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.
Mamie Till-Mobley Chooses to Hold an Open-Casket Funeral (en español)
Mamie Till-Mobley describes why she insisted on an open-casket funeral. She told the funeral director, “Let the world see what I’ve seen”. This resource is in Spanish.
Myrlie Evers-Williams Reflects on the Impact of Emmett Till’s Murder (en español)
Civil rights activist and leader in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) reflects on the impact of Emmett Till’s murder. This resource is in Spanish.
Excerpt from "Crusade for Justice" (en español)
This excerpt from Ida B. Wells’s autobiography gives us insight into Wells’s decision to take a stand and speak out against racial lynchings. This resource is in Spanish.
Excerpt from "Lynching and the Excuse for It" (en español)
In this editorial, Ida B. Wells responds to Jane Addams, a progressive who was known for her work serving immigrant communities in Chicago. This resource is in Spanish.