We’ve been busy adding new primary sources to DocsTeach, the online tool for teaching with documents from the National Archives. Here are some recent highlights:
Green v. County School Board of New Kent County
Parents in New Kent County, Virginia, complained that the school district was deliberately maintaining a segregated school system after Brown v. Board of Education. The Supreme Court ruled that a “freedom of choice” plan was not sufficient to bring about desegregation.
Operation Vittles & the Berlin Wall
Recently added videos show the Berlin Blockade, Berlin Airlift, and Berlin Wall. Check out all of our primary sources related to Berlin during the Cold War. Learn more about the films in the post The Berlin Wall: 30 Years After The Fall on our sister blog, “The Unwritten Record.”
Project Blue Book
During the Cold War in 1952, fearful that unidentified flying objects might be secret weapons by the Soviet Union, the Federal Government established Project Blue Book to collect and evaluate UFO data.
Images of the Oklahoma Land Rush
In 1889, Congress made land in present-day Oklahoma, that had previously been reserved as “Indian Territory,” available for claim under the Homestead Act. Oklahoma Territory was set up in 1890, and its population increased by a series of reservation “openings,” including the “Cherokee Strip” in 1893 that sparked the largest land run in history.
Did you know?
When your students complete an activity on DocsTeach, they can submit their work with a label – predetermined by you! When you look at your list of completed assignments in your DocsTeach account, they’ll be organized by class, period, or topic.
After students complete an activity, they should click “When You’re Done.” In order to link their work to your account, they enter your email address in the “To” field.
If you’ve set up groups to organize your students’ responses, they can choose from a list. Their responses will be sorted by group in your account.
Learn more on our Manage Assignments page. Create your student groups on the My Response Settings page in your account.
Staff Picks
We asked our staff to share notable documents on DocsTeach. Education Specialist Stephanie Greenhut gets a kick out of this menu from the Immigrant Dining Room at Ellis Island.
She likes speculating what “Liberty Pudding,” served for dinner alongside split pea soup and pot roast, might entail.
The menu came out of an investigation into Ellis Island, looking into charges of unsanitary and inhumane conditions. The inquiry was triggered by a January 1920 article in the “New York Call” and resulted in a report on the food, detention, dormitory, and hospital facilities.
Do you have a “favorite” primary source? Let us know in the comments!