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.
Housing and Houselessness: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers
Help students understand the how policy and structural forces have shaped how people in the U.S. access housing.
Statistics in Schools
Analyze data from the U.S. Census Bureau in the social studies classroom.
Transportation: Past, Present and Future
What pushes and pulls people into new ways of life? In this lesson, students use artifacts, documents, and photographs to help them answer this question.
Labor Unions in the Cotton Mills
Introduce students to the importance of oral history while simultaneously teaching them about 20th-century labor unions.
Introducing Taxation
Taxes are a part of our everyday life. But was this always true in the United States?
Reading a Cartoon: Nast's "Milk Tickets for Babies"
What do you see in this 1876 cartoon?
The New World: A Stage for Cultural Interaction
Religion and profit were driving motivations behind European colonization. Discover how Spanish, French, and Dutch explorers differed in their attempts to accomplish these goals.
Guampedia
Guam is often left out of discussions of U.S. history. Remedy the situation!
Idea of America
The U.S. was formed on ideals, but how do these ideals manifest in reality? Are they ever at odds?
Silverites, Populists, and the Movement for Free Silver
Why were the people living in rural areas more likely to support “free silver” in 1896 than urban dwellers?
Thomas Nast Cartoon
Today, we accept paper—and electronic—money as a fact of life. Historian Michael O’Malley analyzes an 1876 cartoon criticizing “greenbacks.”
e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia
There’s far more to West Virginia than stereotypes suggest. Why not take some time to explore the state?
Puerto Rico Encyclopedia/Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico
Connect with your ELL students with this bilingual Puerto Rico Encyclopedia!
FDR's Second Inaugural Address
What is the key line in Franklin D. Roosevelt’s second inaugural address? Historian David Kennedy gives his answer.
Shays' Rebellion and the Making of a Nation
Engage your students in historical thinking with this interactive site on the rebellion led by Daniel Shays.
Living New Deal Project
Live in California? Trying to find local New Deal projects?
Bland County History Archives
Looking for proof that students can handle extensive local history projects? You’ve found it.
iCivics
Games can be more than mindless fluff. When content-rich, they can engage your students in learning during play.
Texas Archive of the Moving Image
Watch some Texas history, submit your own, or learn to make local documentaries.
Open Yale Courses
Looking for a little professional development? Miss your college classes? Try Yale’s.
Federal Reserve Board
The economy’s on everyone’s mind. Take advantage of that fact to teach a bit of financial history.
Questioning History Using the Census
Historian Alex Stein poses questions about population shift in Detroit, and models using census data and other sources to answer his question.
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.
Roosevelt's Tree Army
The work of the Civilian Conservation Corps in central New York State.
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.
Zinn Education Project
Wanting to go deeper into the history of labor and marginalized groups in the U.S.?
Tax Rates of the Mid-20th Century
Is it April 15 already? Discussing the recent past in context.
Innovation and Technology in the 19th Century
Of all the discoveries and developments that occurred in the 19th century, two proved to be the main force behind the development of the New Age.
Cold War Wrestling Match
How political cartoons illustrate international events and the artists beliefs.
Selling a Slave
The obstacles and restraints on disposing of one’s human “property.”
Civil Rights Sit-in
“Local custom” was at odds with company policy in Jackson, MS.
Taxation to Revolution
It was reasoned that no colonists could fear an act that made them drink cheaper tea.
The Disaster of Innovation
How the cotton gin revolutionized the use of slaves and the production of cotton in the Southern United States.
Intertwined Development: Railroads and Political Parties
The influence of the booming rail system on the growth and development of three political parties in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Trade Routes and Emerging Colonial Economies
The direct and indirect impacts of various trade routes during the 16th through 19th centuries.
Black Days in the Market
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 opened the curtain on the Great Depression.
The Barbary Pirates: Letter from Tripoli
Two letters from 1800 Tripoli lead into a story of piracy, privateering, slavery, international politics, and war at sea and on land.
Mystery Strategy for Elementary Students
Using the premise of a mystery, elementary students act as history detectives as they explore a historical question and formulate and test hypotheses.
Fine Line Between Thief and Entrepreneur
Explore the fine line between Captains of Industry and Robber Barons and how the terms has evolved over time.
Back to the Future . . .
In the year 1900, what did Americans think the next century would bring?
