Incorporating 20th Century US Environmental History in the 6-12 Classroom
This guide consists of curated primary and secondary sources to help students connect environmental history to broader themes in twentieth century US history.
A Close Look at the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
Historian Christopher Hamner engages educators in close questioning of the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Washington, DC.
Smithsonian American Art Museum: "Acehlous and Hercules"
Analyzing a massive primary source? Divide it up! Teachers at the Smithsonian American Art Museum examine a Thomas Hart Benton mural.
Smithsonian American Art Museum: Teaching with 19th-Century Art
Watch Suzannah Niepold of the Smithsonian American Art Museum guide teachers in analyzing four works of art.
Reading Place with the National Building Museum
What does architecture say about the past and the present? TAH teachers learn strategies for close examination of buildings in Washington, DC.
Smithsonian American Art Museum: "Westward the Course of Empire"
Watch Suzannah Niepold guide TAH teachers through analyzing the differences between two versions of Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze’s Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way.
National Portrait Gallery: Teaching with 19th-Century Portraits
Watch Briana Zavadil White introduce teachers to portraits of inventors and presidents from the 19th century.
Smithsonian American Art Museum: Close Observation
Close observation and an inquisitive mind are all the tools you need to start analyzing primary sources! Teachers model analyzing works of art.
Paintings About Segregation
Textbooks describe segregation in a few pages, but these artists share complicated, personal views of how segregation looked and felt.
American Archive of Public Broadcasting
Watch and listen to thousands of public broadcasting programs from across the U.S.
The Thomas Jefferson Building: Secret Messages
What messages are hidden in art and architecture? Explore the Library of Congress’s Jefferson Building in this online activity.
The Civil War in Art: Teaching and Learning Through Chicago Collections
Integrate these two guides into your curriculum to help students develop visual and textual analysis skills.
Integrating Language Arts and History
Elementary teacher Karen Eanes hooks her students with engaging historical fiction, art, and primary source excerpts on George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware.
Interactive Exercises—Analyzing Artifacts
In this series of exercises, students are presented with Native American masks and must contextualize them.
Ulysses S. Grant Memorial
How does the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial in Washington, DC, depict Grant and the Civil War? Historians Christopher Hamner and Michael O’Malley take a look.
Civil War in Art
Why did the painter frame Lincoln in greenery? Learn about interpretations of the Civil War through period and recent works of art.
Clio Visualizing History
This site offers a grab bag of digital history exhibits. Definitely worth perusal.
Women's History Month: Picturing Pocahontas
What do you picture when you hear her name?
Guampedia
Guam is often left out of discussions of U.S. history. Remedy the situation!
Puerto Rico Encyclopedia/Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico
Connect with your ELL students with this bilingual Puerto Rico Encyclopedia!
Massive Resistance Political Cartoons
Watch J. Douglas Smith discuss the Massive Resistance policy enacted by U.S. Senator, Harry F. Byrd, Sr., in 1956.
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.
Yale Digital Commons
A wheeled pull toy depicting Nixon with a crown? If you’re looking for a unique object to bring up in class, start with the digital commons.
Elizabeth Glynn on Using Art to Create Interdisciplinary Classrooms
Use art to teach both history and how disciplines are interconnected, suggests TAH project director Elizabeth Glynn.
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!
Comic Books in the History Classroom
Comic books as primary sources? Bring superheroes into the classroom with these six historical themes.
Memorializing Memorials
How do we relate to national memorials? Photographs can show us how we want to see our monuments.
Animating the Home Front
What happens when cartoon characters go to war?
First Impressions: The U.S. and Japan
In 1854, Japan signed a treaty with the U.S. How did the U.S. and Japan see each other during this exchange?
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.
The Art of Migration
What can artistic renderings tell us about the Great Migration?
Freedom's Story: Teaching African American Literature and History
Slavery, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Movement—you have to teach these topics, so check out these essays to enrich your curriculum!
Old Political Cartoons
Poking fun and puncturing pomposity—how can you interpret political cartoons?
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.
Forming Lesson Plans Around State Mandates
How do you teach the effects of WWI on art and literature? Transforming a content standard into a solid lesson plan.
Using Visual Fine Arts to Enrich Understanding
The socio-cultural impact of historic events or time periods and the interpretation through various forms of media.
Students Working in Local Historic Preservation
Engage your students in preserving local history! Use this teacher’s successful service learning activity to guide you.
Monuments to a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials
Answer these questions about memorials to the life and ideals of MLK.
Architectural Homage
American Reproductions and Appropriations of Old World Monumental Architecture
Feminist Art
Explorations of the body, self-reference, and the entanglement of art and politics have all been the themes of feminist art—as they have been themes of other art of our time.
Midnight Ride of Paul Revere: Fact, Fiction, and Artistic License
Did Revere’s ride really look like that? Use historical documents to analyze flights of artistic fancy.
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.
Missouri Digital Heritage
Missouri teachers looking for primary sources, look no further. Explore this portal for resources from libraries, universities, archives, and heritage sites throughout the state.
