422 items
In February 1912, former president Theodore Roosevelt stunned the country by challenging President William Howard Taft for the Republican nomination. The move was not only a rejection of his friend Taft, it also violated an unwritten...
Theodore Roosevelt supports women’s suffrage, 1912
In this letter written in July 1912, during his campaign for a thrid term as president, Theodore Roosevelt informs the state and county chairmen of the Progressive Party of his plan to support women’s suffrage. The document shows the...
Inside the Vault: D-Day in maps and letters from soldiers and families
On June 2, 2022, our curators discussed D-Day, the Allied invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944. They were joined by Professor Michael Neiberg, Chair of War Studies at the US Army War College, who gave an overview of the battle and...
World War I, African American Soldiers, and America’s War for Democracy
Click to download this lesson plan.
Inside the Vault: "Meanwhile Back at the Branch..."
On November 3, 2022, our curators were joined by Barbara Harris Combs of Kennesaw State University. Professor Combs discussed the NAACP pamphlet Meanwhile Back at the Branch... and the many ways in which civil rights activists worked...
The Boston Massacre: Paul Revere and Captain Thomas Preston, 1770
Click here to download this three-lesson unit.
"You Drop A Petal in the Water, and It Has a Ripple Effect": The Disability Rights Movement, 1950-1990
Click here to download this four-lesson unit.
Inside the Vault: The Whiskey Rebellion and United States Great Seal
On June 1, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Gautham Rao (American University) to discuss the Whiskey Rebellion and the United States Great Seal. The program explored the broader context of the Whiskey Rebellion and how it, like...
War, Immigration Policies, and Dissent: Landmark Moments in Latina/o History
Click here to download this three-lesson unit.
Inside the Vault: 1796 Civics Textbook
On July 6, 2023, our curators were joined by Dr. Adam Laats (Binghamton University) to discuss the 1796 book A Plain Political Catechism Intended for the Use of Schools in the United States of America . The program explored the...
Understanding Lincoln: First Inaugural Address (1861)
Watch this close reading of a document by Abraham Lincoln, with Dickinson College historian Matthew Pinsker.
Free Speech in US History, 1917-1988
Click here to download the middle school lesson unit. Click here to download the high school lesson unit.
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s advice to high school students, 1922
In 1922, Sharpless Dobson Green, a teacher at Senior High School in Trenton, New Jersey, wrote to influential people around the world to get their advice for his students. In his request, he explained his project: There are about 400...
Inside the Vault: Lucy Knox
During the siege of Boston in 1775, 19-year-old Lucy Knox gave up everything she knew and left Boston with her husband’s sword hidden in her clothes. She would never see her parents or siblings again. Lucy’s letters to her husband,...
Inside the Vault: Civil War Diaries of William Woodlin, 8th USCT, & Cyrena Hammond
During the Civil War, 22-year-old William Woodlin, a musician in the 8th United States Colored Troops, and 18-year-old Cyrena Hammond, from Clarendon, New York, kept diaries about their experiences and observations. They recorded the...
Inside the Vault: Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker is known for his work in science, mathematics, and astronomy. In 1791, he wrote to Thomas Jefferson to point out the contradictions between the existence of slavery and the American ideals espoused in the...
The US Government and Indigenous Peoples before the Trail of Tears, 1770-1839
Click to download this five-lesson unit.
Showing results 376 - 400