This historical investigation is aligned with the C3 Framework and is from C3teachers.org. This inquiry is an exploration into the concept of responsibility, beginning within the home and then expandi

In the 1950s, the station wagon became a staple of America's new suburban landscape and a ubiquitous extension of the suburban home. This car reveals how one family adopted a mobile, active lifestyle and how station wagons shaped family life. Between the 1920s and 1940s, station wa

Aladdin Industries profited from the success of The Jetsons television cartoon series in the fall of 1963 by introducing a domed lunch box featuring that space-traveling suburban family and their robotic maid. American notions of family life in the 1960s traveled effortlessly outward to

On this page, students will find some of the methods historians and curators used to learn about the house at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts. Students will learn how to use primary source documents, photographs and architectural clues to answer questions such as: Who lived in a hous

Students can learn about the Caldwell's and the anti-slavery movement by investigating a room from their house, a newspaper article from 1839, and artifacts from the period. Josiah and Lucy Caldwell believed in the moral power of home and family, and their beliefs inspired a radical mission.

Students can learn about the Choate family by investigating a room from their house, a deed from 1772, and artifacts that a family like the Choate's would have owned. In the mid-1760s, Abraham Choate had a 10-room house built in Ipswich, Massachusetts, for his wife, Sarah, and their growing

Students can learn about the Dodges, Chance and life at the time of the American Revolution by investigating a room from their house, a will from 1786, and artifacts from the period. By the 1770s, Abraham and Bethiah Dodge and many other Americans were willing to risk everything for independence,

Students can learn about the Lynches and the realities of life for many Americans during the Industrial Revolution by examining a map and description of their apartment, a page from an 1885 account book, and objects from the period. In the 1870s and 1880s, Catherine Tracy Lynch, an Irish imm

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 bat

Students will learn the history of the house that stood at 16 Elm Street in Ipswich, Massachusetts for over 200 years, how it was saved by community members, and how it came to live at the National Museum of American History. Also included is a timeline of all of the inhabitants from 1757 to