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
Hispano Music and Culture from the Northern Rio Grande
Photograph, Juan B. Rael interviewing Manuela Martinez, Taos, NM, ca. 1930, LoC.

Learn about Hispanic culture with the Juan B. Rael collection of upper Rio [...] »

American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920
Illustration, Marshall Pass, Continental Divide, CO. Burlington Route, 1892, LoC

What impressions did the average citizen or foreigner form of early America [...] »

Washington During the Civil War: The Diary of Horatio Nelson Taft, 1861-1865

What did patent examiner Taft have to say on the Civil War homefront?

[...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Veterans Day: Medals and Merit

You know the Purple Heart, but can you identify these honors?

[...] »
Monuments to a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials

Answer these questions about memorials to the life and ideals of MLK.

[...] »
Dueling Logic

Pistols at noon, or handbags at dawn? Decode the Code of Honor by answering [...] »

Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
Huey Long
Stereograph, U.S. Senator Huey Long, c.1933, Keystone View Company

How exactly did U.S. Senator Huey Long intend to end poverty across the U.S [...] »

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 [...] »

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? [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
Architect of the Capitol

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

National Museum of African American History and Culture

What does it mean to be an American? Answer this question through the lens [...] »

Supreme Court of the United States

From John Jay to Sonia Sotomayor, the Supreme Court is the final word in law [...] »

Ask a Historian

On Telegrams and Telephone Calls
Detail of Wallace for President poster, 1968

On the record and off the record communications between Washington and [...] »