Spotlight on Elementary Education

History has been shaped and influenced by the out come of ancient trials—such as the Trial of Socrates in 399B.C.—to Rosenberg Trial in the 1950s. This site offers a comprehensive look at 50 prominent court trials throughout history and its resources can be used to give young learners an introduction to the history of the modern judicial system.

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Website Reviews

Find quality websites & primary sources
Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten, 1932-1964
Photo, Portrait of Martha Graham and Bertram Ross, faces..., June 27 1961, LoC.

View the mid-20th-century art scene through the photographs of music and [...] »

White Trash: The Construction of an American Scapegoat

An excellent site for new study into the "white trash" demographic.

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Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS), 1861-1960
Photo, ...problem of foreign administrative policy, J. Collier, Apr. 1943, LoC.

Presents digitized selections from the official record of major declassified [...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
America's Love for the Automobile

An Exciting Whiff of Danger or La Belle Dame sans Merci?

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Charters for Colonies

To legally exist, English colonies needed charters from the monarchy. Answer [...] »

Thanksgiving: Presidential Turkeys

How many turkeys have presidents pardoned?

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Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
The Modern Civil Rights Movement: A River of Purposeful Anger
Dynamics of Idealism- Volunteers for Civil Rights, 1965-1982 432x240

Textbooks are silent about defining race and racism, even though the modern [...] »

The Atomic Bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki
photographic print, Second atomic bombing of Nagasaki, 1945 August, LOC

Controversial issues are often simplified in textbooks. Discover the facts [...] »

Slavery
Photo, "An ex-slave," 1897, New York Public Library Digital Gallery

What was it like to be a slave in 19th-century America? Accounts contrast. [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
Federal Trade Commission
Woodcut, Igirisujin Yokohama. . . , 1861, Sadahide Utagawa, LoC

Keeping businesses on the straight and narrow. Discover more about the [...] »

Architect of the Capitol

What do our buildings tell us about ourselves? Take a spin around this [...] »

U.S. Navy

Who defends our seas, and how do they do it? Explore primary sources and [...] »

Ask a Historian

John Adams: Great or Not?
Coin, Presidential $1 Coin for John Adams, 2007, United States Mint

What does historical "greatness" mean, anyway?

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