The work of 17 major photographers who documented farm life in America during the 1940s is being presented in an exhibition entitled "Roy Stryker: U.S.A., 1943-1950." Launched at the International Center of Photography, New York, in May 1983, the exhibition will be touring nationally through 1985. Sample photographs are included. (RM)

Writers are influenced by their environment including family, community, lifestyle, or location. One such writer was Mark Twain. With this lesson plan the learner will become familiar with and analyze life around Mark Twain's hometown, Hannibal, Missouri, during the latter half of the 19th century by using various online and print resources to…

In 1893 the last monarch of Hawaii, Queen Lili'uokalani, was overthrown by a party of U.S. businessmen, who then imposed a provisional government. Soon after, U.S. President Benjamin Harrison submitted a treaty to annex the Hawaiian Islands to the U.S. Senate for ratification. In 1897, the treaty effort was blocked when the Hawaiian Patriotic…

While the American Revolution officially began in Lexington, Massachusetts, in April 1775, the seeds of rebellion had been sown for decades. The struggle for representation in the British Parliament left many colonists eager to seek out independence. This book provides hundreds of firsthand accounts of the period from diary entries, letters,…

One way to engage students in grades 7 through 12 is to encourage them to investigate history as a puzzle, a set of dilemmas, a collection of conflicting viewpoints in short, a mysterious and provocative subject. In this book a collection of cases have been assembled both real mysteries and purposely constructed classroom problems with techniques…

This lesson plan collection focuses on attitudes and opinions held by Native Americans and European Americans about the United States. The lesson plans are arranged in four sections: (1) "Ancestral Lands" (Debating for Land; Making Treaties and Weaving Wampum; Pipestone Quarry and Westward Expansion: Whose Rock Is It Anyway); (2)…

This curriculum unit is the final volume of a four-part series. Noting that the humanities reveal the values and beliefs that underlie social, political, and economic institutions, the unit contends that the study of other countries and their histories may be greatly enriched by a humanities approach that draws on the fields of literature,…

Union Army troops marched south through Indian territory on July 17, 1863, to face the Confederate Army forces in a battle that would help determine whether the Union or the Confederacy would control the West beyond the Mississippi River. The Confederate troops that these soldiers faced in the Battle of Honey Springs concealed themselves among the…

One of the largest brick forts built in the United States, Fort Pickens (along with nearby Fort McRee, Fort Barrancas, and Advanced Redoubt) provided the setting for a serious effort by a small group of men to avert or at least postpone the outbreak of the Civil War. Months before the firing on Fort Sumter, southern forces at nearby Pensacola…

In February 1942 (two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii) President Franklin Roosevelt, as commander-in-chief, issued Executive Order 9066 to relocate all persons of Japanese ancestry, both citizens and aliens, inland and away from the Pacific military zone. The Order was to prevent espionage and to protect persons of Japanese descent…

In August 1945, the United States unleashed an atomic weapon against the Japanese at Hiroshima and Nagasaki and brought an end to World War II. These bombs killed in two ways -- by the blast's magnitude and resulting firestorm, and by nuclear fallout. After the Soviet Union exploded its first atom bomb in 1949, the Cold War waged between the two…

During inclement weather in Memphis, Tennessee in February 1968, two separate incidents caused black sanitation workers to strike for job safety, better wages and benefits, and union recognition. Mayor Henry Loeb was unsympathetic and opposed to the union. Martin Luther King agreed to lend his support to the sanitation workers and spoke at a rally…

One of the best ways to engage children in history is by involving them in activities related to their own lives' experiences. This unit gives students an opportunity to study history through a familiar and relevant topic: families. Suggested time for unit implementation is 8 weeks. Students explore family roots, traditions, and how daily life has…

The rhythmic noises of the turning water wheel and the roar of the furnace blast never stopped at Hopewell Furnace (Pennsylvania) during its years of operation (1771-1883). As long as the furnace was in blast, the ironworkers' jobs were safe. In case of trouble, they could escape to the woods, fields, and creeks of rural Pennsylvania. Now a…

Separating George Washington the man from Washington the legend is difficult for historians and students alike because his fame complicates historical scrutiny. Washington owned slaves and ambitiously sought power, yet he freed his slaves upon his death and he used his power to forge a democratic nation. Throughout this unit students examine…