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
Fly Girls
Image, American Experience: Fly Girls, PBS.

Explore the experiences of World War II's Women Airforce Service Pilots ( [...] »

Densho: The Japanese American Legacy Project
Paint, Oct 16, 1942 (Minidoka), 2003, R. Shimomura, In the Shadow of My Country.

Explore this archive of over 110 video interviews on Japanese American [...] »

American Originals Part II
Peary sledge party at the North Pole, April 7, 1909 NARA

Introduce students to 25 documents selected by the National Archives for [...] »

History Quiz

Test your history knowledge
Presidents Day: Growing Up to Be President

Even American presidents were babies once!

[...] »
The Garden of Infants

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

Pre-Modern Pop Music

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

Beyond the Textbook

Question textbook narratives
Causing the Civil War
Postcard, Train Load of Cotton for Export, South, 1902-1903, NYPL

Did King Cotton cause the Civil War? Or should you look further?

[...] »
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 [...] »

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 [...] »

National Resources

Federal teaching resources
National Agricultural Statistics Service

Why did George Washington start gathering national data on agriculture?

[...] »
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Charts, "Educational Attainment," Bureau of Labor Statistics

Is your grandfather more likely to be working now than he would have been in [...] »

Federal Emergency Management Agency
Silkscreen, Disaster Broadcast. . . , 1941-1943, Edward T. Grigware, LoC

When the weather's not on our side, FEMA's there to lend a hand.

[...] »

Ask a Historian

Bleeding Kansas
lithograph, Forcing slavery down the throat of a freesoiler, 1856,  J.L. Magee,

What were the origins of this infamous controversy?

[...] »