On Tuesday, November 8, 1864, voters in 25 states--including Kansas, West Virginia, and Nevada for the first time--cast their ballots for president of the United States; voters in the 11 states that had seceded did not participate. Incumbent Abraham Lincoln ran as the Republican nominee (called the National Union Party in the 1864 election), and…

In this article, director of Educational Outreach at the Library of Congress Lee Ann Potter describes a classroom activity that focuses on an 1876 single-page circular published in Salem, Massachusetts about Alexander Melville Bell's Visible Speech. A. M. Bell's son, Alexander Graham Bell described "Visible Speech" as "a…

Provides historical information on the "March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom" and the role of A. Philip Randolph who originally conceived the idea for the March. Features a letter from A. Philip Randolph to President John F. Kennedy. Includes a list of teaching activities. (CMK)

Reviews the emergence of employment opportunities for women outside the home. Focuses specifically on the Dover Cotton Factory in Dover, New Hampshire. Provides a reproduction of the page from the 1820 Census of Manufactures that contains information about the Dover Cotton Factory. (Contains document based teaching activities.) (CMK)

Provides background information on the election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden and how it was disputed over electoral votes. Includes copies of the electoral ballot from Louisiana that was rejected and a letter from William Kellogg, the Republican governor of Louisiana. (CMK)

Provides historical background on how President Richard Nixon selected someone as vice president after Spiro T. Agnew resigned due to criminal charges. Provides background information on his choice, Gerald Ford, and discusses the process of how Ford officially became vice president. Includes a document from the Nixon Presidential Materials…

Provides background information on the Spanish-American War and the Philippine Insurrection. Presents teaching activities that focus on the background information and Commodore George Dewey's response to Assistant Secretary Roosevelt's telegram that ordered Dewey to take up offensive operations in the Philippines. (CMK)

Provides background information on the development of and work performed by the Navajo code talkers during World War II. Includes teaching activities for classroom use as well as examples from the code. Includes the Navajo dictionary and words with the English and Navajo meaning. (CMK)

Provides information on the health issues during the construction of the Panama Canal, focusing on issues such as the identification of mosquitoes as carriers of yellow fever and malaria and the role of Colonel William Crawford Gorgas in the battle against mosquito-born disease. Includes teaching activities. (CMK)