The Cost of Industrialization
Use the Triangle Shirtwaist fire to examine the benefits and costs of industrialization.
A Culture Productive of Infinite Wretchedness
How did the American colonies get addicted to growing tobacco?
United We Stand: Industry and Famous Strikes
Stand up (or sit down) for better working conditions! Test your knowledge of strikes in U.S. history.
Teaching the 20th
When does the past go from ‘recent’ to ‘history?’ Consider these questions about textbook portrayals of late 20th-century events.
FDR's Fireside Chats
High school teacher Joe Jelen combines roleplaying and critical analysis—by having students roleplay critics of the New Deal. Jelen’s students listen to one of FDR’s Fireside Chats and respond to the speech from the perspective of one of FDR’s many historical critics.
FDR's Fireside Chats
Historian Allida Black analyzes FDR’s April 28, 1935 Fireside Chat. What ideas and arguments does FDR present to the American people?
Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library
Teaching modern presidencies and politics? Take advantage of the virtual resources of the Foundation and Library.
Bank Notes of the Second Bank of the United States
The impermanence of paper money was matched by the impermanence of the bank that issued it.
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 Auto Industry Goes to War
Domestic automotive manufacturing took a back seat to military transport needs in World War II.
Nixtontapes.org
Teaching Watergate? Introduce students to the Nixon tapes with more than 2,000 hours of recordings.
Seattle General Strike Project
In 1919, Seattle workers launched the first general strike in U.S. history. Explore labor history with over 100 newspaper articles and other sources on the strike.
Building the Erie Canal
Cutting through New York from the ocean to the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal changed lives.
The Progressive Era
Explore the ins and outs of turn-of-the-century labor law, business, housing, and immigration.
Tips to Trappers
What do Sears Roebuck, farming, advertising, furs, and rural America have in common?
Reagan's "Rising Tide"
Economic policy during the Reagan Administration
Bubbles, Panics, and Crashes: A Century of Financial Crises, 1830s-1930s
Do your students think the Great Depression was the only previous slump in the U.S. economy?
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.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
Is your grandfather more likely to be working now than he would have been in 1970?
Slave Receipts
What do slave receipts reveal? Ever considered using similar documents to teach?
The Social Museum Collection at Harvard University
More than 6,000 images related to U.S. social conditions and institutions.
U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1994
More than 355,000 items produced by the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, from 1817-1994.
Early American Newspapers: Series 1, 1690-1876
17th- through 19th-century newspaper articles from 23 states and DC.
Freedom and the National Debt
Old Hickory’s hard currency—what are useful focal points in Jacksonian-era economic history?
Peace Corps
Explore world and U.S. history simultaneously through universal development issues.
Beyond Face Value: Depictions of Slavery in Confederate Currency
Learn about southern culture through the images on Confederate currency.
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps of South Carolina
A collection of maps detailing over 80 South Carolina towns and cities.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
View 22 census data samples and 65 million records from 13 federal censuses.
Material History of American Religion Project
Learn about American material culture and its relation to the nation’s religious history.
Hagley Digital Archives
Focused on business history, this gateway site connects businesses to greater cultural and social trends.
Leslie Brock Center for the Study of Colonial Currency, University of Virginia
Learn about the American colonial economy and currency.
For European Recovery: The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Marshall Plan
This website gives a broad introduction to the Marshall Plan and is home to over 30 primary sources.
September 11, 2001: Attack on America
How does a nation react, legally and politically, to international terrorism?
When They Were Young: A Photographic Retrospective of Childhood
What would it be like to grow up poor? Greek? Mexican? Rich?
Harvesting the River
Explore river life—with a particular focus on food harvesting.
Selected Historical Decennial Census Population and Housing Counts
What questions have past censuses posed? What were the results?
Worthington Memory, Online Scrapbook
Explore the history and development of a small town. The online scrapbook provides an uncanny lens into town life.
WPA Life Histories, Virginia Interviews
Explore Depression-era, ex-slave, and urban youth life stories.
Encyclopedia Britannica: The 1911 Edition
Find out what people thought of everything from ablation to vinegar in 1911.
Lesson Plans Library
Hundreds of lesson plans, right at your fingertips. Incorporate them in the classroom.
The Commercial Closet
How have GLBT lifestyles been portrayed and used by the commercial media?
