Religion and the Labor Movement: A Guide for Pre-Service Teachers
Engaging Library of Congress primary sources that connect religion and organized labor.
Monticello: Jefferson's Experiment
TAH teachers get an introduction to Monticello as Thomas Jefferson’s ’laboratory.'
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.
Children's Lives at Colonial London Town
Invite young students into colonial history with the stories of children from three very different families.
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.
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!
Women's Rights: Sarah Bagley Letters
What do these letters from a women’s rights activist reveal about social causes in the 1840s?
Labor Unions in the Cotton Mills
Introduce students to the importance of oral history while simultaneously teaching them about 20th-century labor unions.
Women's Suffrage Photographs
How did the women’s suffrage movement use the rise of journalism to its advantage? TJ Boisseau looks at what photographs reveal.
The Short-Handled Hoe
History is imbedded in the smallest objects. In this lesson, students examine how a simple farming tool connects to the work done by United Farm Workers.
Teachinghistory.org’s AHA Workshop: Teaching the Past in a Digital World
Missed our workshop at the American Historical Association in Chicago? Catch a recap here.
Lewis Hine: Caption Critique
Does a caption change the meaning of a photograph?
Digital Resource Guide for the Labor Archives of Washington State
Making labor history access less of a chore.
Guampedia
Guam is often left out of discussions of U.S. history. Remedy the situation!
Herman Melville's "Bartleby, the Scrivener"
Is reading a piece of historic literature once enough? Not if you want to get the most out of literary sources.
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!
Industrializing Women
Did industrialization result in more women working outside the home or in more women in domestic spheres only?
Joe Hill
Union strikes. Murder. Itinerant songwriting. The life of martyr Joe Hill could hardly have been more dramatic or mysterious.
HERB: Social History for Every Classroom
Find a wide variety of classroom resources focused on social history, from classroom activities to primary sources.
Throughout the Ages
Looking for a primary source website created especially for elementary teachers?
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.
In Pursuit of Freedom
Frederick Douglass approached the abolition of slavery from within the confines of the Constitution.
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.
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.
Zinn Education Project
Wanting to go deeper into the history of labor and marginalized groups in the U.S.?
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.
Great Expectations for the Civil War
Many believed the Civil War would be a short, bloodless battle. The reality of the drawn out combat led many soldiers in the North and South to desert the military to return home to farm and family.
The Disaster of Innovation
How the cotton gin revolutionized the use of slaves and the production of cotton in the Southern United States.
Trade Routes and Emerging Colonial Economies
The direct and indirect impacts of various trade routes during the 16th through 19th centuries.
East St. Louis Massacre
Raising “the terrible weapon of self-defense” during riots in 1917 Illinois.
The Cost of Industrialization
Use the Triangle Shirtwaist fire to examine the benefits and costs of industrialization.
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.
Yo, Ho, Ho and a . . . Bushel of Oysters?
Shellfish pirates stole from the rich to feed themselves—and make a little money on the side.
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.
Chicano/a Movement in Washington State History Project
Washington State educators, bring diversity and reform activism into your classroom with resources on this civil rights movement.
The Progressive Era
Explore the ins and outs of turn-of-the-century labor law, business, housing, and immigration.
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?
Geo-Literacy Project: Students Explore Their World
Teacher Eva La Mar’s third graders become historians, writers, and videographers as they explore a community site.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
Why did George Washington start gathering national data on agriculture?
The Social Museum Collection at Harvard University
More than 6,000 images related to U.S. social conditions and institutions.
Kheel Center Labor Photos
More than 1,000 photographs from the history of the International Ladies Garment Workers Union.
The Dramas of Haymarket
Written in the form of a drama, this website takes visitors through the Haymarket Affair.
Bisbee Deportation of 1917
Learn about labor history through the infamous Bisbee Deportation.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series
View 22 census data samples and 65 million records from 13 federal censuses.
Hagley Digital Archives
Focused on business history, this gateway site connects businesses to greater cultural and social trends.
Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904
A collection of resources pertaining to the Westinghouse Works company, including films and articles.
