"This black t-shirt, which says “Silence = Death” with a pink triangle, symbolizes the struggle against AIDS.
Interactives & Media

Grade Range:
4-12
Resource Type(s):
Reference Materials, Interactives & Media
Date Posted:
11/1/2009
In this online resource, students will learn how the need for louder guitars led to the invention and proliferation of the electric guitar and how the emergence and popularity of rock and roll led to the guitar's commercial success and more innovative designs. Students can view the coll

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/11/2009
This object-based learning activity revolves around the desk on which Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence. Students will learn how the Jefferson desk can help them understand the meaning of the Declaration, both at the time that it was written as well as to future g

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/8/2009
This object-based learning activity revolves around a dress that connects the lives of Mary Todd Lincoln and Elizabeth Keckley, a popular African-American dressmaker who lived in Washington, D.C at the time of the Civil War. Students will learn how one object can tell many different stories.
Grade Range:
5-12
Resource Type(s):
Reference Materials, Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Duration:
60 minutes
Date Posted:
10/14/2016
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s tackled many problems facing African-Americans at the time. This collection offers a brief video introduction into the March on Washington in 1963, which brought national attention to many of these issues, and asks students to analyze a photograph
Grade Range:
8-12
Resource Type(s):
Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
9/27/2018
The National Youth Summit brings middle and high school students together with scholars, teachers, policy experts, and activists in a national conversation about important events in America’s past that have relevance to the nation’s present and future. Mark your calendars for the next

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/2/2009
This resource includes an introductory essay entitled Looking at Artifacts, Thinking about History, 6 sections that each focus on an object from the collections of the Museum, an archive of curator commentary, and an online tool with which students can create virtual exhibits. Also inclu

Grade Range:
6-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Duration:
20 minutes
Date Posted:
4/6/2012
Alan Harvie and John “Sarge” Ransome served about the SS Honomu sailing the Murmansk Run to the Soviet Union. Listen to their story, and then study the supporting primary sources to answer the discussion questions. This resource is part of a series called “Maritime Voices: Merchant Ma

Grade Range:
6-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities, Worksheets
Duration:
9 minutes
Date Posted:
4/2/2012
Joseph Hawkins was one of many workers aboard a slave ship in the 1700’s. Listen to a dramatic reading of his narrative, and then study the supporting primary sources to answer the discussion questions. This resource is part of a series called “Life at Sea: 1680 to 1806,” which includes fiv

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Reference Materials, Interactives & Media
Duration:
62 minutes
Date Posted:
9/16/2014
This archived webcast features filmmaker Ken Burns discussing this documentary The Roosevelts: An Intimate History. The webcast included historian Clay Jenkinson, Smithsonian curator Harry Rubenstein, and Roosevelt biographer Geoffrey Ward. The conversation covered varied topic

Grade Range:
9-12
Resource Type(s):
Primary Sources, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities
Date Posted:
11/8/2009
This object-based learning activity revolves around the short-handled hoe, the bracero program, Cesar Chavez and the organizing of Latino farm workers in the American southwest after World War II. Students will learn about the role of Mexican guest workers in American agricultural histo