+
Article
A&E Television

History.com: The Most Dramatic Home Run in World Series History

For Students 9th - 10th
In the bottom of the ninth in Game 7 of the wild 1960 World Series, Bill Mazeroski of the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates toppled the mighty New York Yankees. The Pirates were huge underdogs against the dynastic New York Yankees, who had...
+
Handout
University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania: The Hollywood Blacklist

For Students 9th - 10th
This site describes what went on in Hollywood during the Red Scare of the 1950s when many actors and directors were asked to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee about possible communist activity in Hollywood.
+
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Hollywood During the Great Depression

For Students 9th - 10th
One can trace the cynicism and despair at the beginning of the Great Depression to a more optimistic point of view by the end of the New Deal by looking at the movies produced by Hollywood. Read about the subject matter of the movies...
+
Website
Other

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County: Dinosaur Institute: Dinosaurs

For Students 9th - 10th
The origins, evolution and diversification of dinosaurs through geologic time are described, as well as their portrayal in Hollywood movies. There is also information about how birds evolved from dinosaurs.
+
Primary
Other

Media History Digital Library: Hollywood Studio System Collection (1913 1948)

For Students 9th - 10th
A large collection of original periodicals that focused on the movie industry covering periods from 1905 to the 1960s.
+
Website
Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Gilder Lehrman Institute: History Now: Anti Communism in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
[Free Registration/Login Required] An essay tracing the anti-Communist hysteria beginning in earnest at the end of World War II that resulted in Truman's federal Loyalty Security program and ending with McCarthyism in the 1950s.
+
Primary
Other

Media History Digital Library: Fan Magazine Collection (1911 1963)

For Students 9th - 10th
A large collection of original fan magazines that focused on movies and movie stars covering periods from 1911 to 1960.
+
Article
Made From Media

Made From History:10 Historical Myths Everyone Believes Because of Hollywood

For Students 9th - 10th
An article which highlights either myths that have emerged from factually incorrect movies or historical films that have had their facts tweaked in the name of art.
+
Website
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Mit: The Tech: Clunky French Camille Claudel Gets Stuck in Hollywood

For Students 9th - 10th
This is a review of the film about Camille Claudel's sad life and aspiring career as a sculptress.
+
Handout
The History Cat

The History Cat: Red Scare America

For Students 9th - 10th
Describes the events that took place during the McCarthy Era and actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Ordinary Americans feared being identified as a Communist sympathizer and libraries removed books from their shelves...
+
Website
Digital History

Digital History: Trailers of Historically Significant Films

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides links to trailers of historically significant American films.
+
Website
Michigan State University

Michigan State University: Msu Libraries: American Radicalism

For Students 9th - 10th
The American Radicalism Collection holds over 17,000 items. It includes books, pamphlets, periodicals, posters, and ephemeral material covering a wide range of viewpoints on political, social, and economic issues in America. The emphasis...
+
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Machine: Movies

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
+
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Felix the Cat

For Students 9th - 10th
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
+
Handout
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Anticommunism in the 1950s

For Students 9th - 10th
Looks at the paranoia of the 1950s when Americans lived in fear of communism. The House Committee on Un-American Activities created blacklists of people working in Hollywood, McCarthyism flourished, and the Rosenberg couple were tried...
+
Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs News Hour: Reel Politics: How Hollywood Exercises Free Speech (Lesson Plan)

For Teachers 9th - 10th
A lesson for exploring how films can be used as political tools and as vehicles for informing the public and promoting political agendas. Students research critically acclaimed political films throughout history and create a two-page...
+
Handout
Other

Reel Classics: Shirley Temple

For Students 9th - 10th
This guide offers a history of child film star Shirley Temple's career. Includes audio and video. Requires Quicktime.
+
Website
Other

California Newsreel: Videos on African American Life

For Students 9th - 10th
This company claims to be the "oldest and most notable non-profit documentary production and distribution center in the nation." It offers a rich collection of videos on all aspects of African American life and history: e.g., Academy...
+
Interactive
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Classroom: Civil Liberties in Wartime

For Students 9th - 10th
This website contains an interactive timeline about the history of civil liberties at wartime.
+
Article
Ibis Communications

Eyewitness to History: Making Movies, 1920

For Students 9th - 10th
Firsthand account of the filmimg of director D.W. Griffith's movie Way Down East staring actress Lillian Gish.
+
Handout
Other

Something About Mary Pickford

For Students 9th - 10th
This article is about the life and career of Mary Pickford, a Canadian-born actress who gained fame as a silent film star in Hollywood.
+
Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Bill Robinson

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn about the life and career of Bill Robinson, an American dancer of Broadway and Hollywood, best known for his dancing roles with Shirley Temple in films of the 1930s.
+
eBook
OpenStax

Open Stax: Prosperity and Cold War Fears 1945 60: Popular Culture and Mass Media

For Students 11th - 12th
Examines the impact that rock and roll music, movies and the invention of television had on America in the 1950s.
+
Handout
Encyclopedia Britannica

Encyclopedia Britannica: Oscar Micheaux

For Students 9th - 10th
This entry from Encyclopedia Britannica features Oscar Micheaux, a prolific African American producer and director who made films independently of the Hollywood film industry from the silent era until 1948.