Remembering Herblock
View political cartoons by Herbert Block, father of the term, “McCarthyism.”
Economic Data, Fred II
Get your historical national economical statistics right here.
Industrial Research and Development Information System
Ever curious about the nexus between R&D and economics?
Department of Transportation: Digital Special Collections
Read up on early 20th-century train and airplane accidents, among other transportation topics.
Characteristics of Census Tracts in Nine U.S. Cities, 1940-1960
How many hospital beds did New Orleans have in 1960? Was it able to accommodate the poor and sick?
HistoryWired: A Few of Our Favorite Things
What American history items do Smithsonian curators like best?
Democratic Vistas: The William Clyde DeVane Lecture Series
Look to the past to consider the prospects of democracy in the U.S.
NBER Macrohistory Database
Looking for historical economics statistics? The NBER Macrohistory Database should be a central resource for you.
One Hundred Years of Photography from the National Archives
Relive the 20th century through iconic imagery—more than 70 photographs represent major U.S. events.
Historical Atlas of the Twentieth Century
Compare global statistics on topics from infant mortality to literacy.
FDIC Historical Studies
What do you know about the 1980s Savings and Loan crisis?
Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Rare Books c. 1820-1910
Explore Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin life through rare books.
The 19th Century in Print: Books
What were people reading around the time of the Civil War?
Conversations with History
Brush up on your understanding of international relations with these interviews.
Earliest Voices: A Gallery from the Vincent Voice Library
Hear the conviction and charisma of seven renowned turn-of-the-century speakers.
WTO History Project
Take a peek at Seattle protest history through the WTO Ministerial Week.
SDA: Survey Documentation and Analysis
Observe statistical trends in U.S. beliefs and demographics from free speech to zodiac signs.
Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America
How much do you know about the first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury?
Washington History
Make this your first stop for topics related to Washington state history!
Milwaukee Neighborhoods: Photos and Maps, 1885-1992
Take a visual journey through the development of Milwaukee, WI.
Women Working, 1800-1930
What did women think of their work at home, in the arts, and in business?
American Memory Learning Page
Try lesson plans based on the Library of Congress’ American Memory collections.
Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition, History
What would your life have been like as a housewife in 1850?
Connecticut History Online
Take a look at the “Constitution State,” with approximately 14,000 images depicting Connecticut’s history from the 19th through the 20th century.
Federal Judiciary
Can’t tell an affadavit from an acquittal? Learn the legal lingo.
Pluralism and Unity
Explore the clash of ideas and ideologies in early 20th century America.
WestWeb: Western Studies and Research Resources
This gateway site provides a wealth of resources pertaining to the American West.
New Deal Stage: Selections from the Federal Theatre Project, 1935-1939
Learn about the New Deal through the Federal Theatre Project, designed to employ actors during the Great Depression.
New Jersery History Partnership Project
Use New Jersey during the American Revolution as a national microcosm.
A Century of Progress: The 1933-34 Chicago World's Fair
Browse official publications from the 1933-1934 World’s Fair.
Slavery and the Making of America
An extensive glimpse into slave life and the history of slavery in the United States.
Sanborn® Fire Insurance Maps for Georgia Towns and Cities, 1884-1922
More than 540 urban maps of Georgia from between 1884 and 1922, detailing business locations.
Seattle Power and Water Supply Collection
Take a gander at Washington state hydroelectric engineering feats of the 1890s through 1950s.
The History Box
Have a question about New York City or state history? More than 750 articles available.
Bound for Glory: America in Color, 1939-1943
View color photographs of everyday life during the Great Depression and pre-World War II mobilization.
Portal to Texas History
Texas educators, looking for primary resources on state history? Search this portal for thousands of images and documents drawn from Texas-based archival collections.
Las Vegas: An Unconventional History
Why is Las Vegas one of the world’s most popular destinations? How has it changed?
U.S. Census Bureau
The U.S. Census counts everyone! It creates a current image of the nation with its diversity and class variations.
New Jersey Public Records and Archives
Familiarize yourself with New Jersey history using images, maps, and official documents.
Teaching Future Historians: U.S. History Lesson Plans Using Primary Documents
A diverse array of Antebellum, Civil War, and Gilded Age lesson plans for your convenience.
Illinois During the Gilded Age
Listen to, read, and sing sources from the Gilded Age canvassing women, religion, and more.
Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands
Did you know that Micronesia was once a U.N. trusteeship administered by the United States?
Virtual Museum and Archive of the SEC and Securities History
If you want to understand big business, it would be wise to examine the SEC’s history.
Western History Photography Collection
How does your view of the American West compare to the visual reality?
Turning Points in Wisconsin History
Primary documents, background information, and lesson plans for Wisconsin history.
Encyclopedia of Chicago, Historical Sources
Imagine your life in 19th and 20th-century Chicago with this extensive collection of images.
Historic Missouri Newspaper Project
Peruse articles, images, and advertisements drawn from 14 Missouri newspapers, 1835 through 1988.
Thar's Gold in Them Thar Hills: Gold and Gold Mining in Georgia, 1830s-1940s
Gold mining, though often portrayed as lawless, was, in some cases, big business.
Minnesota Maps Online
Are you interested in cartography or the natural and social environment of early Minnesota?
Automobile in American Life and Society
Enter the world of automotive history through oral histories and scholarly essays.
Jacob Lawrence: Over the Line
Experience selected artworks by African American artist Jacob Lawrence while learning about his life.
Home Sweet Home: Life in 19th-Century Ohio
Examine 19th-century domestic life through sheet music and audio song files.
Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse
Review litigation studies ranging from mental health facilities and jail conditions to equal employment.
Probing the Past
What might you have owned in Maryland or Virginia in 1740-1810? (Lesson plans included!)
American State Papers, 1789-1838
Access Congressional documents from the first 25 Congresses.
Manufacturers' Catalogs from the First Decade of American Automobiles
Curious about early cars? View more than 800 automobile manufacturer catalog images from 1909.
Madison: Celebrating 150 Years
Learn about Madison, WI, from early settlement through its time as the “queen of bootleggers.”
American Broadsides and Ephemera, Series I, 1760-1900
Explore American life through advertisements, literature, poetry, Civil War envelopes, and more!
Travel, Tourism, and Urban Growth in Greater Miami: A Digital Archive
Interested in the history of tourism? This site examines the topic within Miami, FL.
Jimmy Carter
Brush up on your knowledge of Carter’s staff, family, and the events of his administration.
Alabama Maps
How have boundaries changed over time? Compare the maps of yesteryear with those of today.
LBJ Oral History Project Online
What better way to explore Johnson’s presidency than through the words of his associates?
How Much Have Federal Census Takers Made Through the Years?
Accounting for the counters.
U.S. Mint
A magician may be able to pull coins out of thin air, but most of us can’t.
National Atlas
Explore maps that enable you to better understand the country that you live in, and the land that surrounds you.
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!
Home Sales During the Great Depression
Building an edifice of statistics—where can you learn about the real estate market during the Depression?
Why Was the Boston Tea Party Not Stopped by British Troops?
To some extent, the Boston Tea Party was the result of unintended consequences.
Quoting Economic Policy
Milton Friedman and Herbert Hoover are excellent sources.
From Medieval Europe to Colonial America
What did Colonial America and Medieval Europe have in common?
Prosperity and Thrift: Coolidge Era and the Consumer Economy
An array of primary sources follows the rise of the consumer economy under Coolidge.
Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research
Social science data offered to member colleges and universities here covers a range of sociological and political areas.
Emergence of Advertising in America: 1850-1920
Follow the rise of professional advertising with these advertising items and publications from 1850 to 1920.
Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia 1876
Primary sources from Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exhibition provide a view of the U.S.’s industrial development.
The History of Social Security
We all know what the Social Security Administration does, but do you know how it was formed?
Performing Arts in America, 1875-1923
Browse primary sources reflecting the performing arts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
History of the American West, 1860-1920
More than 30,000 photographs capture life in Colorado from 1860 to 1920.
Voices from the Dust Bowl: 1940-1941
Great Depression documentation of migrant work camps in central California.
Samuel J. May Anti-Slavery Collection
With over 300,000 pages available for full-text searching, this is one of the richest collections of anti-slavery and Civil War materials in the world.
Oral History Digital Collection
In full-text narratives, more than 2,000 people from northeast Ohio discuss issues significant to the state and the nation.
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.
The Tax History Project
Follows the history of American taxation through a collection of primary and secondary sources.
