Our Democracy: A National Youth Summit civic education series Over the course of the 2022–2023 school year, we'll release classroom resources that address the driving question, "How do the stories we tell about our past shape our democracy?" Each case study uses museum objects and artifacts,

How can educators of all disciplines prepare students to be active and informed participants in a democracy? Join us to explore this question through the lens of six Smithsonian collections! Discover how museum objects can help learners explore the challenges and opportunities of living in a democra

The Smithsonian Transcription Center, the National Museum of American History, the Smithsonian Center for Learning and Digital Access, and Smithsonian Enterprises collaborated with five secondary teachers from the greater Washington, D.C., metro area to create

In support of the traveling exhibition of Girlhood (It's complicated), the Smithsonian has developed a set of curricular materials and platforms to create meaningful learning opportunities for girls (and all students) in your learning network connected to this content.

During the late 1950s and 1960s, American scientists and educators proposed using machines for instruction. Teaching machines and related programmed textbooks used a careful sequence of questions for teaching. Jerome C. Meyer and later William R. Hafel, both of Sunnydale, California, believed that i

This poster was displayed at the Chinatown (New York) Health Fair, 1973. The first Chinatown street health fair was held in 1971 by Asian American activists concerned that Chinatown residents lacked access to adequate health care. The activists, many of whom were college students and inspired by the

“When he reflected later in life on why, as a young man, he chose to enlist during wartime, Carlos Martinez said that avoiding service was never an option, not for his community and not for himself. In the mid-1960s, the United States had begun fighting the Soviet-supported North Vietnamese as par

Whether you're a student, teacher or family, visiting the Capitol is a great way to explore the roots of our country's government through stories and hands-on activities. Visitors can choose from a variety of lessons about Congress and the Capitol that go beyond the traditional Capitol tour. The

Despite disruption resulting from the suspension from Central High School and the later closure of all of Little Rock’s public schools to avoid integration, Minnijean Brown graduated on schedule in 1959 from New Lincoln School in New York City. New Lincoln School was a private, integrated school f

Some girls made history by simply going to school and claiming their right to belong. Minnijean Brown is one of those girls. In 1957, she and eight classmates integrated the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, during the civil rights movement. White students physically and verbal