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.
History of Education and Indigenous Americans: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers
Help students reflect on the purpose of learning history and of education in general by using Library of Congress primary sources to better understand the history of education of Indigenous people in the United States.
1916 Children's Code of Morality: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers
Primary sources from the Library of Congress help students explore a fascinating episode from U.S. history: the campaign to teach children to be more moral.
Pockets from the Past: Daily Life at Monticello
What do the contents of pockets say about their owners? TAH teachers model strategies for examining and questioning artifacts.
History Hitting Home: Children's History, Local History, and Digital Storytelling
Children’s history, local history, and digital media—combine the three to give your students ownership of the past!
Children's Lives at Colonial London Town
Invite young students into colonial history with the stories of children from three very different families.
Families on the Farm
What was life like for women and girls on late 19th- and early 20th-century farms?
Reading Photographs: A Dusty Street
When and where was this photo taken? See what clues you can spot!
Tenement Life
Students examine primary sources related to the life of an immigrant girl and her family to discover what life might have been like at the turn of the century.
Researching Adolescent Immigrant History
Discover resources that will enable you to examine this unique area of American History.
Presidents Day: Growing Up to Be President
Even American presidents were babies once!
Lewis Hine: Caption Critique
Does a caption change the meaning of a photograph?
Civil War Poster!
What can a quilt, a map, some photographs, a haversack, and a receipt tell you about the past?
Bland County History Archives
Looking for proof that students can handle extensive local history projects? You’ve found it.
Anthony Pellegrino on Teaching Segregated History
Anthony Pellegrino explores the history of one segregated school, and complicates his understanding of a traditional textbook narrative.
Cintia Cabib's Interdisciplinary Gardening
Walk through the history of student gardening with documentarian Cintia Cabib, and see how you can use gardens in the classroom.
Divided Allegiance
Being born in the United States was not always a guaranteed path to citizenship.
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.”
Laura Jernegan: Girl on a Whaleship
Make whaling, a rich part of New England history, relevant to young students with the diary of a six-year-old at sea.
The Garden of Infants
Kindergarten came to America in the 19th century on a wave of German Romantic Idealism.
Vaccinations: Rites of Passage
Have you had your shots? Which childhood diseases do these public health announcements address?
Monuments to a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr. Memorials
Answer these questions about memorials to the life and ideals of MLK.
Back to School
Binders, buses, and backpacks—consider the history of these back-to-school basics.
Playing House—Homemaking for Children
How have childhood and gender roles changed over time? Browse five housekeeping books for girls.
Colonial Teenagers
Young people in their teens were not thought of as a distinct group, but as young adults who were obliged to work for their living, whether they lived at home or not.
The Progressive Era
Explore the ins and outs of turn-of-the-century labor law, business, housing, and immigration.
Rock Paper Scissors
Gamester extraordinaire Comte de Rochambeau?
Laboring to Bring Forth Child Labor Statistics
How many children were at work on the eve of World War II? What types of jobs did they hold?
Third Graders Analyzing Historical Sources
A 3rd-grade teacher leads her students through analysis of child labor photographs.
Promise of Gold Mountain: Tucson's Chinese Heritage
A collection of primary sources detailing early Asian-Americans in Tucson, Arizona.
When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective of Childhood
What would it be like to grow up poor? Greek? Mexican? Rich?
Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Teaching Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War? Explore this storehouse of Lincolnian history.
Colonial Williamsburg
Experience life in Colonial Williamsburg without visiting Virginia.
Images of African Americans from the Cook Collection of Photographs
What might your life have been like as an African American in Virginia c. 1900?
U.S. Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection, 1906-1971
Relive the construction of the city of steel—Gary, Indiana.
Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
Compare global statistics on topics from infant mortality to literacy.
Little Cowpuncher: Rural School Newspaper of Southern Arizona
If you were a pioneer, what would you have to say about your schooling? Students take up their pens and invoke their democratic freedom of the press.
Across the Generations: Exploring U.S. History through Family Papers
Experience Caucasian, middle-class Northeastern life through the collections of four families.
Picturing Modern America Project
Create your own thematic exhibits using Library of Congress images.
Children's Books Online
For story time or personal research, peruse historical children’s books.
With an Even Hand: Brown v. Board at Fifty
Examine the events which led to and the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education.
Brown v. Board of Education 50th Anniversary Digital Archive
Explore Brown v. Board of Education through interactive activities and personal recollections.
American Memory Learning Page
Try lesson plans based on the Library of Congress’ American Memory collections.
Education by Design: Using Visual Aids
Seek inspiration from classroom visual aids of the past.
Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History
What would your life have been like as a housewife in 1850?