Liberty Rhetoric and 19th-Century American Women
Compare early women’s rights campaigns to the rhetoric of the American Revolution.
Photographer to the World-The Detroit Publishing Company
When travel wasn’t an easy option what views did people have of other places?
The Perilous Fight: America's World War II in Color
Explore World War II’s color film footage.
Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition
What was said, written, and drawn about slavery? Gain a more complete image of the institution, its evil effects, and how it felt to be a slave.
Life Interrupted: The Japanese American Experience in WW II Arkansas
What was life like during Japanese American internment?
Forests, Fields, and the Falls
How did the lumber, flour, sawmill, and farming industries shape Minnesota’s future?
North Carolinians and the Great War
How did World War I effect the lives of the everyday North Carolinian?
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?
Jacob Lawrence: Exploring Stories
Frame your lessons on the Great Migration with the life and works of Jacob Lawrence.
Communism in Washington State--History and Memory Project
Communist Russia. Communist China. Communist Washington?
Streetscape and Townscape of Metropolitan New York City, 1860-1942
See uncommon photograph subjects for the turn-of-the-century, such as street peddlers.
Dox Thrash: An African American Master Printmaker Rediscovered
View depictions of African American life by artist Dox Thrash.
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.
Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting
How does an industrial past shape current work and play? How does it affect what professions still exist in cities?
WPA Life Histories, Virginia Interviews
Explore Depression-era, ex-slave, and urban youth life stories.
Meeting of Frontiers
How does the settling of the Siberian frontier compare to that of the U.S. West?
World War I History Commission Questionnaires
How did World War I change soldiers’ attitudes, religious beliefs, and employment prospects?
The Hartford Black History Project
Follow the formation of the African American community in the city of Hartford, CT
U.S. Steel Gary Works Photograph Collection, 1906-1971
Relive the construction of the city of steel—Gary, Indiana.
Economic Data, Fred II
Get your historical national economical statistics right here.
Voices of the Colorado Plateau
There’s more to the West than cowboys.
History Through Deaf Eyes
What has the U.S. deaf population experienced?
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?
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.
Agents of Social Change: 20th-Century Women's Activism
Source documents to help you approach 20th-century feminism.
Regional Oral History Office
Explore California oral histories, or learn to conduct your own interviews.
Photographs of the American West, 1861-1912
Imagine life on the western frontier.
A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890
We all know the role of the wagon in westward expansion, but what of ships?
A Southern Mill Village: History of Old West Durham
Follow the development of a mill town from its birth to its current status.
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.
Online Encyclopedia of Washington State History
Right this way for Seattle and Washington state history resources.
Pioneering the Upper Midwest: Rare Books c. 1820-1910
Explore Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin life through rare books.
The 19th Century in Print: Periodicals
What magazines do you read? What did people read in the 1800s?
Toledo's Attic: A Virtual Museum of Toledo, Ohio
Explore Toledo, Ohio’s entertainment, technological, business, and political history.
Drawing the Western Frontier: The James E. Taylor Album
How did newspaper illustration shape stereotypes (and our understanding) of the “Wild West”?
Earliest Voices: A Gallery from the Vincent Voice Library
Hear the conviction and charisma of seven renowned turn-of-the-century speakers.
Picturing Modern America Project
Create your own thematic exhibits using Library of Congress images.
Access to Archival Databases
Delve into more than 85 million records related to U.S. history.
National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
More than 50 virtual exhibits ranging from Julia Child to West Point.
WTO History Project
Take a peek at Seattle protest history through the WTO Ministerial Week.
Pittsburgh City Photographer
See Pittsburgh, PA, the way it appeared as early as the 1890s.
Women Working, 1800-1930
What did women think of their work at home, in the arts, and in business?
Carriers' Addresses
Did you know that, traditionally, newsboys read poems to their customers on New Year’s?
American Memory Learning Page
Try lesson plans based on the Library of Congress’ American Memory collections.
Colonial House
Companion to a PBS television program, this site provides insight into everyday colonial life.
What Exit? New Jersey and Its Turnpike
Travel through history with the New Jersey Turnpike.
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.
Hard Hat Riots: An Online History Project
Learn about the Hard Hat Riots of New York with this innovative website.
