As COVID-19 deaths spiked in 2020, Suzanne Firstenberg’s public art installation "In America: How could this happen…"
Back to School
Examine collections of the Museum's key resources on major themes in American history and social studies teaching. Additional resources can be found in the main search areas of the website.
Start the school year with the Smithsonian! Find activities & lesson plans to welcome students back to the classroom using objects.
Founding Fragments: Star-Spangled Souvenirs
A short video, this one is great as a lesson opener! "Star-Spangled Souvenirs" is the first episode in the NMAH webseries "Founding Fragments." Join host Tory Altman for a behind-the-scenes look at some of our most intriguing and little-known objects. Hear personal interviews with curators and get a glimpse into non-public spaces at the museum. This episode focuses on the scraps of the original Star-Spangled Banner flag that have been cut off from the flag and kept as souvenirs over the 200 years since it was originally sewn. Many pieces of the original flag have found their way to the Smithsonian, but the whereabouts of nearly 8ft of flag are still unknown. One of many episodes available on YouTube.
Guide to Doing History with Objects
This essay will tell students how to look closely at artifacts and how to think about the ways they shape and reflect our history. Artifacts—the objects we make and use—are part of American history. If we know how to look at them, they can be sources for better understanding our history. While textbooks focus on the great documents of the American past, or the important events, artifacts can show us another kind of history, another way of approaching the past. It 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.
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Historians are Detectives
In the classroom activity, students will be able to explain the difference between primary and secondary sources, and explain how the value of using primary sources is important to history. By using primary sources to answer a series of questions, they will see that, much like detectives, historians have to prove that their answers are correct by providing evidence. This activity is included in the online exhibition from the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History entitled The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem.
History Explorer Podcast: Teaching with Objects 101
Why are objects useful teaching tools? How should you choose which objects to use? Learn the answers to these questions from Richard Kurin, the Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution, who recently published his new book "History of America in 101 Objects."
House Detectives: Finding History in Your Home
This printable guide shows students how to research the place where they live and can be used as a tool for individual or small group research. It will help them conduct research on their home or local building, describe their research process and summarize their conclusions based on analysis of the research. This activity is one of the educational resources included in the online exhibition entitled Within These Walls.
Object Portraits
This “getting to know you” activity asks kids to show who they are by composing a portrait made of their objects. It also introduces or reinforces an idea central to historical research—objects hold stories about the people who own them and when they lived. This activity suite is designed to offer a variety of ways to conduct the activity. This activity can also be paired with the National Museum of American History exhibition Pushing Boundaries: Portraits by Robert Weingarten.
Understanding and Using Primary and Secondary Sources in History
Learning to use primary and secondary sources correctly takes practice. In this classroom activity, students will understand the difference between primary and secondary sources. After class discussion and a written assignment based on primary sources, students will also be able to explain the importance and limitations of using primary sources for historical research. This activity is included in the online exhibition entitled The Star-Spangled Banner: The Flag that Inspired the National Anthem.
Understanding Historical Photos
This resource will help students understand how to analyze historical photos to better understand the intentions of those who took them. Every photograph is both truthful and deceptive. These images were selected to illustrate some of the intricacies in reading historical photographs. This activity is included in the online exhibition entitled Whatever Happened to Polio?
