A Pledge of Allegiance: Joining the Grange
When the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry was first organized in Minnesota in December 1867, its goals were primarily social and educational. The organization spread rapidly throughout the agricultural Midwest, attracting more than 850,000 members by 1875. The Grange's purpose also expanded--it experimented (unsuccessfully) with cooperatives, and, angered by hard times, tight money, and high railroad shipping rates, moved into politics. Members elected sympathetic state legislators wh
"A Nave and Self-Taught Artist": John Frazee Sculpts Daniel Webster, 1833
Many artists working in the decades after the American Revolution came from the ranks of artisans and mechanics. In a republic that dispensed with aristocratic patrons and royal academies, art came to be supported by a middling populace more interested in portraits than grand history painting. Sculpture in marble, time consuming and expensive, was even more remote than paints, and the new nation lacked grand palaces or mansions for display. John Frazee, born in Rahway, New Jersey in 1790, lacked
"A Modern School": Abraham Flexner Outlines Progressive Education
In the early 20th century, an impressive array of intellectuals, social critics, and grassroots activists came together to launch a progressive education movement that sought broad-based change in American educational practice. At the heart of the progressive program lay a pedagogy that emphasized flexibility and critical thinking. This was coupled with the belief that schools should establish organic relationships with their communities, that curricula should confront broad social issues, and t
"A German Beer Garden on Sunday Evening."
Between 1820 and 1860, 1,500,000 immigrants arrived in America from Germany. Many of the new arrivals who settled in cities such as New York worked as shopkeepers and skilled tradesmen, although many more worked as employees in construction, brewing, and manufacturing. Although German immigrants did not mix politics and liquor, reformers were disconcerted by the atmosphere of their social establishments. Unlike the bars in Irish neighborhoods, the beer gardens catered to whole families. As this
"A Clear Signal to Officials of the White South: 'Go Back to Your Old Ways'": Vernon Jordan Argues A
The Voting Rights Act of 1965--called "the most successful civil rights law in the nation's history" by Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, chairman of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights--was enacted in order to force Southern states and localities to allow all citizens of voting age to vote in public elections. Although the 15th Amendment, ratified in 1870, guaranteed citizens the right to vote regardless of race, discriminatory requirements, such as literacy tests, disenfranchised many African America
A Clear and Present Danger: The Chinese Exclusion Act
The San Francisco Building Trades Council (BTC), organized in 1898, actively participated in the anti-Asian agitation that characterized California politics, particularly labor politics, in the late-19th century. The BTC, like the national American Federation of Labor (AFL), argued that the very presence of Chinese (and, after 1900, Japanese and Korean immigrants as well) dragged down the living standards of white workers. The following excerpt is from a 1902 AFL pamphlet entitled Some Reasons f
Case of Justice, A (Pt. 2)
Dinizulu Kamau and Abdullah Khalil Sabree comment on the Hakim Jamal murder case. Part two of Say Brother's discussion of the harsh sentencing of African Americans in the Massachusetts court system. Program focuses on the history of the De Mau Mau (a Black Panthers-type group organized by African American veterans returning from the Vietnam War) and the five Boston-based De Mau Mau members convicted in the murder of Hakim Jamal. In documentary format, Barbara Barrow-Murray speaks with Philip Key
Environmental History Timeline
Students develop critical thinking skills by interviewing a person who has perspective on environmental history. Students explore the concept of a timeline, including historical milestones, and develop a sense of the context of events.
A German Way of War? Atrocities and Military Dictatorship
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Calibrated Peer Review: Petroleum Geology of the Persian Gulf Region
In this assignment, students explore the origin and distribution of oil and gas in a region of global significance. Also included are the geologic history and the socio-political and environmental issues associated with hydrocarbon exploration and production. Students then walk through an online case study and write an essay addressing important points that they have learned. The Calibrated Peer Review interface is then used to give feedback on the essays. On this Starting Point page, users can
Calibrated Peer Review: Kerguelen Plateau, Southern Indian Ocean - Geologic History of A Large Igneo
This activity explores the significance and geologic history of the Kerguelen Plateau Large Igneous Province, as revealed by Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Legs 120 and 183. After examining all the source material, the students write an essay addressing the important points that they have learned. The Calibrated Peer Review interface is then used to give feedback on the essays. On this Starting Point page, users can access information about the exercise's learning goals, context for use, teaching
Calibrated Peer Review: Discovering Dinosaurs
In this activity, students write an essay on the history of scientific discoveries in the field of dinosaur paleontology. The essays are then evaluated via Calibrated Peer Review. On this Starting Point page, users can access information about the exercise's learning goals, context for use, teaching notes and tips, teaching materials, assessment ideas, references and topics covered.
