginia Memory
Are you a Virginia educator teaching VA state history? My your task easy! Explore the Library of Virginia’s 70 collections of digitized primary sources.
Presidential Timeline of the Twentieth Century
Teaching 20th century presidential history or political events? Explore this site for interactive timelines, exhibits, and over 1,500 primary sources.
Coming of the American Revolution, 1764-1776
Teaching the American Revolution and its politics? Check out 15 topical essays and a database of more than 150 primary sources.
Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson
Learn about race in the Progressive Era through the life of Jack Johnson, the original African American Heavy Weight Champion of the World.
Politics of a Massacre: Discovering Wilmington 1898
This site contains sources covering and reacting to the deplorable 1898 massacre in Wilmington, NC.
Ulysses S. Grant Digital Archive
Deepen your coverage of the late 19th century with the letters of Ulysses S. Grant, war-hero-turned-president.
Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock
Introduce your students to political cartoons with Herbert Block’s bold, visually inviting style. 32 cartoons cover the 1940s through the 1990s.
Missouri Digital Heritage
Missouri teachers looking for primary sources, look no further. Explore this portal for resources from libraries, universities, archives, and heritage sites throughout the state.
The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library eLibrary
More than 5,700 documents related to Woodrow Wilson’s life and presidency.
Land of (Unequal) Opportunity
460 documents and images on civil rights in Arkansas, from before, during, and after the civil rights movement.
Famous American Trials: "The Scottsboro Boys" Trials 1931-1937
Explore the infamous Scottboro case through a variety of primary source documents and images.
Impeachment Trial of Andrew Johnson
Learn about Andrew Johnson’s impeachment through contemporary accounts and resources.
Red Scare (1918-1921)
Could the Bolsheviks and radicalism destroy the American way of life?
For European Recovery: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Marshall Plan
This website gives a broad introduction to the Marshall Plan and is home to over 30 primary sources.
Finding Precedent: The Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
Search this archive from the Harper’s Weekly for a firsthand view into Andrew Johnson’s impeachment.
U.S. Women's History Workshop
A collection of primary source material for teaching women’s history and mid-19th century culture.
Nixon and Sports
Explore the relationship between Nixon’s love of sports and his actions as US President.
The Crisis of the Union
An impressive array of tracts (and more) brought together for your convenience.
Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
What was said, written, and drawn about slavery? Gain a more complete image of the institution, its evil effects, and how it felt to be a slave.
Cleveland Digital Library
Explore the history of “the forest city.”
Bob Hope and American Variety
“When Vaudeville died, television was the box they put it in,” according to Bob Hope. Read essays on his life and career.
Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia
Although painful to view, racist memorabilia reminds us of past mindsets and ethics.
RFK in the Land of Apartheid: A Ripple of Hope
Examine the impact of Robert F. Kennedy’s anti-apartheid trip to South Africa.
Remembering Herblock
View political cartoons by Herbert Block, father of the term, “McCarthyism.”
Labor Arts
What role has art had in the depiction and reality of U.S. labor?
Dr. Seuss Went to War: A Catalog of Political Cartoons
We all remember the Lorax, but who remembers Seuss’s political cartoons?
Presidential Elections
How has campaigning changed over the years? Need to know details on major campaign issues?
Humor's Edge
Use modern political cartoons to introduce analysis of recent events.
With an Even Hand: Brown v. Board at Fifty
Examine the events which led to and the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education.
Women of Valor
Meet international anarchist and women’s rights activist Emma Goldman.
Seneca Village
One of the few resources dedicated to Seneca Village and the creation of Central Park.
FDR Cartoon Archive
Learn about FDR through this collection of political cartoons.
By Popular Demand: "Votes for Women" Suffrage Pictures, 1850-1920
View photographs, cartoons, and campaign items from the women’s suffrage movement.
From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America
Peruse this online exhibit on the history of Jewish life in the United States.
Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive
Which ethnic groups have made their homes in the Columbia River Basin?
Freedom Now! An Archival Project of Tougaloo College and Brown University
Immerse yourself in the historical struggle for the African American vote in Mississippi.
Illinois Digital Archives
Primary sources on Illinois history with an emphasis on residential and commercial architecture.
Portal to Texas History
Texas educators, looking for primary resources on state history? Search this portal for thousands of images and documents drawn from Texas-based archival collections.
Virtual Museum and Archive of the SEC and Securities History
If you want to understand big business, it would be wise to examine the SEC’s history.
Coming of Age in the Twentieth Century, Stories from Minnesota and Beyond
What can oral histories tell us about girlhood, adolescence, and more in the United States?
Maryland Digital Cultural Heritage
Explore the history of Maryland, from Edgar Allen Poe to the War of 1812.
Connecticut Historical Society
Explore the political and sociocultural history of Connecticut.
George Catlin and His Indian Gallery
Explore the meeting of the Plains Indians and Anglo Americans through the fine arts.
The History of Social Security
We all know what the Social Security Administration does, but do you know how it was formed?
Profiles in Science
Explore the profiles of 26 scientists, physicians, and experts in biomedical research and public health.
The Tax History Project
Follows the history of American taxation through a collection of primary and secondary sources.
Truman Presidential Museum and Library
Government documents, oral histories, photographs, and political cartoons trace Harry S. Truman’s presidency.
Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s
Supported by images and documents, this essay explores the culture wars of the 1910s and 1920s.
Anti-Saloon League, 1893-1933
Printed materials preserve the public campaigns of the Anti-Saloon League from 1893 to 1933.
History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web
Provides links, primary sources, and eight modules for teachers and students in three main features: WWW.History, Many Pasts, and Making Sense of Evidence.
Tangled Roots
Primary sources point out cultural connections between the experiences of African and Irish Americans.
Marchand Archive
Memorializes Roland Marchand with more than 6,100 images, including more than 2,000 advertisements, and 48 lesson plans drawn from his collection.
Herblock's History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium
View 150 cartoons drawn between 1929 and 2000 by Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Herbert Block.
Historical Thinking Matters
Presents four guided investigations—on the Spanish-American War, the Scopes Trial, Social Security, and Rosa Parks—designed to teach students to read primary sources and construct historical narratives.
Chinese in California, 1850-1925
Browse more than 8,000 objects related to Chinese immigrant life in California.
1896: The Presidential Campaign
Follow the contentious election of 1896 with close to 100 political cartoons related to the presidential campaigns.
Digital Library of Georgia
Examines the history and culture of the state of Georgia, presenting an extensive range of primary sources.
Watergate Revisited
The Washington Post looks back at the Watergate scandal in this exhibit of primary sources.
American Memory: Historical Collections for the National Digital Library
The Library of Congress offers an archive of more than 9 million primary sources dating from 1490 to the present.
The Stars and Stripes, 1918-1919
Peruse every edition of the “official newspaper” of the U.S. Army fighting forces during World War I.
HarpWeek: Explore History
With illustrations, articles, editorials, and overviews, 22 exhibits cover a variety of subjects dealing with 19th-century American history.