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

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Freeze Frame: Eadweard Muybridge's Photography of Motion
Collotype. “Ascending and descending stairs” Animal Locomotion Plate 504, 1887

Witness the birth of motion photography, as it created the foundation for [...] »

Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1938
Photograph, Katie Darling, Age about 88, 1936-38, Library of Congress.

Read the accounts of former slaves in oral history interviews collected by [...] »

Home Sweet Home: Life in 19th-Century Ohio
Lithograph, The Fruits of Temperance, c. 1848, Nathaniel Currier, LoC

Examine 19th-century domestic life through sheet music and audio song files [...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Textbook Twisters: Salem Witch Trials

Burn the witch! Discover how historical coverage of the Salem Witch Trials [...] »

The Garden of Infants

Kindergarten came to America in the 19th century on a wave of German [...] »

The Big Picture: Match the Ad to the Year

Be it the radio or the television, the slogans related to popular or [...] »

Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
Coal and the Industrial Revolution
Photo, At the close of the day, January 1911, Lewis Hine, Library of Congress

How can the story of coal help students understand the nature of today's [...] »

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. [...] »

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 [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
Federal Aviation Administration

The FAA regulates air safety and influences the development of civil [...] »

Federal Judiciary

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

[...] »
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 [...] »

Ask a Historian

The Possible Path of Barnard Bee
Digital image, Carol Highsmith, Confederates Marching, Library of Congress, 2010

Examination of counterfactual questions and how they are used in historical [...] »