Astrobiology Magazine
Astrobiology Magazine is an online service that provides summaries of scientific articles relevant to astrobiology. Specific topics include microbiology, paleontology, astronomy, climate history, planetary studies and space technology. The website is updated daily and free to access, however users must register to use the site. Users may follow links to an image gallery, book reviews, and a downloadable bibliography of research articles on astrobiology.
A Brief History of Evolutionary Genetics
This web article discusses the history of evolutionary genetics. The article highlights important contributors such as Sewall Wright and Dobzhansky as well as current ideas in evolutionary genetics. From this webpage, users can read and download the article and follow links to other useful websites.
Celebration of the arrival of African Americans in Massachusetts
Hope Kelly reports on a celebration at the Museum of Afro-American History marking the arrival of the first African Americans in Massachusetts. Kelly notes that the first African Americans arrived as immigrants, not as slaves. Kelly's report features footage of Henry Hampton (Chairman, Museum of Afro-American History) addressing the gathering. Kelly reviews the history of African Americans in Massachusetts. Kelly's report is accompanied by historical photos and drawings related to African Americ
Belladonna
Artists Beth B. and Ida Applebroog use videotaped performance combined with figurative drawing and captions to create a disturbing, provocative program about the unthinkable yet prevalent occurrence of child victimization. The script for the program is delivered in brief monologues by a cast of several men and women reading statements from various texts, including the writings of Freud and the testimonies of Josef Mengele's victims. It is then intercut with a boy's voice repeating 'I am not a ba
Ancient African Kingdoms National
'Dealin'' with African drummer Babatunde Olatunji. Program consists of numerous segments related to African heritage, the first of which is an excerpt from a filmstrip on the fall of the Songhay Empire in West Africa by the Afro Audiovisual Company of Boston. Additional segments include 'Bookbeat,' a 'Spotlight' stage performance by actress Beah Richards, 'Dealin'' with African drummer Babatunde Olatunji, 'Information' on traveling to Africa, and 'Commentary' by Sarah-Ann Shaw on the lack of Afr
Ancient African Kingdoms
'Blast from the Past' with Jesse Jackson. Program focuses on the history of three of Africa's ancient kingdoms: Ghana, Mali, and Songhay. To accomplish this, Say Brother Producer Marita Rivero and her guest Musa Eubanks (of the Afro Audiovisual Company of Boston) discuss and then introduce a filmstrip created by the Afro Audiovisual Company in conjunction with the Unitarian Universalist Association. The program serves to illustrate that the liberation of African Americans from colonized thinking
African Meeting House is ready to open
Carmen Fields reports on the restoration of the African Meeting House on Beacon Hill. Fields reports that the Meeting House is the oldest African American church in the nation and that it was gutted by fire in 1973. Fields interviews Philip Hart (Board of Directors, African Meeting House) and Ruth Batson (Director, African Meeting House) for the report. Hart talks about the significance of the Meeting House. Batson talks about plans for music, scholarly debate, and religious services at the Meet
African Americans in the paintings of Norman Rockwell
Carmen Fields reports that the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA is commemorating Black History Month by exhibiting Norman Rockwell's work featuring African Americans. Fields interviews Maureen Hart Hennessey (curator, Rockwell Museum) about Rockwell's paintings depicting events in the civil rights movement, including The Problem We All Live With and Murder in Mississippi. Fields notes that Rockwell did these paintings for Look Magazine in the 1960s. Fields and Hennessey discuss the portrayal o