National Endowment for the Arts
Watch videos on jazz and opera history, courtesy of the National Endowment of the Arts.
Voice of America
Find out how to pronounce tricky names, and listen to official international radio programs.
National Portrait Gallery
Allow students to “meet” their favorite historical figures.
Smithsonian Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum
Design embodies both artistic ingenuity and responses to everyday problems.
National Museum of African Art
Approach African American history and culture through African art.
Smithsonian American Art Museum and Renwick Gallery
American art makes the interpretive nature of historical knowledge clear.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Modern art isn’t impossible to understand. Approach it as the product of its time.
Daily Objects, 19th-century America
With the advent of industry and western expansion, U.S. businesses mass produced dreams of affluence and progress.
Savannah Images Project
A useful local history project which focuses on the history of Savannah and the Georgia coastline.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
View 22 census data samples and 65 million records from 13 federal censuses.
Photographing History: Fred J. Maroon and the Nixon Years
View the many faces of President Nixon as captured by photographer Fred Maroon.
Marian Anderson: A Life in Song
Travel through the life and works of Marion Anderson with this online exhibit.
The Aaron Copland Collection, ca. 1900-1990
An extensive collection of primary and secondary resources detailing the life of composer Aaron Copeland.
Origins of American Animation
A collection of early animated films useful for the study of early American animation.
NativeTech: Native American Technology and Art
Learn about Native American technology, including wigwams, beadwork, pottery, and tools.
African Americans in the Harmon Foundation Collection
A collection of 20 portraits by African American artists from the Harmon Foundation.
Through Our Parent's Eyes: Tucson's Diverse Community
Learn about the ethnically diverse history of Tucson, AZ.
American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920
Explore the history of American landscape and architectural design from 1850-1920.
Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories
Frame your lessons on the Great Migration with the life and works of Jacob Lawrence.
Cleveland Digital Library
Explore the history of “the forest city.”
Arizona State Museum
Can’t get to Arizona? You can still see local Native American artifacts online.
Best of History Websites
Find top notch history web resources, as well as advice on using technology for teaching.
Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered
View depictions of African American life by artist Dox Thrash.
Thomas Eakins: American Realist
Discover one of America’s great realists, and see the Philadelphia of his day.
Worthington Memory, Online Scrapbook
Explore the history and development of a small town. The online scrapbook provides an uncanny lens into town life.
Kiowa Drawings
Kiowa artwork from buffalo hide canvases to university art training.
Encyclopedia Britannica: The 1911 Edition
Find out what people thought of everything from ablation to vinegar in 1911.
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Contemporary art highlights and reflects societal issues following World War II.
Picturing Hemingway: A Writer in His Time
You’ve read his words, but do you know who he was? Explore the man behind those epic stories.
George Washington: A National Treasure
What can you learn from the Lansdowne portrait of George Washington?
The Hartford Black History Project
Follow the formation of the African American community in the city of Hartford, CT
Labor Arts
What role has art had in the depiction and reality of U.S. labor?
Surveyors of the West: William Henry Jackson and Robert Brewster Stanton
Follow the journey of two men through the western United States.
Archives of American Art, Oral History Collections
Interested in the life of a particular artist? Find out more about the painting and the person here.
Regional Oral History Office
Explore California oral histories, or learn to conduct your own interviews.
The Daguerreian Society
Have you ever thought of teaching your students the history of photography?
Women Artists of the American West
What have women artists considered worthy of depiction in the U.S. West?
Freeze Frame: Eadweard Muybridge's Photography of Motion
Witness the birth of motion photography, as it created the foundation for the growth of the film industry and Hollywood.
Hall of Black Achievement Gallery
Meet 30 influential African Americans who contributed across a wide variety of fields.
A Brush With History: Paintings from the National Portrait Gallery
Compare changing artistic styles, or source images of famous individuals.
Quilts and Quiltmaking in America, 1978-1996
From the queer to the quite extraordinary—explore the art of quiltmaking in the Southern U.S.
Florida Heritage Collection
Explore Florida state, regional, and local history.
Eye of the Storm
See the Civil War as it happened in Union soldier Knox Sneden’s watercolors.
Drawing the Western Frontier: The James E. Taylor Album
How did newspaper illustration shape stereotypes (and our understanding) of the “Wild West”?
Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online (1841-1902)
Explore the history of Brooklyn, 1841 through 1902, with historical newspaper issues.
Across the Generations: Exploring U.S. History through Family Papers
Experience Caucasian, middle-class Northeastern life through the collections of four families.
National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
More than 50 virtual exhibits ranging from Julia Child to West Point.
Samuel F. B. Morse Papers, 1793-1919
Explore the thoughts of Samuel F. Morse, artist and father of the electromagnetic telegraph.
Women Working, 1800-1930
What did women think of their work at home, in the arts, and in business?
The New Georgia Encyclopedia
Need a comprehensive site on Georgia history? Why, here you go!
American Photography: A Century of Images
How has photography altered our perception of and the actuality of reality?
Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History
What would your life have been like as a housewife in 1850?
NativeWeb: Resources for Indigneous Cultures Around the World
A unique website designed to foster communication regarding all of the planet’s native peoples.
