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Resources for Archivists, Librarians, Researchers, and Community Members with Diaries and Letters in Their Attics
Learning from the Seward Family Papers Project.
The Seward Family Project at the University of Rochester brings together the knowledge and efforts of archivists, history faculty, students, and community members to make a vast collection of documents accessible to a worldwide audience. These videos explain how they did it and provide excellent advice to anyone with documents they want to share.
Resources for K-12 Educators
Learning from the Center for the Study of the American Constitution (UW Madison).
The Center for the Study of the American Constitution provides a collection of document-based lesson plans on the ratification of the Constitution and the debates that took place over it: Lesson Plans – Center for the Study of the American Constitution – UW–Madison (wisc.edu).
Learning from the Massachusetts Historical Society.
The Massachusetts Historical Society offers lesson plans, activity books, and teaching materials for students at all grade levels, based on their extensive collection of documents and images. Topics covered are Founding Fathers and Their Families, The Era of the American Revolution, Slavery and Antislavery, and The Civil War.
Learning from the Papers of George Washington.
The Papers of George Washington website provides resources for students at all grade levels. Topics are his Life and Times, from schooldays to his death; “Kids,” with materials for grades 3 to 5; Washington in the News; and WebQuest, which teaches students how to access and use the documents on the project’s website.
Learning from the Gilder Lehrman Institute.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History has created excellent videos in which an archivist, a K-12 teacher, and another history professional discuss how to use specific documents in the classroom. They cover transcription, context, difficult language, and other issues.
Click on one of the topics below to find links to related videos.
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