Component One: Educational Resources

The Gilder Lehrman Institute provides teachers with educational resources in three genres: visual, print, and digital. These comprehensive resources are designed not only to increase teacher knowledge of core American history content, but also to offer exciting new ways of bringing American history into the classroom. Each teacher receives a personal copy of the materials listed below (excluding the traveling exhibition), which are also supported by supplemental material on the Gilder Lehrman website.

LEAs may elect to receive a different set of resources each year of their grant (recommended when teacher cohorts will be consistent throughout the grant, or when the topics/themes to be covered are different in each year) or to receive the same set of resources each year (recommended when teacher cohorts will change each year of the grant).

VISUAL RESOURCES

• Traveling Exhibition [one per LEA per year]
A unique teaching tool, this panel exhibition is for display at schools and libraries. Composed of interlocking panels with graphic reproductions of rare documents, images, and interpretive texts, these exhibitions become part of the district’s permanent collection, providing an introduction to critical topics in American history for students and teachers. Four exhibitions are currently available:
o The Founding Era
o Frederick Douglass from Slavery to Freedom: A Journey to New York City
o Looking at Lincoln: Political Cartoons from the Civil War Era
o The Age of Progressive Reform

• Calendars [Choose 1]
All our calendars feature daily historical facts and full-color portraits of individuals, suitable for use on a bulletin board. Each teacher will receive one calendar. Topic choices include: African Americans in the Founding Era; the American Revolution; the Abolition of Slavery; and Abraham Lincoln.

• American History Posters [Set of 10]
Each teacher will receive a set of gorgeous American history posters depicting selected individuals and events such as the Boston Massacre, Abraham Lincoln, Phillis Wheatley, and the Civil War. Suitable for framing, these posters are excellent for classroom display and instruction.

PRINT RESOURCES

• History in a Box [Choose 1]
A compact briefcase filled with superior, classroom-ready teacher tools, including an interactive CD-ROM; a DVD featuring historians discussing the topic of the box; posters; placards of primary documents with discussion questions; a timeline; and an Educator’s Guide. Volumes include:
o The Founding Era
o Alexander Hamilton
o Abraham Lincoln
o Slavery and Abolition
o The American West (in production)
o Elementary School Edition

• Why Documents Matter: American Originals and the Historical Imagination
A booklet of historic documents spanning 200 years of American history with transcriptions from the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Compiled to provide materials for teachers at every level to assist in curriculum preparation. Accompanied by a CD-ROM of printable images featured in the booklet.

• Document Booklets [Choose 3]
Annotated documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection assembled to support teachers in making history accessible to students at every level. Accompanied by a CD-ROM of printable images featured in the booklet. Volumes include:
o Alexander Hamilton and the Creation of the United States
o Slavery in the Founding Era
o Documents to Commemorate National Constitution Day
o Wilberforce, Lincoln, and the Abolition of Slavery: Sources in the History of Emancipation
o I Take Up My Pen: Letters from the War
o Treasures of American History: Documents Presented in Honor of New Citizens of the United States
o The Cold War (in production)
o The Civil Rights Movement (in production)

• The Soldier's Pen: Firsthand Impressions of the Civil War by Robert E. Bonner
Using letters, journal entries, and sketches of Civil War infantrymen, all previously unpublished, Bonner conveys the experiences of war as recounted by those who witnessed it first hand. Accompanied by a CD-ROM of printable images featured in the book.

• The Boisterous Sea of Liberty: A Documentary History of America from Discovery through the Civil War, by David Brion Davis and Steven Mintz. A "documentary history" of the nation up to the Civil War, The Boisterous Sea of Liberty takes the direct approach of celebrating primary sources, offering 366 separate documents from colonial times to the Civil War, each presented with a brief yet substantive introduction.

DIGITAL RESOURCES

• Modules on Major Topics in American History: Lesson Plans, Quizzes, and Document Archive CD-ROM
A curriculum-rich CD-ROM which includes Gilder Lehrman lesson plans and an archive of annotated documents, as well as classroom discussion questions and suggested readings. The CD-ROM is accompanied by an educator’s guide that will enhance teachers’ knowledge of American history topics and generate creative, engaging lesson ideas.

• Historians on the Record [Choose 2]
A DVD library of lectures by leading historians such as James McPherson and Henry Louis Gates, Jr. discussing topics in American history including:
o The Founding Era
o Slavery and Abolition
o Abraham Lincoln
o The Twentieth Century
o Selected Topics in American History

• Teaching Digital History: A Guide to Creating Historical Documentaries in the Classroom
A DVD tutorial featuring Professor Steven Mintz as he provides instruction on using documentary filmmaking to teach history and engage students.