is a curriculum-oriented site concentrating on the area, south of the main business district, where blacks lived in Chicago, Illinois. The site shows photos and maps of historic buildings in the area and gives suggestions for student assignments.
is a lesson plan for teachers that uses primary source materials on the Depression and Southern and African American experiences. The unit emphasizes language arts and offers activities including an analysis of oral histories from Alabama collected between 1936 and 1940, parallel primary source readings on mob behavior and lynching, and visual literacy activity with photographs of Alabama during the Great Depression. The website features more enrichment activities and related readings.
recounts the struggle for control of Hawaii between native Hawaiians and American business interests in the late 1800s. This 1897 petition and a lobbying effort by native Hawaiians convinced the U.S. Congress not to annex the islands. But months later the U.S.S. Maine exploded in Havana and the Spanish-American War began. The U.S. needed a mid-Pacific fueling station and naval base.
examines the causes and effects of President Franklin Roosevelt's executive order, signed two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, that moved nearly 120,000 Japanese and Japanese Americans into relocation centers. An excerpt is provided from the executive order as well as headlines from newspapers, a 1942 notice of "instructions to all persons of Japanese ancestry," a description of life in the relocation centers, maps, and photos of a typical barracks room, mess hall, and more.
introduces students to one instance in which immigrants overcame the ramifications of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 through the U.S. judicial system. This lesson correlates to the National History Standards and National Standards for Civics and Government. It also has cross-curricular connections with history, government, language arts, and math.
looks at the contributions of early Asian immigrants to the development of California's economic and agricultural industries. The site also identifies obstacles encountered by Asian cultural groups in America and describes life in Walnut Grove and Locke during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
reveals how immigrant cigar makers adapted to life in the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th century while maintaining their ethnic identity. This lesson also describes Cuban immigrant efforts to free Cuba from Spain and their involvement in the Spanish-American War of 1898.
offers more than 30 collections of photos, essays, and other resources for learning about American Indians. Topics include daily life for Native American women in the late 1800s, the Wounded Knee Massacre, Custer's Last Stand, and Pocahontas. Resources include a tribe locator, recordings of Native American music, and an exhibit of flutes.
tells about the removal of the Cherokee Nation from their ancestral homeland (NC, TN, GA, AL) to "Indian Territory" (now Oklahoma). After passage of the Indian Removal Act and the discovery of gold on Cherokee lands (1830), about 100,000 American Indians living between the original 13 states and the Mississippi River were relocated to Oklahoma. The trails they followed came to be known as the Trail of Tears.
presents letters, business papers, photos, maps, ship logbooks, and narratives that can help students understand the story of American's travel by sea to settle California, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. Themes illustrated by these materials, selected from Mystic Seaport's collection, include whaling, life at sea, the California Gold Rush, and native populations.
describes village life in the Hidatsa and Mandan tribes during the peak of their culture in the early 19th century (North Dakota). It helps students compare information about these seasonally nomadic Plains villagers with the more popularized film and textbook history of nomadic horse-culture Indians such as the Lakota and Cheyenne.
tells the story that began when 300 French and Native allies invaded the English settlement of Deerfield, MA. They captured 112 Deerfield men, women, and children, whom they marched 300 miles to Canada. A number died or were killed on route; most were ransomed. Later, over one-third chose to remain among their captors. Events are examined from 5 perspectives: the Mohawk, Abenaki, Huron, French, and English. More than 100 artifacts, 13 interactive maps, and 100 illustrations are included.
The Boston Children's Museum and Wampanoag Indian Advisors work together to create and maintain this site that details the history, culture, and heritage of the Wampanoag Indians. The extensive site include images of present-day Wampanoag as well as audio files of their stories and details on their heritage.
This fully bilingual curriculum for elementary, middle school and high school focuses on how immigration and migration have shaped Latino and U.S. popular music, the ways Latinos have expressed their experiences as Americans and how Latino youth have driven popular music innovations that cross diverse ethnic boundaries. This social studies curriculum may also useful to teachers of music, Spanish and ESL-ELL.