Chicago Imagebase
Witness the growth of the Chicago metro area with this interactive website.
By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present
A collection of over 150 portraits of past US Presidents and their First Ladies.
American Treasures of the Library of Congress
A collection of special documents and artifacts held within the Library of Congress.
Modern and Contemporary American Poetry
Read hundreds of poems by major and lesser known figures.
Washington As It Was: Photographs by Theodor Horydczak, 1923-1959
Early 20th century Washington is captured in this collection of 14,350 photographs by Theodor Horydczak.
Creative Americans: Portraits by Carl Van Vechten, 1932-1964
View the mid-20th-century art scene through the photographs of music and dance critic Carl Vechten.
Architecture and Interior Design for America: 1935-1955
Explore early 20th century architecture and interior design with this expansive photo gallery.
The Urban Landscape
View photographs of a variety of urban landscapes.
A New Deal for the Arts
View works from artists financed by the United States Government during the Great Depression.
Posters: American Style
Explore 20th century American poster art, from advertisements to patriotic propaganda.
Still Going On: Celebrating The Life and Times of William Grant Still
Learn about famous composer William Grant Still through this online exhibit.
Alaska's Digital Archive
View images related to Alaskan statehood and Native Americans.
Slavery and the Making of America
An extensive glimpse into slave life and the history of slavery in the United States.
Library of Congress: Webcasts
Access more than 500 webcasts from the Library of Congress.
The History Box
Have a question about New York City or state history? More than 750 articles available.
Folkstreams
View streaming videos on American folk culture from fox hunting to Zydeco.
Florida Folklife Collection
Explore the folk lore of Florida—from musical performances and art to occupational lore.
Harlem History
Explore the politics, neighborhoods, culture, and arts of Harlem.
Frank Lloyd Wright: Designs for an American Landscape 1922-1932
Check out five design schemes created by Frank Lloyd Wright, but never implemented.
Wright on the Web
Follow architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s career with these summaries and images.
Unified Vision: The Architecture and Design of the Prairie School
View Prairie School works by famed architects and designers Wright, Sullivan, Elmslie, Purcell, and Maher.
Jacob Lawrence: Over the Line
Experience selected artworks by African American artist Jacob Lawrence while learning about his life.
Listening to Our Ancestors: The Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast
View more than 400 Native American objects selected and presented by the 11 represented communities.
The Blues, Black Vaudeville, and the Silver Screen, 1912-1930s
How was the community support for and operation of Southern African American theaters?
Musicians Local No. 627 and the Mutual Musicians Foundation
Have you heard of musicians’ unions? Learn about a 20th-century African American jazz organization.
Connecticut Historical Society
Explore the political and sociocultural history of Connecticut.
New York Public Library Picture Collection Online
Support visual learners with a selection of more than 30,000 historical images.
George Catlin and His Indian Gallery
Explore the meeting of the Plains Indians and Anglo Americans through the fine arts.
Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)
Looking for ways to use fiction in your elementary history curriculum? Read on for suggestions!
Integrating Material Culture into the Classroom
Use this guide developed by PBS and the Antiques Roadshow to teach about material culture.
Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia 1876
Primary sources from Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exhibition provide a view of the U.S.’s industrial development.
William P. Gottlieb: Photographs from the Golden Age of Jazz
Explore writer-photographer William P. Gottlieb photographs of 1938–1948 jazz culture.
Time Archive, 1923 to Present
From its March 23, 1923 first edition to the present, Time presents a searchable database of cover art.
Performing Arts in America, 1875-1923
Browse primary sources reflecting the performing arts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Images of Native Americans
Illustrations follow European interpretations of Native Americans, through images from popular culture, literary and political observations, and artistic representations.
Frontera Collection of Mexican American Music
Listen to clips from more than 100,000 recordings of Mexican American vernacular music.
Evolution of the Conservation Movement, 1850-1920
Documents the birth of the conservation movement through published works, manuscripts, images, and motion picture footage.
David Rumsey Map Collection
More than 15,800 rare historical maps focus on North and South America.
Picturing America
Presents 27 iconic works of art as examples for the use of art and primary sources in history classrooms.
Florida State Archives Photographic Collection
Presents more than 137,000 photographs of Florida on specific localities from the mid-19th century to the present.
Herblock's History: Political Cartoons from the Crash to the Millennium
View 150 cartoons drawn between 1929 and 2000 by Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Herbert Block.
Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943
Showcases more than 900 Work Projects Administration (WPA) posters produced as part of the New Deal.
Disability History Museum
Explore the experiences of those with disabilities through documents and images dating from the 18th century to the present.
American Shores: Maps of the Middle Atlantic Region to 1850
Explore the mid-Atlantic region with more than 1,852 maps created before 1850.
Inventing Entertainment: The Early Innovations of the Edison Companies
Early motion pictures, sound recordings, and related materials document Thomas Edison’s impact on the history of American entertainment.
Daguerreotype Portraits and Views, 1839-1864
Examples of early photographs preserve the likenesses of cities, famous figures, and other subjects.