Handout
Black Past

Black Past: Buxton, Iowa

For Students 9th - 10th
This is an interesting encyclopedia article about the multi-ethnic town of Buxton, Iowa, a coal-mining town with little racial discrimination.
Handout
Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Comission

Explore Pa History: Mining Anthracite

For Students 9th - 10th
Examine the economic and historical impact of anthracite mining in Pennsylvania's rich history. Included in this historical account are video, interactive, audio, and pictorial artifacts.
Website
University of Alberta

University of Alberta: The Coal Branch

For Students 9th - 10th
The early railways depended on coal to fire their locomotives. Vast deposits of coal were located along the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. One of the richest mining areas on the main line of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway,...
Article
University of Missouri

Famous Trials: Molly Maguires Trials (1876 77)

For Students 9th - 10th
In 1875, a writer of the time observed, there came from coal-mining district of Pennsylvania "an appalling series of tales of murder, of arson, and of every description of violent crime." Mine company superintendents and bosses "could...
Website
Virtual Museum of Canada

Virtual Museum of Canada: Community Stories: The World at Our Doorstep

For Students 3rd - 8th
This Virtual Museum of Canada pictorial exhibition highlights the perseverance of a working class that is dealing with big changes that have taken place in Cape Breton over the last decade (closure of the steel plant in 1999; closure of...
Handout
BBC

Bbc: Bitesize History: The Industrial Revolution: Causes

For Students 6th - 8th
An overview of historians' views of the causes of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and of the inventions, inventors, and industries that propelled it.
Website
PBS

Pbs Learning Media: Lehigh Valley Tempo: Canal History

For Students 9th - 10th
The Lehigh Valley became a major part of the Industrial Revolution after coal was discovered in the area. In this short video, learn about the canal system that was built as a way to transport the coal from the local mines to New York...
Website
Library of Congress

Loc: Today in History: September 2: The Rock Springs Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
Scroll down through this American Memory's Today in History to the Rock Springs Massacre. Find a brief description of what happened to the Chinese mine workers on that day in Wyoming, and the aftermath. Included are links to photographs...
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: A Helping Hand for Labor

For Students 5th - 8th
Theodore Roosevelt had many talents. See how he acted as arbitrator in the coal strike of 1902, and supported the demands of the United Mine Workers to improve the working conditions of the miners.
Handout
Other

United Mine Workers of America: Umwa History: The Ludlow Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
A brief history of the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado in 1914. Read about the thwarted attempts of coal miners to unionize.
Website
Royal Geographical Society

Royal Geographical Society: China: Snapshots in Time

For Students 7th - 9th
Discover China's fascinating history through this collection of photographs and factsheets, including scenes from the Yangtze River, Chinese families, and trackers.
Website
Other

Irc History: The Ludlow Massacre

For Students 9th - 10th
A good explanation of the Ludlow Massacre in the coalfields of Colorado and what led up to it. In addition, there is an interesting description of how this violent reaction to a strike by miners affected John D. Rockefeller, Jr., one of...
Website
Royal British Colombia Museum (Canada)

Italians in British Columbia

For Students 9th - 10th
The Royal British Columbia Museum discusses the role that Italians played in shaping the province. Italian workers were instrumental with the gold rush, with coal mines and with the construction of the railroad. The Italian Community...
Article
Other

Encyclopedia and Guide to Manchester: The Bridgewater Canal

For Students 9th - 10th
A history of the Bridgewater Canal built in 1760 and which was "the forerunner of all modern canals". The canal connected coal mines found in Worsley with Manchester England. By clicking on the names you will get biographical details.
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Annenberg Learner: Biography of America: Capital and Labor

For Students 9th - 10th
This thirty-minute video, the seventeenth in a series on American history, examines the rocky relationship between labor, management, and industry from 1882 to 1901. You can also read the transcript, find a map of the Anthracite Strike,...
Activity
Science Museum, London

Science Museum Energy Hall: The Impact of the Steam Engine

For Students 9th - 10th
This fascinating museum exhibit is on how the development of the steam engine has impacted the lives of many people over the last two hundred plus years.
Website
Other

Hatfield Mc Coy Feud

For Students 9th - 10th
The famous Hatfield and McCoy feud is presented, as told from the perspective of Roseanna McCoy. Their story is the "Romeo and Juliet" of Appalachia.
Website
Other

Hatfield Mc Coy Feud

For Students 9th - 10th
The famous Hatfield and McCoy feud -- told from the perspective of Roseanna McCoy. Their story is the "Romeo and Juliet" of Appalachia. Great piece of Americana.
Interactive
Virginia Trekkers

Virginia Trekkers

For Students 3rd - 8th
Travel Virginia with the Virginia Trekkers, a group of hardy teachers, as they trek around the beautiful State of Virginia! Virtually visit areas of geological and historical significance across the five regions: Appalachian Plateau,...
Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: Northeast China, 1971

For Students 9th - 10th
"Northeast China - the provinces of Heilungkiang, Kirin, and Liaoning - is the most important region of the country and a nationally significant and still-developing center of agricultural production. Most of the Northeast remained...
Graphic
Curated OER

Educational Technology Clearinghouse: Maps Etc: North China, 1971

For Students 9th - 10th
" North China includes the densely populated and intensively cultivated North China Plain, the loess-covered uplands of Shansi, northern Shensi, and eastern Kansu, and the sparsely populated, semiarid steppes of Inner Mongolia....