"Organize among Yourselves": Mary Gale on Unemployed Organizing in the Great Depression
The Communist-led Unemployed Councils were the first and the most active of the radical movements that sought to mobilize the jobless during the Great Depression. In this interview, which is taken from the radio series "Grandma Was an Activist," relief worker Mary Gale, who was sympathetic to radicals and the jobless, described how she worked behind the scenes to encourage her clients to organize and demand better treatment. The jobless and the poor had few advocates for them, and radicals like
Kissing Rudy Valentino: A High-School Student Describes Movie Going in the 1920s
Fears about the impact of movies on youth led to the Payne Fund research project, which brought together nineteen social scientists and resulted in eleven published reports. One of the most fascinating of the studies was carried out by Herbert Blumer, a young sociologist who would later go on to a distinguished career in the field. For a volume that he called Movies and Conduct (1933), Blumer asked more than fifteen hundred college and high school students to write "autobiographies"of their expe
"I Am Obliged to Reside in America": A Gay Immigrant Tells His Story in 1882
The reasons immigrants had for leaving their homelands and coming to America were as diverse as the backgrounds of the immigrants themselves. Although most immigrants came to the United States for economic reasons some sought a new home because of persecution based on their politics, religious beliefs, or even their sexual orientation. In this 1882 letter sent to medical writer and sexologist Dr. Richard von Krafft-Ebing, a thirty-eight-year-old German-born merchant explained how a homosexual ar
Super Bowl parties and alcohol
For Americans, Super Bowl Sunday means laughter, cheering, camaraderie, plenty of food and for many -- alcohol. Watching sporting events and consuming alcohol go hand-in-hand, and this year is likely to be no different. But if you plan to imbibe, you could be contributing to a serious public health risk.
University of Minnesota School of Public Health expert Darin Erickson offers some tips on a successful Super Bowl Sunday that includes alcohol
"Everything Was Lively": David Hickman Describes the Prosperity Late Nineteenth-Century Railroads Br
The availability of rail connections often determined whether a western community would survive or die. The rails fostered prosperity by bringing both goods and people. This trade, and the local service industries that sprouted up to capitalize on the movement of people and goods, drove many local economies. Here, David Hickman talked about the boom years that followed the arrival of the railroad in the Latah County, Idaho town of Genesee in the 1880s.
Breaking down Super Bowl advertising
Why is a 30-second commercial in Sunday's Super Bowl worth $3 million? How can viewers score the advertising winners and losers? And what role will social media play in the marketing game plan this year?
University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management professor George John discusses these issues surrounding the "Big Game" and more.
TRMM Online Visualization and Analysis System (TOVAS)
This site provides users with a friendly web-based interface for visualization and analysis of Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), gridded rainfall products and other precipitation data. It is applicable to variety of researches and applications, such as climate study and monitoring, weather events study and monitoring, agricultural crop monitoring, rainfall algorithm study, and data products comparison.
The Tofte Project
This site provides a description of a cabin in Tofte, MN on the North Shore of Lake Superior. The new owner of the cabin decided to remake it into a model of sustainable building practices. The site includes several dozen flash animations looking at sustainability from many angles as well as the specifics of the house and its surroundings.
A pdf of the project goals is available at http://www.tofteproject.com/misc/project_goals.pdf
Using Popcorn to Simulate Radioactive Decay
In this activity popping popcorn is used to illustrate the spontaneity, unpredictability, and irreversible change associated with radioactive decay. This site provides notes and tips, a list of teaching materials and methods, and links to related online resources.
The Other Side of the Table
Andrei Gromyko served as Soviet foreign minister from 1957 to 1985. Beginning in 1943, when Soviet premier Joseph Stalin appointed the 34-year-old ambassador to Washington, Gromyko was an indispensable formulator of Kremlin policy toward the United States. Ultimately, he dealt with nine U.S. presidents. In this video segment, Gromyko chronicles the arms race, beginning in the 1950s under General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. At the time, each superpower had the ability to inflict "unacceptable da
Germans to the Front
General Gerd Schmuckle served in the Federal Republic of Germany's Ministry of Defense from 1956 to 1962 under defense minister Franz Josef Strauss. Strauss was charged with building up the Bundeswehr, the newly formed federal armed forces. In this video segment, Schmuckle describes Germany's reaction to the U.S. doctrine of massive retaliation, which de-emphasized a conventional buildup-one that Germans advocated-and depended on thousands of nuclear warheads deployed on German soil. When French
Plate Tectonic Movement Visualizations
This collection provides a wide array of visual resources and supporting material about plate tectonic movements. Visualizations include simple animations, GIS-based animated maps, paleogeographic maps and globes, and numerous illustrations and photos. This collection is not exhaustive but does represent some of the best sources for teaching. Resources can be incorporated into lectures, labs, or other activities.
Teaching About the Ocean System Using New Research Techniques: Data, Models and Visualization
This web collection from the "On the Cutting Edge" workshop series will help undergraduate faculty and students use a new approach to teaching and learning oceanography. The site features the use of models, datasets and visualizations in teaching. The site features a collection of data-rich resources, example teaching activities and visualizations that illustrate oceanography topics. Materials from the 2005 workshop on teaching oceanography are also included.
The Great Chief Justice at Home
offers photos of John Marshall's residence in Richmond, Virginia. This website also describes how Marshall, who wrote 519 opinions in his 34 years as chief justice (1801-1835), transformed the Supreme Court from obscurity into a prominent, powerful institution.
The Battle of Horseshoe Bend: Collisions of Cultures
looks at the decisive battle of the Creek War (1813-1814), where Andrew Jackson fought 1,000 American Indian warriors who were trying to regain autonomy. It examines the history of the battle and provides maps, images, and readings.
Paterson, New Jersey: America's Silk City
examines conditions that led to the famous 1913 strike in a city that produced nearly half the U.S.'s manufactured silk. Conflicts between labor and management increased in the U.S. during the early 20th century. In Paterson, on January 27, 1913, when Henry Doherty tried to extend a new four-loom system throughout his plant, 800 silk weavers walked out. More than 20,000 Paterson silk workers took part in the strike, which lasted over five months.
Santa Clara County, California's Historic Silicon Valley
features 28 historic places that illustrate how this fertile valley blossomed from small agricultural towns linked by railroad into a center of technological innovation. Located south of San Francisco, the history of Santa Clara County is rich with stories of Spanish and Mexican settlement, the romance of the Gold-Rush era, the pastoral beauty of abundant orchards, of post-war suburbanization, the race to the moon, and the invention of the silicon chip.
The Truth, the Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth
Students are provided with a framework from which to begin challenging and understanding the news media industry.
What in the World Is That?
This site examines 16 inventions: the submarine, battery radio, cotton gin, reaper, electron microscope, telephone, gramophone, telecommunication cable, snow gauge, ornithopter, airphibian, and others.
מלחמת יום הכיפורים
Video link (see supported sites below). Please use the original link, not the shortcut, e.g. www.youtube.com/watch?v=abcde