Coal Mining in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era
Visit this unique site to learn about the history of coal mining during the Gilded Age.
A Curriculum of United States Labor History for Teachers
Learn about labor politics and economics throughout American history.
Pluralism and Unity
Explore the clash of ideas and ideologies in early 20th century America.
Center for Working-Class Studies
Begin your study of working class and labor history with this website.
A New Deal for the Arts
View works from artists financed by the United States Government during the Great Depression.
Children in Urban America: A Digital Archive
Imagine what it might have been like growing up over 100 years ago.
Vietnam War Era Ephemera Collection
Explore campus protest ephemera and the youth movements of the 1960s and 70s.
Lest We Forget: The Triumph Over Slavery
Explore slavery in America from nine thematic perspectives.
H.H. Bennett: Photographer Extraordinaire
View commercial photography from the last half of the 19th century.
Columbia River Basin Ethnic History Archive
Which ethnic groups have made their homes in the Columbia River Basin?
Freedom Now! An Archival Project of Tougaloo College and Brown University
Immerse yourself in the historical struggle for the African American vote in Mississippi.
Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers
What happened between 1880 and 1910 in the area where you live?
Bound for Glory: America in Color, 1939-1943
View color photographs of everyday life during the Great Depression and pre-World War II mobilization.
Historic Pittsburgh
Acquaint yourself with Pittsburgh history through full texts, images, maps, census data, and lesson plans.
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.
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.
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.
The Eastman Project: Images of California Life
View more than 13,200 photographs of California labor and community life between 1921 and 1965.
Automobile in American Life and Society
Enter the world of automotive history through oral histories and scholarly essays.
Liberian Letters
What was life like for freed slaves returned to Africa? Read letters to former owners.
Lawrence Denny Lindsley Photographs
What did the Seattle area, mining, hunting, and portraiture look like c. 1900?
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!
American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning
Looking for a new way to teach history? Peruse new media and educational resources.
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”?
Stating Your Case: Writing Thesis Statements Effectively
Thesis statements form the backbone of history essays and DBQs.
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.
History of the American West, 1860-1920
More than 30,000 photographs capture life in Colorado from 1860 to 1920.
African-American Perspectives: Pamphlets from 1818-1907
Pamphlets and documents from 1875 to 1900 highlight African American leaders and organizations.
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.
Emma Goldman Papers
Learn more about Emma Goldman, radical and feminist activist, through this collection of primary and secondary sources.
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.
American Radicalism Collection
From the Ku Klux Klan to the IWW, examine 129 historical documents from radical organizations.
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.
Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project
Primary and secondary sources document the minority struggle for civil rights in Seattle’s history.
Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) Photographs
Close to 200 photographs document the work of Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA).
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire
A variety of primary sources and background essays explore the 1911 fire, a hallmark tragedy of the industrial age.
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.
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.
Center for Archaeological Studies
Showcases archaeological excavations at Mobile and elsewhere in Alabama through images and exhibits.
Africans in America
Trace the history of Africans in America through Reconstruction, with 245 images, maps, and documents.
Digital History
Multimedia resources for teaching slavery, private life, technology, and film.
Flint Sit-Down Strike
Provides a multimedia introduction to “the greatest strike in American history.”
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000
Offers 45 mini-monographs on U.S. women’s history, each organized around an analytical question concerning a social movement.
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.
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.
Urban Experience in Chicago: Hull-House and Its Neighborhoods, 1889-1963
Peruse this collection of over 900 items relating to Chicago’s Hull House to discover its influence on 20th century urban development.
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.
American Leaders Speak: Recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election
Access 59 sound recordings of 1918-1920 speeches by American leaders.
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.
Freedmen's Bureau Online
Read about crimes committed in the former Confederate states between 1865 to 1868.
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.
Virtual Jamestown
Experience firsthand accounts of Jamestown and colonial history, dating from 1570 through 1720.
Online Archive of California
Explore California from Japanese American internment or the Free Speech Movement to oral histories.
Internet Moving Images Archive
Reproduces a privately held collection of American ephemeral films produced between 1927 and 1987.
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.