This lesson describes and discusses the U.S. Civil War Siege of Port Hudson (Louisiana). Based on the National Register of Historic Places registration file, "Port Hudson Battlefield," the lesson cites objectives and lists materials for students, and provides information for a site visit. It contains eight sections: (1) "About this…

This journal contains articles and materials to help teachers instruct students about U.S. historical and cultural heritage. Articles and materials are: "The National Register of Historic Places Today" (C. D. Shull); "The (Economic) Value of National Register Listing" (D. D. Rypkema); "The National Register and Heritage…

For Dwight D. Eisenhower, World War II was not simply a war but a crusade in the high cause of human freedom. This publication, the third in a series of posters and curriculum materials on the life and times of Dwight D. Eisenhower, covers the events leading up to World War II and Eisenhower's rise to the rank of five star General of the U.S. Army…

The spring special theme issue of English Heritage's, "Discover Your Heritage," celebrates half a million years of history. The publication contains a poster and timeline (from Boxgrove to the Channel Tunnel) which should be a useful classroom resource. In the center of the issue is a unique pullout aimed at younger students which…

This collection of eight lesson plans deals with the Petersburg (Virginia) U.S. Civil War battlefield. The lessons tell about slave life and plantation life in the U.S. south, and how the Civil War forever changed this structure. To do the lessons, students read primary source documents that tell the stories of three different soldiers who…

As the steward of the nation's premier historic, natural, and recreational resources, the National Park Service manages 15 unique areas within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Each of these sites offers hands-on programs specifically geared to meet the needs of teachers and students. The programs support the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks…

Deep in the rugged coal fields of West Virginia, the rumble of a steam locomotive mingles with the sound of the New River crashing through its steep rocky gorge. With brakes squealing, the train passes a signal and slows for its approach into the town of Thurmond (West Virginia). This lesson plan is based on the National Register of Historic…

Like no other region on the globe, the Caribbean Basin has served as a testing ground for U.S. foreign policy. Of all the countries in the region, Cuba has been the scene of many of the United States' most riveting foreign policy dramas. The teacher resource book and student text probe the complex, often troubled, relationship between the United…

This lesson provides a case study about a U.S. immigrant community of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and offers a contrast to the typical textbook coverage which emphasizes immigration from eastern and southern Europe to the big cities of the northern United States. The lesson focuses on Ybor City (now part of Tampa, Florida); it was a…

Marcus and Narcissa Whitman, from a settled area of upstate New York, arrived in Old Oregon Country (what is now eastern Washington) in 1836 to make a new home for themselves and their companions. This was also the land of the Cayuse Indians. This teacher's guide to the Whitman Mission Museum (Washington) is designed to develop an understanding of…

This lesson is based on the John F. Kennedy National Historic Site (Massachusetts), the birthplace of President John F. Kennedy. The lesson can be used as a biographical study, an introduction to the Kennedy presidency and the turbulent sixties, or as part of a unit on post-World War II U.S. history. Primary and secondary sources are included for…

This lesson aims to help students understand the impact of the Klondike Gold Rush on the development of Skagway, Alaska, a town which now has a year-round population of only 800 but which hosts half a million tourists annually. The lesson can be used in units on western expansion, on late 19th- and early 20th-century commerce, and on urban…

This guide was designed, in form and content, with adults in mind, but anyone can use it to study Vermont history as a living subject that includes, affects, and involves everyone. The guide aims to stimulate historical awareness, develop readers' interest in the past and the present, and make them aware of their interaction in the processes of…

After the Louisiana Purchase, Thomas Jefferson put together his own group to explore the new territory under the leadership of Captain Meriwether Lewis. After receiving training in how to make scientific observations and collect specimens, Lewis and Captain William Clark, and their small group of frontiersmen, set off in 1804 with Sacajawea as…

Anne Frank's "The Diary of a Young Girl" is the most widely read text about the Holocaust, yet it represents only one example of the tragic consequences of the Nazi policy to eliminate the Jews of Europe during World War II. This casebook enriches Anne Frank's remarkable personal account with a variety of historical documents that…