The National Park Service has created a K-12 curriculum that focuses on scaffolded lessons that focus on Martin Luther King’s advocacy, the March on Washington and other leaders of the Civil Rights movement.

When our Constitution was written, it was silent on women. Excluded from most of the rights and privileges of citizenship, women operated in limited and rigid roles while enslaved women were excluded from all. Yet women have actively participated as citizens—organizing, marching, petitioning—since the founding of our country. Sometimes quietly, and sometimes with a roar, women’s roles have been redefined.

Use this page to find primary sources and document-based teaching activities related to women's rights and changing roles in American history. Many of the documents, photographs, and other sources are also featured in the exhibits Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote, at the National Archives Museum in Washington, DC, and One-Half of the People: Advancing Equality for Women, traveling the Country.

In 1968, a raucous Democratic nominating convention was overshadowed only by the shouts outside to end the war. This is the story of how eight different protestors from very different walks of life ended up before an increasingly indignant judge and walked away scot-free -- but not before putting on a good show.

History IT's mission is to digitize significant sources from US history. Among the items digitized are the diaries of Francis Willard. These journals are searchable using terms such as women's rights, suffrage, temperance, education, and many more.

This is a text based website with detailed information about the life and activism of Frances Willard.

When, on March 4, 1933, Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was inaugurated as President, the United States was mired in the Great Depression with unemployment estimated at 25% and no social safety nets such as Social Security and unemployment insurance in place. He promised Americans a “New Deal” and stated that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” He immediately set out with an unprecedented series of proposals to use the federal government to get Americans working and to improve the infrastructure in rural and urban communities. What he later named “The first 100 days” became a benchmark of presidential achievement.

Short reading describing the importance General Pulaski played the importance in the American Revolution and the importance of his legacy.

Following World War II, the international community declared ‘never again’ would we allow atrocities targeted against a group of people. They worked together to define genocide and agreed to intervene and stop any future such atrocities. In this lesson students research a case study and discuss with other groups which events qualify as genocide and decide what the appropriate international response should be.

This mini-lesson looks at the variety of roles that George Washington played in America's early years. From commanding the Continental Army, to presiding over the Constitutional Convention, to setting the standard for the American presidency, Washington led the way.

The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History houses primary source documents and quality lesson plans. This link connects teachers to 31 pre-made lesson plans aimed at 9-12 grade students in relation to African American HIstory and the use of primary sources. You will need to create an account, but all resources are free.

This gallery offers a closer look at some of the state’s grandest hotels and resorts built between the 1870s and the 1940s. Some, like Oakton Springs in Pewaukee, have long since vanished; others, like the Northernaire of Three Lakes and Milwaukee’s Pfister, continue to serve visitors from around the country.

Elections, in something close to their current form, have been taking place in Wisconsin since 1825. The first known state vote took place in Green Bay in 1825, when only white male citizens over the age of 21 were allowed to vote. After Wisconsin was made a territory in 1836, one of the legislature’s first acts was to set out rules for elections throughout the territory.

This online exhibit from Recollection Wisconsin provides a glimpse at the history of elections of all kinds across the state.

Images of women in the kitchen are a familiar scene in the history of home economics, but what these images don’t show is the important role that home economics played in getting women into higher education. From its inception, collegiate home economics was multidisciplinary and integrative with an emphasis on science applied to the real world of the home, family, and community. It was an academic science designed by women for women. In the first half of the 20th century, these programs prepared women for teaching but also for careers in extension services, state and federal government, industry, restaurants, hotels, and hospitals.

STUDENTS INVESTIGATING PRIMARY SOURCES Forward to the Future: The Declaration of Independence in Our Lives Celebrate Freedom Week Series: Part IV How are the ideas from the Declaration of Independence connected to our government today? A Short Gallery Walk Activity for High School and Middle School.

Students will engage in a primary source analysis of the Bill of Rights, The US Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence and analyze the documents to see connections between documents and how these documents connect to their lives today.

This comprehensive teacher’s manual focuses on the Armenian Genocide of 1915 during which 1.5 million Armenians, half of the Armenian population, were systematically annihilated. It includes a 1-day, 2-day, and 10-day unit with all the materials teachers will need, including more than two dozen overheads, interactive classroom exercises and more.
Discussions include a wide range of topics related to the Armenian Genocide: the history of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire, primary source documents, witness and survivor memoirs, maps and political-economic timelines, and the problem of denial.

The lessons also consider the links between the Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust, and capture other major human rights violations such as the Transatlantic Slave Trade, the Rape of Nanking, and the Cambodian and Rwandan genocides.

Comprehensive 1-Day, 2-Day, and 10-Day Lesson Plans for 10th Grade Public School Teachers.
Includes all supporting material – 209 pages
Fulfills mandated requirements in the History-Social Science Framework for California Public Schools.
Sponsored by the San Francisco Unified School District Office of Curriculum Improvement and Professional Development.

Field trips offer opportunities to explore our exhibitions that address the history of the Holocaust, genocide, human and civil rights, as well as local and global social justice issues.

Student Leadership Days (SLD) offer opportunities to share the universal lessons of the Holocaust and are integral to the Museum’s ability to connect directly with students who are ready to take on a positive leadership role in their communities. The SLD program engages students in a variety of age-appropriate activities that inspire them to build leadership skills, explore their roles as citizens, and develop a deeper awareness and understanding of the Holocaust, genocide, and other human rights issues.

In a full-day session that includes guest speakers, group activities, presentations and discussions about perspectives other than their own, SLD offers participants an opportunity to engage with diverse peers, increasing their self-efficacy, and potential for learning. Participants return to their communities equipped to promote greater acceptance and understanding. Students leave with increased knowledge and tools and resources to stand up against injustice and bigotry.

Illinois Holocaust Museum’s literature-based teaching trunk program provides K–12 educators with a wide array of resources for classrooms with units on character education, human rights, the Holocaust, and/or genocide. Each trunk allows educators to create meaningful age/grade-appropriate lessons employing award–winning fiction and nonfiction, historical references, and other educational materials. Each trunk has been carefully developed to address State and National Learning Standards, including Common Core State Standards. Teaching Trunks are provided free of charge.

VIRTUAL TEACHING TRUNKS

Virtual trunks offer Holocaust and genocide curricula in a 100% digital format, providing flexibility for those who are teaching remotely, in person, or in a hybrid model. Virtual teaching trunks include:

E-books and digital texts
Illinois Holocaust Museum developed films
Online lessons and activities
Digital “artefacts” to help students explore the stories of local Holocaust Survivors