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
Student Voices from World War II and the McCarthy Era

Imagine traveling from a university to work on a farm.

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Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America
Mezzotint, Of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Hamilton Crawford, c. 1932, LoC

How much do you know about the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury?

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Images of African Americans from the Cook Collection of Photographs
Photo, Children on fence eating watermelon, 4th quarter of the 19th cent., VCU.

What might your life have been like as an African American in Virginia c. [...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Potent Quotables: Every Vote Counts

After more than two centuries of citizenship, much has been said about [...] »

First Impressions: The U.S. and Japan

In 1854, Japan signed a treaty with the U.S. How did the U.S. and Japan see [...] »

Westward Expansion: Image vs. Reality

East or West? See if you can determine which region produced these images on [...] »

Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
Jim Crow Segregation: The Difficult and Anti-Democratic Work of White Supremacy
Print, For the Sunny South. An Airship. . . , 1913, Library of Congress

The fight against segregation and its discriminatory practices does not [...] »

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 [...] »

Women's Reform Movement
Print, A downright gabbler, or a goose that deserves to be hissed, 1829

The Seneca Falls Declaration of Sentiments in 1848 reflected the voices of [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation

Looking for a way to fund graduate education related to teaching the U.S. [...] »

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives
Negative, Victory Corps. . . , Alfred T. Palmer, September-October 1942, LoC

Did you know that there is a specific law enforcement agency for firearm [...] »

Federal Judiciary

Can’t tell an affadavit from an acquittal? Learn the legal lingo.

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Ask a Historian

Stonewall Jackson and the Battle of Chancellorsville
woods blown apart by artillery fire at Chancellorsville

The Confederate battle plan at Chancellorsville was extraordinarily daring [...] »