National Humanities Center
Teaching The Great Gatsby: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
The 41 slides in a professional development seminar model how to use close reading techniques to examine the many layers of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. In addition to passages from the novel, slides provide biographical...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Blackface Minstrelsy in Modern America
This collection uses primary sources to explore blackface minstrelsy in modern America.
15 Minute History
15 Minute History: Not Even Past: Episode 41: The Myth of Race in America
The idea of race has been a powerful driving force in American history since colonial times, but what exactly is race? Guest Jacqueline Jones, one of the foremost experts on the history of racial history in the United States, helps us...
Yale University
Yale New Haven Teachers Institute: Changing Attitudes in America
A collection of lesson plans that help teachers examine diversity, institutional racism, and other topics in social justice.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Divisions: Black & White
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National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
Michigan State University
Michigan State University: Msu Libraries: Digital Collections: Asian America
A collection of primary source documents and books that detail the racial discrimination Chinese and Japanese immigrants faced in the U.S. during America's involvement in the Second World War. One report from 1877 looks at Chinese...
University of Nebraska
U. Of Nebraska: Railroads and the Making of Modern America: Tourism and Mobility
Primary source materials that focus on how the railroads facilitated travel and tourism in America in the mid-1800s. Includes railroad timetables, anecdotal accounts, traveler advice, charts, illustrations, and lots more.
Other
Aha: Teaching the History of Race in Latin America
A short article which examines the issue of race in Latin American societies and how teachers can approach the issue in their history classes. Good historic background is provided.
Writing Fix
Writing Fix: Ain't That America
Students think that classic literature and historic events have little in common with life today, right? Think again! In this instructional activity, students get a chance to compare themes from classic novels or from American history to...
PBS
Pbs: Matters of Race
Online companion to "Matters of Race" PBS program, which explores what makes a race, who decides what race means, the issues faced by people of mixed race, and the future of race in America. Includes essays, an area for sharing personal...
PBS
Wnet: Thirteen: Freedom: A History of Us: Webisode 14: Let Freedom Ring
Series episode covers the civil rights movement and the struggle for equality in post-World War II America.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Billie Holiday Was Born
Billie Holiday is one of the most well-known blues singers of all time. Visit this Library of Congress site for more about her early years and some great photographs.
Siteseen
Siteseen: American Historama: Eugenics Movement in America
Interesting facts and information on the Eugenics Movement in America.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum
U.s. Holocaust Memorial Museum: Nazi Olympics Berlin 1936: Jim Crow America
The U.S. Holocaust Museum presents historical information and photographs about the Jim Crow laws of the American South, which restricted the freedoms of black Americans. Focuses on the African American struggle for social equality in...
Other
Socialist worker.org: The Politics of Marcus Garvey
The "back to Africa" ideas of Marcus Garvey struck a chord in early 20th century America and gave rise to a mass Black nationalist movement. Christina Bergmark takes a look at the reasons why.
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: w.e.b. Du Bois Growing Up
This introduction to the life of W.E.B. Du Bois, a founding member of the National Association of Colored People, informs readers about his childhood, the impact of racism on his life and the many accomplishments he achieved despite...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: 14th Amendment to the Constitution
After the Civil War, the 14th amendment granted citizenship to all people born or naturalized in the United States. This included former slaves. Learn about the protections this amendment offers to citizens, including those who were once...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Truman Announced a Fair Deal
Health insurance, minimum wage, and equal rights are things we take for granted. But it was not always so. These are some of the things President Truman fought for in what he called the "Fair Deal."
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Rosa Parks Arrested
This 3-part article explores Rosa Park's famous act of civil disobedience -- refusing to give up her seat on the bus to a white passenger. Her subsequent arrest sparked a 381-day boycott of the Montgomery bus system and the 1956 Supreme...
OpenStax
Open Stax: The Impact of Expansion on Chinese Immigrants and Hispanic Citizens
As white populations moved westward in the 19th century, Chinese immigrants and Hispanic Americans faced racism and discrimination and were unable to compete on an equal basis for land. Eventually, both groups settled into urban areas...
The Newberry Library
Newberry Library: The Struggle for Civil Rights in the Urban North
Learning resource using primary sources in which students study de facto segregation in the North following the Civil War and examine how African-Americans responded to segregation and racism compared to the South.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: American Empire
This exhibition explores the origins, development, and eventual fall of the American empire and maps the diverse and rocky terrain of the American empire to show how it informs contemporary conversations on heritage, citizenship, racism,...
University of Virginia
Virginia Center for Digital History: Television News of the Civil Rights Era
A rich collection of streaming video samples of television news footage from 1950 to 1970, along with an assortment of primary source documents, first-person accounts, a glossary of terms, and essays and analysis for learning about the...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: African American Soldiers in World War I
A collection that uses primary sources to explore the experiences of African American Soldiers in World War I.