Curated OER
The Story Was in the Details
Students explore and analyze primary documents from historical women's diaries. They conduct Internet research, develop conclusions about the primary documents, answer questions, and present their information to the class.
Curated OER
"Dear Ma and Pa" Primary Documents: Letters Home from the War
Pupils read and analyze letters written by a soldier during World War II. They discuss using letters as a primary source of historical information, complete a worksheet, and write a letter to a loved one.
Curated OER
Sustained Resistance
Eleventh graders research events that led up to the Civil Rights movement using primary source documents that show attitudes about lynching.
Curated OER
Learning to Read Primary Documents
Students research primary source documents related to the Canadian Loyalist theme at Canada's Learning Center website. They examine a painting, a list and a discharge notice of a soldier.
Curated OER
Sorting the Loyalist Documents
Middle schoolers organize the Canadian Loyalist primary source documents and add more information to their primary source document concept maps.
Curated OER
What We Leave Behind
Students analyze primary source documents from the 1830's. They examine how records, memoirs and artifacts preserve history and discuss what should be placed in a time capsule for future generations.
Library of Congress
Loc: Gettysburg Address
An exhibition showcasing key documents linked to Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. Included are drafts of the address, transcriptions of the address in English and 28 other languages, Lincoln's invitation to Gettysburg, the only...
University of Groningen
American History: Documents: Dred Scott Case
Here you will find the primary source text of the case and the opinions of the Supreme Court Justices in the Scott v Sandford case which ultimately ruled on the constitutionality of the Missouri Compromise.
Library of Congress
Loc: American Treasures: A More Perfect Union: Gallery B
This is a large site from American Treasures covering primary source documents from the early 1800s through the Civil War and on to Western Expansion.
Library of Congress
Loc: Teachers: Suffrage Strategies: Voices for Votes Lesson Plan
Students will learn all about the history of suffrage for women and what influences were used to change people's attitudes. They will then use their understanding to create a modern-day election document of ephemera, for example, a...
Library of Congress
Loc: Online Exhibition: The Cultures and History of the Americas
Examine some of the rare books, maps, prints and other artifacts in this online exhibition. The exhibition explores several themes on the cultures and history of the Americas. The collection focuses on the period of pre-contact through...
Library of Congress
Loc: From the Home Front and the Front Lines
Exhibition consisting of original materials and oral histories drawn from the Veterans History Project collections.
University of Virginia
Virginia Center for Digital History: The Geography of Slavery in Virginia
A digital collection of advertisements for runaway and captured slaves in the period before the American Civil War. In addition, there are historical documents related to slavery. Gives the option of browsing or doing a detailed search....
PBS
Pbs: Learning Media: Why Should Women Vote? The Suffrage Question
In this activity, students view eleven different documents arguing both for and against women's right to vote. They must click and drag them in the order that they were created. As they work, they need to make a list of the arguments...
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
U.s. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Auschwitz Through Lens of the Ss
A moving online exhibit of photographs from an album of a Nazi officer who was the commandant at Auschwitz. The accompanying commentary includes a video, podcast, and comparison of the photos of Nazi officials to those of the inhabitants...
US National Archives
Our Documents: A National Initiative on American History, Civics, and Service
Our Documents is home to one hundred milestone documents that influenced that course of American history and American democracy. Includes full-page scans of each document, transcriptions, background information on their significance, and...
Other
Colorado College: Tutt Library: Sand Creek Papers 1861 1864
Provides links to images of the actual pages of documents involving the Sand Creek Massacre.
Yale University
Avalon Project: The Louisiana Purchase 1803
A series of primary source documents all related to the Louisiana Purchase. Includes the text of the final agreement, speeches by Jefferson and others. Great stuff!
Rutgers University
Digital Archive of New Jersey History: New Jersey in the Civil War
Lesson plans that use primary sources to teach the role of New Jersey in the Civil War. Plans tie literature with history and provide opportunities for many learning styles.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: The Gettysburg Address
The National Museum of American History has assembled a collection of resources that underscore the significance of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, including a draft of the speech in Lincoln's own hand, a video of the Lincoln Bedroom,...
Texas State Library and Archives Commission
Texas State Library and Archives Commission: About Texas: Reconstruction Acts: 1867
The text of the Reconstruction Acts of 1867. Section one establishes military districts in the South.
Library of Congress
Loc: Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
The Library of Congress takes an in-depth look into the life of Abraham Lincoln through the use of Alfred Whital Stern's collection of Lincoln memorabilia. View letters written by Lincoln as well as various objects from his life....
US National Archives
National Archives: Bring History to Life
How can you actually bring history to life? Here are some tools from the National Archives that allow students to create their own projects using primary-source based activities that develop historical thinking skills. Special historical...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: Civil War, a Nation Divided
A wonderful resource using primary and secondary source materials to explore many facets of the Civil War from the war itself to its impact on the home front. Includes video and text downloads.