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 [...] »

Mass Moments
Coast Guard plane landed at Children's beach, 1926

MA educators—explore a historical moment (and accompanying primary source) [...] »

American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
American Social History Project

Looking for a new way to teach history? Peruse new media and educational [...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Which Witch?

Words constantly evolve and change over time. What did "witch" mean to these [...] »

Pre-Modern Pop Music

Before "pop" music reigned supreme, jazz and ragtime amassed great public [...] »

Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
The Tet Offensive
Eddie Adams, Vietcong shooting prisoner cropped

American historians have depicted the Tet Offensive as the turning point for [...] »

Rise of the Automobile
Photo, Model A Ford in front of antique gas pumps, August 4, 2007, Flickr

Americans today take cars for granted. How did they change American life? [...] »

Girls’ Labor and Leisure in the Progressive Era
Photographic Print, Protest against child labor in a labor parade, 1909 May 1, L

The historical impact young girls had on the Progressive Era is often [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
U.S. Senate Historical Office
Lithograph, "The Great Congressional Tramp. . . ," 1882, Mayer, U.S. Senate site

Political cartoons, photos, oral histories, artifacts, essays, and facts. [...] »

National Air and Space Museum
Cigarette card, Imaginary A plane, c. 1957-1958, NYPL Digital Gallery

Fly me to the moon became a famous Frank Sinatra line. NASA also made this a [...] »

Mine Safety and Health Administration
Photo, Mule driver, adolescent. . . , 1915, U.S. Bureau of Mines, MSHA site

Ever considered using mining to teach labor history?...

[...] »

Ask a Historian

Freedom and the National Debt
1837 mock bank note

Old Hickory's hard currency—what are useful focal points in Jacksonian-era [...] »