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.
![A group of high school students sit at desks in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_480/public/2023-10/AdobeStock_254378868.jpg?itok=f6YAphey)
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.
"The Birth of a Nation" Summarizes Reconstruction
Title cards, or intertitles, from The Birth of a Nation, a 1915 film portraying D.W. Griffith's racist vision of life in the South during the Civil war era.
![Title cards, or intertitles, from The Birth of a Nation, a 1915 film portraying D.W. Griffith's racist vision of life in the South during the Civil war era.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/1915_TheBirthofaNationtitlecardsdescribingReconstruction_FH2169421.png?h=ca3390b1&itok=EdxwGVd6)
We Need a New American Founding
Scholar Eddie S. Glaude draws from the history of Reconstruction and the the Civil Rights movement to call for a “new American founding.” This reading is available in Spanish.
![The image of late Rep. John Lewis, a pioneer of the civil rights movement and long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is projected on the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/John_Lewis_Projected_Lee_Monument_Richmond_2020_FH2133438.jpg?h=31c0c765&itok=0SZs7dfW)
We Need a New American Founding (en español)
In Spanish, Scholar Eddie S. Glaude draws from the history of Reconstruction and the the Civil Rights movement to call for a “new American founding.”
![The image of late Rep. John Lewis, a pioneer of the civil rights movement and long-time member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is projected on the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, U.S.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/John_Lewis_Projected_Lee_Monument_Richmond_2020_FH2133438.jpg?h=31c0c765&itok=0SZs7dfW)
Glenn Ligon's Untitled: Four Etchings
Artist Glenn Ligon created Untitled: Four Etchings using quotations from writer Zora Neale Hurston's essay, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" and Ralph Ellison's novel Invisible Man.
![Artist Glenn Ligon created Untitled: Four Etchings [B] using a quotation from writer Zora Neale Hurston’s essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-07/D15968_Medium_res.jpg?h=c15025bd&itok=EIHlZetq)
Propaganda Posters
Have students analyze these examples of Nazi propaganda using the Crop It teaching strategy.
![This mid-1930s poster says, “The NSDAP (Nazi Party) protects the people. Your fellow comrades need your advice and help, so join the local party organization.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1936_NaziRecruitmentPropaganda_FH229451.jpg?h=5e938d19&itok=Wj-dTXcd)
Propaganda Posters (en español)
Have students analyze these examples of Nazi propaganda using the Crop It teaching strategy. This gallery is in Spanish.
![This mid-1930s poster says, “The NSDAP (Nazi Party) protects the people. Your fellow comrades need your advice and help, so join the local party organization.”](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Holocaust_1936_NaziRecruitmentPropaganda_FH229451.jpg?h=5e938d19&itok=Wj-dTXcd)
Battle of the Somme Film
From the 1915 propaganda film The Battle of the Somme showing a soldier rescuing a comrade under fire. Although the documentary included staged scenes, this frame was taken from a real combat scene.
![A Still image from the 1915 propaganda film The Battle of Somme. A World War I soldier carries a body on his back.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/The_Battle_of_the_Somme_film_image2.jpg?h=8e8edc7c&itok=lXwsRCvH)
Part Three: The Political Struggle, 1865-1866
Scholars discuss the different visions for Reconstruction held by Congress and President Johnson.
![](/sites/default/files/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_468.jpg)
Part Two: Defining Freedom
Scholars discuss the evolution of the definition of freedom for emancipated slaves after the Civil War.
![](/sites/default/files/brightcove/videos/images/posters/image_467.jpg)
How It Feels to Be Colored Me
Zora Neale Hurston describes her sense of identity and experience being a black woman in this 1928 essay.
![Author Zora Neale Hurston wearing a hat with her head turned to her right.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-09/Zora_Neale_Hurston_1938_Wikimedia_Commons.jpeg?h=8e4088dc&itok=sQRUzvvP)
Glenn Ligon, Untitled - Four Etchings [D]
In this second black-on-black etching, Glenn Ligon also uses Ralph Ellison's quote from the prologue of his novel, Invisible Man (1952), though this one uses the complete quote, which ends "...figments of their imagination-indeed everything."
![Black on black etching that begins with "I am the Invisible Man…"](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/D11338_Medium_res_0.jpg?h=c978a40d&itok=EVvkRRuT)