Smithsonian's History Explorer Resources Related To "First Person Account: Eugenia Phillips"

Women’s Role in the Civil War

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:17:07 GMT

Women served in the Civil War as nurses, spies, and vivandieres. Explore these stories with students through a video clip and close examination of two dresses and a woman's uniform.This lesson plan (which includes background information, guided analysis questions, and full-color primary sources) was produced to accompany the exhibition The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.

Material and Symbol: The Lincoln-Keckley Dress

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 20:25:35 GMT

This teacher's resource challenges students to think about the Lincoln-Keckley as an object that has multiple symbolic meanings. It includes a preliminary activity intended to introduce students to doing history with objects and 3 lesson plans focused on the multiple meanings of the dress, the evolving role of the first lady and the advent of mass media. Also included are annotated links to other online resources that are related to slavery, abolition, gender and consumption in the mid-nineteenth century.

This activity is included in The Object of History, a cooperative project between the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and George Mason University's Center for History and New Media.

The Scott Family: Life on the WWII Homefront

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:42:25 GMT

Through the use of a description of the apartment, an excerpt from Mary Scott's diary, and artifact from the period, students will learn about life on the home front during World War II. The Scotts rented apartment on the first floor of an Ipswich, Massachusetts house became a home front battlefield during World War II. The Scotts are one of the families that lived in the Ipswich, Massachusetts house which is the focus of Within These Walls, an online exhibition.

The Civil War

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:22:31 GMT

From 1861-1865, Americans battled over preserving their Union and ending slavery. The Civil War is the focus of this section of The Price of Freedom: Americans at War, an online exhibition. This pivotal and complicated period of American history is divided into sections that allow students to focus either on a specific aspect of the war, or the conflict as a whole. The sections included are: John Brown, Fort Sumter, the Battle of Bull Run, major turning points, the war at sea, Wilderness to Appomattox, political leaders, military leaders, soldiers in blue and gray; battles and casualties and Reconstruction and the legacies of the war. A non-flash version of this site is available: The Civil War.