It’s always Teacher Appreciation Week at the National Archives!
Our Education Specialists work year-round to provide teachers with free resources for teaching with primary sources. From DC to our National Archives and Presidential Library locations around the country, we create and share lesson plans, learning activities, field trip and professional development opportunities, and multimedia and web content. Our new blog is the best way to stay up-to-date on our latest resources. So far we’ve included posts about the Common Core Standards, document spotlights, online tools, partner organizations, professional development, free programs, research tips, and of course teaching activities and lesson plans from our online site for teaching with documents, DocsTeach.org.
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Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! This week on the National Archives Education page, we’re featuring teachers at work.
This class photo of a teacher posed with her students in front of their sod schoolhouse in Woods County, in the Oklahoma Territory, was taken about 1895. How many students do you count?
(Image: Teacher and children in front of sod schoolhouse. Woods Co., Okla. Terr., ca. 1895. From the Records of the Office of the Secretary of the Interior. National Archives Identifier: 516448. http://docsteach.org/documents/516448/detail) — at Woods County, Oklahoma.
April 11, 1965. LBJ signs the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, at the Junction School in Johnson City, TX. Among the guests at the bill signing are Kate Deadrich Loney (LBJ’s first school teacher), Sen. Eugene McCarthy, and Adm. William Raborn, along with Lady Bird and Lynda.
“As a son of a tenant farmer, I know that education is the only valid passport from poverty.
“As a former teacher—and, I hope, a future one—I have great expectations of what this law will mean for all of our young people.
“As President of the United States, I believe deeply no law I have signed or will ever sign means more to the future of America.”
Today the schoolhouse is part of the LBJ National Historic Park.
(via ourpresidents)
Guess Who?
From our colleagues at DocsTeach:
This is the Declaration of Intention from a historic VIP who applied to become an American citizen. Who is this? What three things do you notice that are most important in helping you figure out his/her identity?
Clue - their birthday is today - March 14!
Any ideas?
Tonight we’re at Social Studies: How Educators are using Social Media.
Are you a teacher? Do you use Today’s Document or other social media in the classroom?
Calling All Teachers!
The Center for Legislative Archives has a new home on DocsTeach! You can use this special page to find historical documents and teach about representative democracy, how Congress works, and the important role that Congress has played throughout American history.
On DocsTeach you can discover thousands of primary sources and learning activities related to history and government. The activities help students practice historical thinking by: focusing on details, making connections, finding a sequence, mapping history, weighing the evidence, and seeing the big picture. If you are a registered user, you can borrow from and modify an ever-expanding collection of activities, and create new ones for your students using the online tools.
Our new eBook - The Meaning and Making of Emancipation - is now available in iTunes!
This Multi-Touch book for iPad is free to download. An ePub version for iPhone, Android devices, eReaders, and online ePub readers is coming soon!
The book presents the Emancipation Proclamation in its social and political context with documents in the National Archives’ holdings that illustrate the efforts of the many Americans, enslaved and free, white and black, by whom slavery was abolished in the United States. It was created to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation.
The National Archives will commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation with a special display of the original document at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, from Sunday, December 30, to Tuesday, January 1. This will include extended viewing hours, inspirational music, a dramatic reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, and family activities and entertainment for all ages.
Here’s to Libraries, large & small, on Dewey Decimal System Day!
The inventor of the Dewey Decimal system of library classification, Melvil Dewey, was born on December 10, 1851.
Bookmobile, pop-up or marble colossus, what’s your favorite Library?
President Kennedy Addresses the Nation
“Mr. James Meredith is now in residence on the campus of the University of Mississippi”
On May 31, 1961, James H. Meredith filed suit in the U.S. district court against the University of Mississippi, claiming that he had been denied admission because of his race. On June 25, 1962, more than a year after he had initially applied to the university, the U.S. Fifth Circuit court handed down its decision. James Meredith was to be allowed to attend the University of Mississippi.
Meredith’s legal victory was challenged. Mississippi Governor Ross Barnett proclaimed that the State of Mississippi would not conform to the federal court decision. The U.S. Government would not tolerate the defiance of the State of Mississippi. On September 30, 1962, the President of the United States issued an Executive Order stating that justice was not going to be obstructed by any person or state. In this speech, Kennedy reaffirmed the supremacy of the federal courts over the state courts in settling constitutional issues.
University of Mississippi Radio and Television Speech September 30, 1962
via DocsTeach
Read more at Integrating Ole Miss from the John F. Kennedy Library
Learn about the Constitution on iTunes U!
It’s almost Constitution Day! This September 17th marks 225 years since the signing of the United States Constitution in Philadelphia in 1787. At the National Archives we’re commemorating the occasion throughout September with special programs, online media, and learning materials.
If you’re interested in brushing up on your knowledge of the Constitution, try our brand new United States Constitution course on iTunes U.
In it you’ll discover our multi-touch book for iPad – Exploring the United States Constitution – as well as blog posts, articles, videos, documents, and activities in the DocsTeach App for iPad. The course can be accessed for free with the iTunes App for iPad or from http://itunes.apple.com/us/course/united-states-constitution/id559398926
For information about special events and public programs at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, to access teaching and learning resources, and to connect with the National Archives through social media, visit our Constitution Day page.
Girl Scout Activity Cards for Badges
National Archives Boeing Learning Center, June 8, 9, 10, 9 am to 4 p.m.
Explore the National Archives with a Girl Scout twist! Go on a flag hunt, become a history detective, find examples of Girl Scouts in the National Archives, and more–– all while completing activities to earn badges! Each level of the Girls Scouts has a specially designed card based on official Girl Scout requirements. Girl Scout Activity Cards are available in the Boeing Learning Center throughout the month of June.There’s lots more going on at the National Archives for Girls Scouts this weekend!
“Separate is not equal”
On May 17, 1954, in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that separate but equal public schools violated the 14th Amendment. On May 31, 1955, Chief Justice Earl Warren issued this decree, ruling how desegregation was to be carried out. The plan directs that schools be desegregated under the control of Federal district judges “with all deliberate speed.”
Join us Wednesday, May 9, at noon for the return of Archives Jeopardy!
Archivist of the United States David S. Ferriero hosts another edition of Archives Jeopardy! Audience members will be selected to test their historical knowledge and win prizes. It’s free and open to the public.
Join us in the William G. McGowan Theater, located in the National Archives Building on 700 Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, DC.
Happy Teacher Appreciation Day!
Story time with teacher at Wilson Village School, 1940.
From the Kodak Negative File of the Tennessee Valley Authority.
Was there a teacher you’d like to thank?
The New DocsTeach App for iPad!
This week our Education colleagues at the National Archives announced the DocsTeach App for iPad, extending the dynamic learning opportunities available from the DocsTeach.org website to iPad users. (This marks the second mobile app from the National Archives, joining our Today’s Document app.)
Using the app, you can choose a topic, such as “Civics & Government” or “Postwar U.S. 1945 – early 1970s,” and challenge yourself with a DocsTeach activity to interact with stories, events, and ideas of the past. All activities are based on primary source documents from the holdings of the National Archives, such as the U.S. Constitution, the canceled check for the purchase of Alaska, and Thomas Edison’s patent drawing for the light bulb. The activities were created by the National Archives education team and an army of DocsTeach users.
