Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting
Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting presents 470 interview excerpts and 3882 photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The four-month study of occupational culture in Paterson, New Jersey, was conducted in 1994. Paterson is considered to be the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in America. It was founded in 1791 by the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures (S.U.M.), a group that had U.
War and Peace
Gain insight into wars by studying maps, letters, and historic newspapers. Consider women’s roles during the Civil War and World War II. See film clips of the Spanish-American War, the first war to be captured on film. Listen to recordings from World War I and the 1920 Election. Analyze Ansel Adams’ photo documentary of life at Manzanar to deepen understanding of Japanese internme
The African-American Experience in Ohio, 1850-1920
This site explores the diversity and complexity of African-American culture in Ohio. These manuscripts, texts, and images focus on themes that include slavery, emancipation, abolition, the Underground Railroad, the Civil War, Reconstruction, African Americans in politics and government, and African-American religion.
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, the collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. An American Time Capsule, the online presentation of the Printed Ephemera collection, comprises 17,000 of the 28,000 physical items. More are scheduled to be digitized in the future. While the broadside format represents the bulk of th
Two Unreconciled Strivings: African-American Identity in the Gilded Age, 1877-1915
Examine the tension experienced by African-Americans as they struggled to establish a vibrant and meaningful identity based on the promises of liberty and equality in the midst of a society that was ambivalent towards them and sought to impose an inferior definition upon them. The primary sources used are drawn from a time of great change that begins after Reconstruction's brief promise of full citizenship and ends with the First World War's Great Migration, when many African-Americans sought gr
After Reconstruction: Problems of African Americans in the South
The collection African American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection, 1818-1907, contains pamphlets and other materials, most of which were written by African American authors about pressing issues of the day. In this lesson, students use the collection's Timeline of African American History, 1852-1925 to identify problems and issues facing African Americans immediately after Reconstruction. Working in small groups on assigned issues, students search the collection for
Reel American History Project
The general goal of the Reel American History project is to foster critical thinking about a matter of enduring cultural attention, especially where young people are concerned: the formation of our national identity.
Reel American History is designed to be a "Collaborative Shared Resource". It aims at being a large, ongoing, cumulative, collaborative project that involves many students and many faculty over a long period of time. We strive to engage students in authentic learning – making st
Two perspectives on slavery: A comparison of personal narratives
Students will read and analyze personal narratives written by two North Carolinians: Mary Norcott Bryan and William Henry Singleton. The authors’ lives share many parallels; both were born and grew up on plantations in New Bern during the 1830s and 1840s, both experienced the hardships of the Civil War, and both wrote their “recollections” in the early 20th century, looking back on their lives in North Carolina. However, Bryan was the white daughter of a wealthy slaveholder, while Singleto
Readings in the History of Aesthetics
Anyone with connection to the Internet has access to a vast number of philosophical documents via online etexts. Fortunately, quite a bit of the best work in philosophy is in the public domain, and a few of these readings provide a convenient access for almost anyone seeking information and help in the history of aesthetics. However, many of the historically significant writings in aesthetics are not presently available on the Internet, and this open source text helps somewhat to remedy that nee
Readings in Eastern Philosophy
Many classic works in Eastern philosophy are accessible via online sources on the Internet. Fortunately, many of the influential and abiding works are in the public domain; these readings provide a convenient way to produce quality learning experiences for almost anyone seeking information and help. Our present collection of edited readings is free but subject to the legal notice following the title page. By placing these selections in the public domain under the GFDL, the editors are, in effect
Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha
Almost all major works in philosophy and literature are accessible via online sources on the Internet. Fortunately, much of the best work in philosophy and literature is available in the public domain. A translation of Herman Hesse's Siddhartha, in particular, became available through Project Gutenberg by Michael Pullen. This edited version of that text is subject to the legal notice following the title page referencing the GFDL License. By placing this edited reading selection under the GFDL, t
American Made
"American Made" is a film about a Sikh American family whose car breaks down en route to the Grand Canyon, and their only hope for escape is the remote desert highway and the occasional passing car. When car after car fails to stop, family members are forced to confront their notions of faith, conformity, tradition, and sacrifice-and question what it means to be "American" today. This lesson plan includes discussion activities about the definition of family, cultural research activities, and wri
Conflict resolution: Raising an issue
The way we raise an issue has a significant effect on the entire problem-solving process. By raising an issue in a constructive way, we set the stage early for resolving the conflict productively. The purpose of this unit is to give participants an opportunity to practice and explore this type of problem solving.
River City Project
As visitors to River City, students travel back in time, bringing their 21st century skills and technology to address 19th century problems. With funding from the National Science Foundation, we have developed an interactive computer simulation for middle grades science students to learn scientific inquiry and 21st century skills. River City has the look and feel of a video game but contains content developed from National Science Education Standards, National Educational Technology Standards, a
Access to the Internet
Using the Internet depends, in the first instance, on access to the network. The initial emergence of "the Internet" in the early 1990s, from the increasing connectivity of a series of university and government networks alongside private services like America Online, Prodigy, and CompuServe, occurred almost entirely across slow dial-up modem connections over telephone wires. Sufficient for email, Usenet news groups, transferring relatively small files, and later viewing simple web pages, slow tr
Information Technology and the Networked Economy
The beginning of the 21st century has seen a rapid change from the industrial economy to a networked economy built on computers, connectivity, and human knowledge. The networked economy is characterized by rapidly changing market conditions and methods of commerce. Instead of leveraging human strength with machines as was done in the industrial economy, the networked economy leverages human knowledge with computers and connectivity to produce goods and services.
The networked economy requires t
How to Predict the Future(s), Spring 2009
Over the last century, there have been many spectacularly bad predictions of how technology will evolve and how it will be used—and a few almost clairvoyant forecasts of technology trends. This course will investigate both. By examining predictions made about the Internet, video on demand, cellular telephony, nuclear power, and other technologies, students will attempt to discern why some predictions work and most don’t. Much of the course will be devoted to techniques in scenario planning a
Word-Form Recognition Activities
FreeReading is an open source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. Because it is open source, it represents the collective wisdom of a wide community of teachers and researchers. FreeReading contains Word-Form Recognition Activities, a page of sequential and supplemental activities that helps teachers teach students to recognize and decode common words on sight.
Sounding Out Activities
FreeReading is an open source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. Because it is open source, it represents the collective wisdom of a wide community of teachers and researchers. FreeReading contains Sounding Out Activities, a page of sequential and supplemental activities that helps teachers teach students to take a printed regular word and decode it by producing letter sounds and blending them.
Reading Connect Text Activities
FreeReading is an open source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. Because it is open source, it represents the collective wisdom of a wide community of teachers and researchers. FreeReading contains Reading Connect Text Activities, a page of sequential and supplemental activities that helps teachers teach students to decode their first sentences in print.
