In celebration of our nation declaring its independence 237 years ago, today's spotlight is—of course—on the Declaration of Independence. The National Archives is its permanent home. On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence in which the American colonies set forth a list of grievances against the British Crown and declared they … Continue reading The Declaration of Independence
As Independence Day approaches, this week we're highlighting this 1775 "Annotated Map of the British Colonies in North America with the Roads, Distances, Limits and Extent of the Settlements." During the negotiations to end the Revolutionary War, all sides used a copy of the so-called Mitchell map. The red lines marked on the map were … Continue reading Agreed-upon Boundaries at the Close of the Revolutionary War
Today we shine a spotlight on this photograph of the golden spike ceremony taken in Promontory, Utah. As school lets out and vacation begins, we're changing up our posts for the summer. Look for these spotlights highlighting great documents, photographs, posters, and more from our holdings. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed on May 10, 1869, … Continue reading The Golden Spike in the Transcontinental Railroad
As a child of the 1980s, the 1970s have always been a mysterious decade to me. So, I get the appeal of the exhibition “Searching for the Seventies” now on display at the National Archives in Washington, DC, through September 8. “Searching for the Seventies” highlights the photographs of the Documerica project, a documentary project … Continue reading Searching for the Seventies in New York and New Jersey
The DocsTeach App extends learning activities from the DocsTeach website to your students' iPads. Using the app, they can choose a topic, such as “Civics & Government” or “Postwar U.S. 1945–early 1970s,” and challenge themselves with a DocsTeach activity, interacting with stories, events, and ideas of the past. The activities are all based on primary source documents from the … Continue reading The DocsTeach App for iPad
I don’t know if it says something about me, but I have always been fascinated with propaganda posters. When I was in the classroom, I probably spent more time than I had to focusing on the various symbols, messages, and styles the US government used during World War I and World War II to gain … Continue reading Propaganda Posters and the Common Core
"Mr. President, It is my Desire to be free." Thus wrote (another - not me!) Annie Davis to Abraham Lincoln, 20 months after he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. Writing from Belair, Maryland, she continued, “Will you please let me know if we are free.” But she was not. The Emancipation Proclamation affected only those states … Continue reading Mr. President, It is my Desire to be free.
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, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, we pay tribute "to the generations of Jewish … Continue reading May is Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month
We are now accepting applications for Primarily Teaching—our summer institute on using historical documents in the classroom. Information and the application is available on our website. Workshops will be conducted at the following National Archives locations: Kansas City (Kansas City, MO) June 17–20, 2013 Atlanta (Morrow, GA) July 15–19, 2013 Boston (Waltham, MA) July 22–26, 2013 … Continue reading Summer Professional Development Workshops
I co-wrote today’s post with Stephen Wesson at the Library of Congress. It is also posted on the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog. In 10 words or less, it’s what we've got and how we got it. But we’ll go on. Because we get asked this question a lot. Both of us do. And because both … Continue reading What’s the difference between the National Archives and the Library of Congress?
