Curated OER
Recreating Marriage: The Same-Sex Union Debate
A debate continues regarding same-sex marriage as a constitutional right. This lesson requires learners to define marriage then formulate an argument that reconstructs the national debate perspectives. Many standards are addressed but a...
University of Pennsylvania
Ten Days in a Mad House by Nellie Bly
The harrowing experiences of Nellie Bly as she observed undercover the workings of Blackwell Island Insane Asylum are reproduced here as they were originally published.
PBS
Pbs: Not for Ourselves Alone
This site, a companion to a PBS program, explores the lives of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. With ample use of video and audio commentary, the site chronicles their work, their friendship and thus the history of the...
Other
Bringing History Home: The Progressive Era
In this 4th grade unit, students study how citizens and government of the early 20th century sought solutions to problems that accompanied immigration and industrialization. By focusing on child labor, factory working conditions and...
Other
Aim: Trail of Broken Treaties 20 Point Position Paper
Original text of the plan for the reconstruction of Indian communities, developed by the American Indian Movement (AIM.)
Other
Carrie Chapman Catt Girlhood Home and Museum: About Carrie Chapman Catt
From an official website dedicated to Catt, read this informative biography. Navigate through the menu under the 'About Carrie' tab to find a trove of information about her home, multimedia resources, an interactive timeline of her life,...
Other
Smith College: Across the Generations:exploring Us History Through Family Papers
The reform movement during the nineteenth century is explored through original documents. This site gives an overview of the social history of this time period.
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: The Progressives
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the Progressive period in America and the reform movements that accompanied it. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of key events from...
Nobel Media AB
The Nobel Prize: Jane Addams Biographical
This detailed biography on the life of Jane Addams (1860-1935 CE,) a Nobel Laureate who shared the 1931 Nobel Peace Prize with Nicholas Murray Butler, includes several book resources for further reading and research.
Stanford University
Sheg: Document Based History: Reading Like a Historian: Jacob Riis
[Free Registration/Login Required] Students solve a problem surrounding a historical question by reading primary source documents. This historical inquiry instructional activity allows students to investigate the photographs of...
Stanford University
Sheg: Reading Like a Historian: Settlement House Movement Sac
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson using primary sources from Progressive Era about the Settlement House Movement. Includes downloadable teacher materials, student materials, and primary source documents.
Google Cultural Institute
Google Cultural Institute: Richmond Comes Together: Images of Community Outreach
Photographic essay focuses on the local and national charitable organizations that offer social services and community outreach in the area of Richmond, Virginia.
Other
Susan B. Anthony House: Her Story
This detailed biography of Susan B. Anthony provides sections that focus on her work as an abolitionist, education reformer, labor activist, temperance worker, suffragist, and women's rights campaigner.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Florence Kelley
Florence Kelley dedicated her life to social reform. She worked to end many social problems, including labor and racial discrimination.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Jane Addams
A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Memory: Civil War Memory and American Nostalgia: Influence of Lincoln
An excerpt from Jane Addams' autobiography "Twenty Years at Hull House" that describes how Abraham Lincoln inspired her urban reform efforts.
Curated OER
National Park Service: Eleanor Roosevelt, American Visionary
This site features photos and artifacts from the life of one of the most dynamic and controversial First Ladies in U.S. history, as well as a virtual tour of her home.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Dorothea Dix 1802 1887
Best know for her work with the mentally ill. Dorthea Dix also was very involved in the work of prison reform. Here, you can read her fascinating life story.
Digital History
Digital History: Pre Civil War Reform: Assisting the Disabled
The early 19th century saw giant strides in social reform. Read about those who advocated for the mentally ill, deaf, and blind from the Digital textbook from University of Houston.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: The Social Gospel, 1908
An excerpt from Walter Rauschenbusch's "Christianity and the Social Crisis." Rauschenbusch was a Baptist minister and proponent of The Social Gospel movement.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Fdr: Fireside Chats, the New Deal, and Eleanor
In this Curriculum Unit, learners will consider "FDR: Fireside Chats, the New Deal, and Eleanor" in 5 Lessons. The unit also includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Steven Kreis, PhD
The History Guide: The Enlightenment
A great essay on the Enlightenment period of the 18th century with hyperlinks to many individuals and movements of the time. A very scholarly look at the "age of enlightenment."
PBS
Pbs: American Experience: Around the World in 72 Days
This PBS site follows undercover journalist Nellie Bly (1864-1922) on her 72-day journey in 1889 around the world.
New Deal Network
New Deal Network: Survey Graphics: City Diets and Democracy by Frances Perkins
Ever the social worker, this 1941 article written by Frances Perkins discussed the role of nutrition in developing the healthy worker, which in turn supported democracy. From the magazine Survey Graphic, Magazine of Social Interpretation.