Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Freedpeople Protest the Loss of their Land (en español)
In Spanish, The Committee of Freedmen on Edisto Island, South Carolina wrote a letter to Freedmen’s Bureau Commissioner O.O. Howard responding to President Johnson’s land policy.
He Was Always Right and You Were Always Wrong (en español)
In Spanish, Henry Blake, a freedman from Arkansas, describes how sharecropping limited his freedom, noting that sharecroppers were always kept in debt.
The Honoured Representative of Four Millions of Colored People (en español)
In Spanish, historian Douglas R. Egerton describes the life and political career of Mississippi politician Blanche K. Bruce, the first African American to serve a full six-year term in the United States Senate.
Klansmen Broke My Door Open (en español)
In Spanish, this reading contains the testimony of a victim of Ku Klux Klan violence.
Letter from Jourdon Anderson: A Freedman Writes His Former Master (en español)
In Spanish, Jourdon Anderson, a formerly enslaved person, responds to a request from his former master to return to work for him.
Names and Freedom (en español)
In Spanish, historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.
Family Names
In Spanish, learn how filmmaker Macky Alston learned about the history of his family name and its connection to his family's legacy in the United States.
Still Me Inside
In Spanish, a teenager describes how changing her appearance affected the way that others perceived her identity and how she thought about herself.
“Be Like Wilt” by Neema Avashia (en español)
This narrative tells Avashia’s story of finding belonging unexpectedly on the basketball court as someone who felt like an outsider in a small, rural town. This resource is in Spanish.
“Coming into Language” by Jimmy Santiago Baca (en español)
This narrative exemplifies how one can find a sense of home and belonging through self-expression. This resource is in Spanish.
Is It a Crime for Women to Vote? (en español)
In Spanish, read the speech Susan B. Anthony delivered after being arrested for voting in a presidential election before women had gained the right to vote.