Two Blues Songs
Written primary sources only tell you so much. To learn about history that was never written down, listen to sources like these two songs.
Amy Burvall's Life as a TechnoTroubadour
Can you use music and creativity to help students structure what they know? Yes, says Hawaiian teacher Amy Burvall.
John Brown's Body
Chandra Manning discusses the song “John Brown’s Body,” and how music can be an important source in discovering the past.
Valerie Tripp: Salty Ham: Using the Senses in Historical Research
Have you tasted pioneer foods like apple butter? Listened to old records on a phonograph?
Film Review: Ken Burns's Jazz
Documentaries can be critiqued on many levels, says Professor Frank Tirro. Here, he looks at Ken Burns’s Jazz from four angles.
An Ear for the Past: The National Jukebox
Catchy primary sources? You bet! With the Library of Congress’s National Jukebox, get your students humming history.
Anthony Pellegrino's Teaching with Class in Mind
How can you make history relevant to your students? Social studies/history education professor Anthony Pellegrino suggests teaching thematically—in this case, with class and labor.
Women in Blues (and Jazz)
In the early 20th century, the new music recording industry embraced hundreds of artists—including women.
Animoto
Discover new classroom possibilities with this easy-to-use video presentation tool.
Anthony Pellegrino's Into the Weeds: Harnessing the Power of Music to Teach Social Studies
Present the context first, or later? Teaching with music can be valuable both ways, says teacher educator Anthony Pellegrino.
Drafting Music
Both the North and South instituted drafts during the Civil War. Popular music of the day had something to say on the subject.
Anthony Pellegrino: Let the Music Play!...in Our Classrooms
Teach with punk, hip hop, and classic rock with these suggestions from teacher educator Anthony Pellegrino.
Let's Get Folky
Looking for a way to spice up your lesson plans? Try incorporating folk music!
American Myths: Popular Music
Each song has a story. What inspired it? When was it made? By whom?
Pre-Modern Pop Music
Before “pop” music reigned supreme, jazz and ragtime amassed great public popularity.
Theatre of the People
Through performing art, U.S. minorities assert their identities. Answer these questions on multicultural music and theatre.
A-mouldering in the Grave
“John Brown’s Body” keeps reappearing. What do you know about the song?
National Endowment for the Arts
Watch videos on jazz and opera history, courtesy of the National Endowment of the Arts.
African American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
View 1,300 pieces of sheet music composed by and about African Americans.
Historic American Sheet Music, 1850-1920
What do the songs people sing tell us about their lives?
America Singing: 19th-century Song Sheets
How did people learn the latest music trends without electronics?
Jazz: A Film by Ken Burns
Can you tell New Orleans jazz from Bebop? Can you hear the variations in style and instrumental parts?
River of Song
Follow the evolution of American music along the Mississippi.
Riverboats and Jazz
What entertainment might you have expected on a riverboat cruise in the early 1900s?
Club Kaycee, Golden Age of Kansas City Jazz
Listen to jazz from the ’20s and ’40s while learning about music greats and hot spots.
American Roots Music
Discover blues, country, bluegrass, gospel, Cajun, Zydeco, Tejano, and Native American music.
Perfessor Bill Edwards Ragtime/Old-time Piano Gallery
Introduce yourself to ragtime music and the time which gave birth to it.
Goldband Records: "Every One a Musical Treat"
What on earth is “swamp pop”?
Popular American Music
What songs were on the “Top 20” in the 1850s? Was it as much of a social concern as it is nowadays to stay musically trendy?
Foundations of American History: John Brown Song
How did people in the North feel about John Brown after his raid on Harpers Ferry?
Another Kind of American Idol
Explore the history of America’s most iconic image—the American flag. But remember: lip-syncing is not allowed!
Nineteenth-century California Sheet Music
Scanned images from more than 2,700 pieces of sheet music provide insight into life in 1852–1900 California.
Frontera Collection of Mexican American Music
Listen to clips from more than 100,000 recordings of Mexican American vernacular music.
Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project
Browse and listen to cylinder recordings, the first commercially produced sound recordings.
Kentuckiana Digital Library
Collects photographs, texts, and oral histories drawn from 15 Kentucky colleges, universities, libraries, and historical societies.
The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip
Archives audio files of more than 700 folk tunes recorded in the South in 1939.
Red Hot Jazz Archive: A History of Jazz before 1930
Discover over 200 jazz bands and musicians active from 1895-1929, captured here in countless audio and video files.
Lester S. Levy Collection of Sheet Music
Scanned images of more than 18,000 pieces of sheet music, including covers, published prior to 1923.
Digital Scriptorium
12 collections provide primary sources on ads, health and medicine, the Civil War, sheet music, and more.
Making Sense of American Popular Songs
Don’t overlook song as a way of understanding the past.
Broadcasting Longevity
The roots of the Grand Ole Opry extend deep into radio broadcasting history.