Studs Terkel: Conversations with America
Meet Studs Terkel—oral historian, radio host, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Slaves and the Courts, 1740-1860
Delve into the complex history of slavery and the law with this collection of primary sources.
France in America
In French and English, explore the history of the French in North America from the 1500s through the 1800s.
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Photographs
Close to 200 photographs document the work of Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).
Business Plan Archive
Through this collection of business plans and planning information, track the beginning of the “Dot Com Era.”
Bureau of Economic Analysis
Follow historical trends in national, international, and regional economic activity using the Bureau’s data.
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
A variety of primary sources and background essays explore the 1911 fire, a hallmark tragedy of the industrial age.
Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940
Read the life histories of a range of U.S. citizens, compiled by the WPA’s Federal Writers’ Project.
Chicago Anarchists on Trial: Evidence from the Haymarket Affair, 1886-1887
The court proceedings surrounding the Haymarket Affair look at the event that led to the first “Red Scare” in America.
Anti-Saloon League, 1893-1933
Printed materials preserve the public campaigns of the Anti-Saloon League from 1893 to 1933.
Touring Turn-of-the-Century America
This database of images literally offers snapshots of late 19th to early 20th century America.
Territorial Kansas Online
Primary and secondary sources examine the growing divisions in Kansas and the nation prior to the Civil War.
Slavery in New York
Nine galleries explore the history of slavery in New York City.
Kentuckiana Digital Library
Collects photographs, texts, and oral histories drawn from 15 Kentucky colleges, universities, libraries, and historical societies.
Core Historical Literature of Agriculture
Searchable facsimiles of 1,850 monographs and 288 journal volumes related to agriculture in the U.S. between 1806 and 1989.
Colonial Connecticut Records, 1636-1776
Explore the 15-volume Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut, from April 1636 to October 1776.
Center for Archaeological Studies
Showcases archaeological excavations at Mobile and elsewhere in Alabama through images and exhibits.
Flint Sit-Down Strike
Provides a multimedia introduction to “the greatest strike in American history.”
America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915
Collects 150 1894–1915 motion pictures on work, school, and leisure activities.
Marchand Archive
Memorializes Roland Marchand with more than 6,100 images, including more than 2,000 advertisements, and 48 lesson plans drawn from his collection.
Florida State Archives Photographic Collection
Presents more than 137,000 photographs of Florida on specific localities from the mid-19th century to the present.
Selling the Computer Revolution: Marketing Brochures in the Collection
Presents more than 250 computer marketing brochures from 1948 to 1988.
Making the Macintosh: Technology and Culture in Silicon Valley
Preserves the history of the Macintosh through interviews with designers, technical writers, Apple employees, and others.
Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943
Showcases more than 900 Work Projects Administration (WPA) posters produced as part of the New Deal.
NSA and the Cuban Missile Crisis
Provides access to facsimiles of 100 declassified documents relating to the Cuban Missile Crisis.
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.
Photographs from the Chicago Daily News: 1902-1933
Presents more than 55,000 Chicago Daily News photographs taken in the early 20th century.
Chinese in California, 1850-1925
Browse more than 8,000 objects related to Chinese immigrant life in California.
1896: The Presidential Campaign
Follow the contentious election of 1896 with close to 100 political cartoons related to the presidential campaigns.
Like a Family: The Making of a Southern Cotton Mill World
Offers oral history resources examining life in southern textile mill towns from the 1880s to the 1930s.
Ad*Access
Archives more than 7,000 newspaper and magazine advertisements printed in the U.S. from 1911 to 1955.
American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election
Access 59 sound recordings of 1918-1920 speeches by American leaders.
California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California, 1849-1900
40,000 written pages and more than 3,000 illustrations provide accounts of California history from the Gold Rush to the end of the 19th century.
Online Archive of California
Explore California from Japanese American internment or the Free Speech Movement to oral histories.
The Great Depression to World War II: Photos from the FSA-OWI
Explore this database of over 150,000 photographs that capture the true nature of this crisis and its solutions.
Geography of Slavery in America
Provides transcriptions and images of more than 4,000 newspaper advertisements for runaway slaves and indentured servants between 1736 and 1803.
Atlantic Slave Trade and Slave Life in the Americas: A Visual Record
Showcases more than 1,230 images depicting the enslavement of Africans, the Atlantic Slave Trade, and slave life in the New World.
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.