Digital Public Library of America
Search more than 4,500,000 primary sources from across the country from one website!
The History of Vaccines
Do you remember when everyone got chickenpox as a kid? Your students might not! Learn about how vaccination has changed lives.
Teaching with Food
Teach with all five senses, including taste!
Constitution Day 2012: Founding Documents
The Constitution and the Bill of Rights inspired many other important documents in U.S. history. This Constitution Day, trace its influence through primary sources.
Teaching Work: Resources for Labor Day
Labor Day means more than the beginning of the school year. Bring the holiday into the classroom with Teachinghistory.org’s resources!
Manifest Destiny: Creating an American Identity
Discover how the concept of a “Manifest Destiny” shaped American perceptions prior to and throughout the 19th century.
Handbook of Texas Online
This website contains a vast collection of resources on Texas history and culture.
The Oregon Encyclopedia
A comprehensive guide of everything you ever wanted to know about Oregon history, and more!
Online Nevada Encyclopedia
This website showcases images of the Silver State and supplements historical entries with virtual galleries and thematic connections.
KnowLA: Encyclopedia of Louisiana
Do you really know Louisiana? KnowLA is a valuable resource for any teacher or student of U.S. and Louisiana history.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture
The website provides valuable resources for teachers that illuminate key events in U.S. and Arkansas history.
The Jewish Americans
This site, produced by PBS, uses multiple resources to examine the history and influence of Jewish culture in the U.S.
Puerto Rico Encyclopedia/Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico
Connect with your ELL students with this bilingual Puerto Rico Encyclopedia!
Close Up on Hispanic American Heritage
Take a look at these fragments from U.S. history. What are they? Where do they come from?
Jennifer Orr on Primary Sources in Primary Classrooms
Many primary sources are text-heavy. Jennifer Orr asks where do you find sources appropriate for pre-literate students? Try art, photos, and other visual sources!
Memorializing Memorials
How do we relate to national memorials? Photographs can show us how we want to see our monuments.
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.
The Object of History
How do objects capture the past? And how do you display objects to make a point about the past?
Copyright: Finding Images to Tell the Story of History
Fair use? Public domain? Creative Commons? Find images of history that you can use to tell its story, without worrying about fees and fines.
Children and Youth in History
Bring history home to young students with sources they can relate to—and prompt older students to think about the construction of concepts like “child” and “teenager.”
International Aid: How and When the U.S. Helps
With the Mar. 11 earthquake in Japan, your students may be asking about international aid. Here are some places to start learning about when and why the U.S. helps.
Joe Jelen on Google's Art Project
Budget cuts mean field trip cuts, right? Wrong! Check out high school teacher Joe Jelen’s summary of this impressive new tool from Google.
Women Taking History: Women's History Month 2011
This Women’s History Month, remind your students that women have made history in more ways then one—by recording it, as well as being recorded.
Virginia Memory
Are you a Virginia educator teaching VA state history? My your task easy! Explore the Library of Virginia’s 70 collections of digitized primary sources.
Zinn Education Project
Wanting to go deeper into the history of labor and marginalized groups in the U.S.?
African American History Month 2011
For African American History Month, don’t just focus on the heroes—use primary sources to explore the lives of ordinary people.
Civilization is All Relative
Common misconceptions of the classification of civilization are debunked.
Teaching the Bill of Rights
Daunted by teaching the Bill of Rights and its complex vocabulary to students? Middle-school teacher Christine Valenti explains how she introduces her students to the Amendments.
Nature Transformed: The Environment in American History
Beautiful scenery or impassable peaks? These 17 in-depth essays analyze how the North American view of nature has changed over time.
TeacherServe
Attention Secondary teachers! Searching for essays on religion, the environment, or African Americans in U.S. history? TeacherServe is here for you!
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.
History Explorer
The Smithsonian offers rich resources for teachers, but tracking them down can be difficult. Use History Explorer’s rich search features to make your hunt easier!
Memorializing Veterans: Teaching with Place
What do memorials say about history and how it’s remembered? On Veterans Day, take a look at national and local veterans memorials.
OurStory
Link literature and history with activity sets for 18 books and a database of over 270 other books for young readers.
National Archives Launches DocsTeach
Choose from more than 3,000 primary sources and seven activity modules to make your own interactive online lessons.
Students Working in Local Historic Preservation
Engage your students in preserving local history! Use this teacher’s successful service learning activity to guide you.
Researching for a Research Topic
Paring down a larger idea to answer one specific question.
History of Hidden Killers: Epidemics in America
Wherever people go, disease is sure to follow. Answer these questions about U.S. epidemics.
Milwaukee Art Museum Collections
Teaching Milwaukee state history, or looking to make a connection between art and social studies? Peruse more than 20,000 works of art in these online exhibitions.
Tennessee 4 Me
Three years in the making, this project of the Tennessee State Museum outlines TN state history from pre-history to the present.
Access to Archival Databases
Delve into more than 85 million records related to U.S. history.
EDSITEment
EDSITEment: A portal for fun historical learning from grades K-12.
Finding Local History Resources
Finding resources to teach local history in elementary classrooms.
Remember the Ladies—But Not Just in March
Women’s history should be integral to the total narrative of American history.
Significant Changes in Teaching History over the Past Decade
Three significant changes affect how we teach history and who is teaching it.
Integrating Material Culture into the Classroom
Use this guide developed by PBS and the Antiques Roadshow to teach about material culture.
American Presidents
Analyze letters written by America’s presidents to learn more about these men.
National Register of Historic Places Travel Itineraries
Explore the historic sites in more than 50 cities and towns across the U.S.
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Designed for historians and educators, this site provides high-quality primary sources from American history.
Digital Vaults
Presents over 1,200 of the items in the National Archives and Records Administration’s collection.
Alexander Street Press
Databases of digitized firsthand accounts and literary works document periods in American history, the experiences of minorities, and other topics.
Our Documents
Presents 100 milestone documents in American history, from the Richard Henry Lee Resolution of June 7, 1776, to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Documents in Law, History, and Government
Houses more than 3,500 full-text documents addressing the legal, economic, and political history of the U.S.
Archival Research Catalog (ARC)
Access over than 78,000 digital government resources—from textual records to sound recordings and everything in between!
Making Sense of Advertisements
Advertisements have surrounded us for years. How can you interpret them? Where can you find them?
Making Sense of Letters and Diaries
Source and approach letters and diaries with historical thinking.
Making Sense of Numbers
Quantitative data, although seemingly daunting and impersonal, can help you understand the past.