Jazz In America

Three lessons in the Let Freedom Swing concert tour resource guide packed with information, materials, and activities that provide the context for any study of American history.

Bust those trusts! Scholars investigate the Progressive Era leading to the New Deal in America. They examine the impact legislation had on attempting to control big business in the United States. Are there any parallels to today? 

High schoolers examine the impact of WWII on the development of jazz music and consider how jazz music helped to boost morale of both soldiers and those left at home. They identify the function of jazz as a cultural export and discuss...

Students participate in a class discussion about jazz music, compare improvisation with regular conversion, listen to various jazz musicians and compare and contrast their individual sounds.

A collection of videos directs viewers through a series of seven videos detailing all things jazz. Video topics include how to play, its forms, rhythm, syncopation, swing, improvisation, and explores the rhythm, horn, and wind sections.  

Lesson on Progressivism in the Factory uses primary resources to explore how Americans defined progress during the Progressive Era. Comprehensive content for lesson.

National Humanities Center lesson explores an era of progressivism, 1890-1920s, and examines how a scientific approach changed the concept of homemaking. Lesson contents include teachers notes, background, text analysis and close reading...

This collection uses primary sources to explore settlement houses during the Progressive Era.

High schoolers will learn to appreciate the civil rights movement with a focus on Little Rock, Arkansas. They will also acknowledge Louis Armstrong's unparalleled contributions to American music.

This collection uses primary sources to explore Ida B. Wells and anti-lynching activism.