National Center for Education Statistics
Ever wondered about the numbers behind the latest teaching trends?
Creative Memo on Lay's Products
Potato chip marketing—how a luxury item became an everyday U.S. food.
Views of the Famine
Explore the Irish Famine of 1846 through the eyes of Irish and English newspapers.
The Lindbergh Case: The Trial of the Century
Relive media coverage of the famous Lindbergh Trial through this Hunterdon County Democrat database.
The Japanese American Exhibit and Access Project
Go back in time and witness the harsh conditions at Japanese Internment Camps during World War II.
Children in Urban America: A Digital Archive
Imagine what it might have been like growing up over 100 years ago.
Slavery and the Making of America
An extensive glimpse into slave life and the history of slavery in the United States.
Brittingham Family Lantern Slide Collection
Catch a glimpse of wealthy turn-of-the-century Wisconsin life and travel in these photos.
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.
Medicine in the Americas, 1619-1914
Access works on medicine and health by Clara Barton, Benjamin Coleman, Benjamin Rush, and others.
U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census counts everyone! It creates a current image of the nation with its diversity and class variations.
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Did you know that Micronesia was once a U.N. trusteeship administered by the United States?
Western History Photography Collection
How does your view of the American West compare to the visual reality?
Coming of Age in the Twentieth Century, Stories from Minnesota and Beyond
What can oral histories tell us about girlhood, adolescence, and more in the United States?
Dolley Madison Digital Edition
Read Dolley Madison’s personal correspondence from her youth through her widowhood.
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
Review litigation studies ranging from mental health facilities and jail conditions to equal employment.
Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819
Uncover novels, readers, hymnals, almanacs, diaries, maps, treaties, and more from between 1801 and 1819.
StoryCorps
Connect 20th-century events and daily life with real human experiences through oral history audio files.
American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I, 1760-1900
Explore American life through advertisements, literature, poetry, Civil War envelopes, and more!
The Adoption History Project
Did you know that adoption was only recognized as a legal U.S. operation in 1851?
Teaching with Laurel Grove School
Local history teaches about slavery, emancipation, and freedom in Northern Virginia.
Children’s Voices from the Civil War
Help students identify with the past via children who lived through the Civil War.
What Does It Mean to Be an American?
An 8th-grade teacher asks: Was early 20th-century America a “melting pot” or a “salad bowl”?
Historical Agency in History Book Sets (HBS)
Looking for ways to use fiction in your elementary history curriculum? Read on for suggestions!
Is the Story of George Washington and the Colt a True Story?
Is it all right to make up stories about real people to teach children about honesty? In the 19th century, some people thought so.
Civil Rights and Incarceration
What were the consequences of and motivations for Japanese American removal during World War II?
Integrating Material Culture into the Classroom
Use this guide developed by PBS and the Antiques Roadshow to teach about material culture.
National Register of Historic Places Travel Itineraries
Explore the historic sites in more than 50 cities and towns across the U.S.
Dime Novels and Penny Dreadfuls
Cover art and full texts from dime novels preserve the popular culture of an industrializing U.S.
Child Labor in America, 1908-1912: Photographs of Lewis W. Hine
Sixty-four photographs taken by Lewis W. Hine between 1908 and 1912 document child labor conditions.
Television News of the Civil Rights Era
View contemporary coverage of the Civil Rights Movement from two Roanoke, VA television stations.
Nineteenth-Century American Children and What They Read
Examines 19th-century children in America: what they read, what was written about them, and what was written for them.
Teach Women's History Project
Provides teaching and reference materials on the women’s rights movement of the past 50 years.
Florida State Archives Photographic Collection
Presents more than 137,000 photographs of Florida on specific localities from the mid-19th century to the present.
Historical Thinking Matters
Presents four guided investigations—on the Spanish-American War, the Scopes Trial, Social Security, and Rosa Parks—designed to teach students to read primary sources and construct historical narratives.
Historic Government Publications from World War II: A Digital Library
Includes more than 300 U.S. government pamphlets and books on home front issues from World War II.
Disability History Museum
Explore the experiences of those with disabilities through documents and images dating from the 18th century to the present.
Sunday School Books: Shaping the Values of Youth in 19th-Century America
Provides full-text transcriptions and page images of 1815–1865 Sunday school books addressing religious instruction for youth.
Virtual Jamestown
Experience firsthand accounts of Jamestown and colonial history, dating from 1570 through 1720.
Brown v. Board of Education
Examine segregation and desegregation through summaries and the court’s opinions for two major cases.
Civil Rights in Mississippi Digital Archive
150 oral history interviews and 16 collections of documents address the Civil Rights Movement in Mississippi.