Join Us for a Primarily Teaching Summer Workshop

We are now accepting applications for Primarily Teaching—our summer institute for educators on using historical documents in the classroom. Learn more and apply online. Summer 2014 workshops will be conducted at: The National Archives at Chicago, June 23–27 The National Archives in Washington, DC, July 7–11 The National Archives at Atlanta, Morrow, GA, July 21–25 The National Archives … Continue reading Join Us for a Primarily Teaching Summer Workshop

February is African American History Month

In celebration, the National Archives has teamed up with other federal agencies and cultural institutions to provide digital content, including resources for teachers. Along with the Library of Congress, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, we pay tribute to the generations of … Continue reading February is African American History Month

To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution?

Reconstruction was a tumultuous period in American history, and the question of whether it produced lasting change in regard to civil rights is still debated by scholars. A DocsTeach Activity using primary sources allows your students to enter the debate and develop critical thinking skills by evaluating historical congressional records as historians. Available on DocsTeach.org, … Continue reading To What Extent was Reconstruction a Revolution?

New Teaching Activity: From Dred Scott to the Civil Rights Act of 1875

Students will learn how rights for African-Americans changed quickly from the Dred Scott decision to the Civil Rights Act of 1875 by examining primary sources and explaining the relationships between them.

Black Soldiers in the Civil War: A New DocsTeach Activity

In this activity, students can analyze a Government poster used to recruit recently freed slaves to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War. The poster refers to the Emancipation Proclamation and President Lincoln’s General Order 233, to provide equal pay for Black soldiers and equal protection if they were captured by the Confederacy and became … Continue reading Black Soldiers in the Civil War: A New DocsTeach Activity