Smithsonian's History Explorer Resources Related To "1955 Ford Country Squire Station Wagon"

America on the Move Homepage

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 18:12:13 GMT

This online exhibition explores the role of transportation in American history. Students will learn about communities wrestling with the changes that new transportation networks brought; how cities change, suburbs expand, and farms and factories become part of regional, national and international economies; and hear the stories of people who travel for work and pleasure, and move to new homes. This online exhibition also includes an interactive collection search, thematic essays by museum staff and guest curators, interactive games and learning resources for the classroom and home.

The website includes the following subsections: Transportation in America before 1876; Community Dreams (Santa Craz, California); Delivering the Goods (Watsonville, California); A Streetcar City (Washington, D.C.); People on the Move; the Connected City (New York, New York); Crossing the Country; Americans Adopt the Auto; Lives on the Railroad (Salisbury, North Carolina); The People's Highway: Route 66; Roadside Communities (Ring's Rest, Muirkirk, Maryland); Family Camping (York Beach, Maine); On the School Bus (Martinsburg, Indiana); Suburban Strip (Sandy Boulevard, Portland, Oregon); City and Suburb (Chicago and Park Forest, Illinois); On the Interstate (I-10); Transforming the Waterfront (San Francisco, California and Oakland, California); and Going Global (Los Angeles, California)

History Explorer Podcast: Holidays on Display

Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:51:22 GMT

In this episode of the History Explorer podcast series, curator Larry Bird discusses the development of holiday parades, department store window displays, and light shows and examines larger issues in American culture in the late nineteeth through mid-twentieth centuries including urbanization, suburbanization, and consumerism. The teacher guide includes discussion questions and related resources.

1950s and 1960s Suburban America Classroom Activity Guide

Mon, 16 Jul 2012 15:49:43 GMT

In these classroom activities, developed for the exhibition America on the Move, students will use visual, analytical, and interpretive skills to examine primary sources including a historical map and answer questions about them to learn more about the expansion of transportation systems and the impact on their own communities, city planning, the rise of suburban life, and culture in 1950s America. The activities provide opportunities for historical analysis, interpretation, evaluation, analyzing cause/effect relationships, understanding multiple points of view, performing original research, debating and persuasive writing and help students develop and strengthen map-reading skills, identify issues and problems in the past and connect the past to the present.

Drive Through Time

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 14:02:02 GMT

In this interactive game, students use a virtual time machine to explore modes of transportation during four different eras and create a photo album of their trip using period photographs. This interactive is included in the online exhibition entitled America on the Move, which focuses on transportation in US history.