Worksheet
Curated OER

Reconstruction Word Search Puzzle

For Teachers 6th - 8th
In this social studies worksheet, students look for the words in the puzzle that are related to the theme of the word search. Spelling skills are worked on.
Article
Khan Academy

Khan Academy: Us History: 1865 1898: America Moves to the City

For Students 9th - 10th
The industrial boom of the late nineteenth century led Americans and immigrants from the world over to leave farming life and head to the city.
Article
Immigration and Ethnic History Society

Iehs: Megan Asaka, "Unsettled City: Migration, Race, and Seattle"

For Students 9th - 10th
Megan Asaka's current book, "Unsettled City: Migration, Race, and the Making of Seattle's Urban Landscape," explores the role of mobile populations in shaping urban regions through a case study of late nineteenth and early...
Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: Reading Guide: Two Stories

For Teachers 9th - 10th
An excerpt from Abraham Cahan's novel, "Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto," and Charles Chesnutt's short story, "The Wife of His Youth," that describe challenges of assimilation into American culture for both European immigrants and...
Primary
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Progress, the Gilded and the Gritty: America, 1870 1912

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Eighteen primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the industrial, racial, and technological progress of the late-nineteenth century.
Lesson Plan
New York Public Library

The Great Migration: Two American Tales Lesson Plan: The Immigrants' Experiences

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Part of an online exhibit that describes the experiences of migrants to the cities of the United States. Two American Tales asks students to compare and contrast the nearly contemporaneous experiences of European immigrants and...
Unit Plan
University of Minnesota

U Mn: Immigrants & Cities: Mapping Ethnic Enclaves in Early 20th Century Us

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This resource couples a visual and descriptive map of urban ethnic enclaves with an oral interview by an immigrant growing up in New York City. Its goal is to provide different ways of "mapping" or understanding life for immigrants...
Website
Other

Place in History: The Bowery Hall of Fame

For Students 9th - 10th
Stroll through the Bowery in New York City and see what the tenements looked like in the late 19th century. This mini museum shows the life of the Bowery. Information about tenement areas in other cities is included.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: The Underside of Urban Life

For Students 5th - 8th
Read about the plight of the urban poor in the rapidly growing cities. In addition to the modern skyscrapers, the cities also had tenement housing where the poor lived. Find a description of that housing and the problems this housing bred.
Unit Plan
National Humanities Center

National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: Reading Guide to Yerzierska

For Teachers 9th - 10th
Two short stories from Polish immigrant, Anzia Yerzierska, about the challenges of Americanization that immigrants faced in the early-twentieth century. Includes questions for discussion.
Website
Independence Hall Association

U.s. History: From the Countryside to the City

For Students 5th - 8th
The growth of cities was rapid in the last half of the 19th century. Read about the good things and bad things that were a result of this urbanization.
Primary
Other

On the Lower East Side: Observations of Life in Lower Manhattan

For Students 9th - 10th
Links to contemporary essays about life on the Lower East Side of New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These essays cover a range of topics and are well worth exploring to find out what problems writers were exposing...
Website
Other

Nccp: Who Are America's Poor Children? [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn the basic facts regarding children in American who are living at poverty levels or below. The numbers of children in poverty appear to be increasing to almost 13 million. The sheet identifies which ethnic groups have the most...
Graphic
Curated OER

Unesco: Israel: White City of Tel Aviv the Modern Movement

For Students 9th - 10th
Tel Aviv was founded in 1909 and developed as a metropolitan city under the British Mandate in Palestine. The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until the 1950s, based on the urban plan by Sir Patrick Geddes, reflecting...
Graphic
Curated OER

State Street, Chicago, 1905

For Students 9th - 10th
Fifteen primary sources-historical documents, literary texts, and visual images-that explore the lives of and the challenges faced by a variety of Americans. They include documents about Native Americans and immigrants, and focus on both...