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 Influence of "The Birth of a Nation"
The three-hour silent film The Birth of a Nation did “incalculable harm” to Black Americans by creating a justification for prejudice, racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.
![Member of Ku Klux Klan holding a torch on a horse.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/REC_12_The_Birth.jpg?h=da7ce804&itok=o8NJxzoX)
Klansmen Broke My Door Open
This reading contains the testimony of a victim of Ku Klux Klan violence.
![Engraving showing African American family in a humble home. Woman is cooking at the fireplace, man seated alongside, and three children. A masked man from Ku Klux Klan is aiming a rifle in doorway; two more masked figures also peek in.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-02/1872_visitofthekkk_FH21201.jpg?h=5b419f6c&itok=FjKUk8wf)
Letter from Jourdon Anderson: A Freedman Writes His Former Master
Jourdon Anderson, a formerly enslaved person, responds to a request from his former master to return to work for him.
![A portrait of an African American family seated on a lawn.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/08762v.jpg?h=eaa4a767&itok=KrJAig0D)
A Lifeline for Democracy
In her 2005 commencement speech at the University of Vermont, Ruth Simmons describes experiences that helped her escape the poverty and discrimination of her youth to become the president of Brown University.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Louisiana White League Platform (1874)
The White League was a paramilitary group responsible for widespread violence against black and white Republicans in Louisiana and Mississippi. The group’s platform from 1874 is articulated here.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Names and Freedom
Historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.
![A group of African Americans soberly observe Juneteenth in their hats, canes and bonnets in Austin, TX, 1900.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Emancipation_Day_celebration_-_1900-06-19%20%281%29.jpg?h=6ea8326e&itok=2mUmYjCx)
Understanding Jim Crow
Deepen students' understanding of the systems of racial separation and institutionalized segregation known as Jim Crow to better grasp the time and setting of To Kill A Mockingbird.
![Sign at bus station reads "Colored Waiting Room."](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/1943_ColoredWaitingRoom_FH21228.jpg?h=e8fd9e62&itok=EnkQ2yR2)
The Japanese Press
Read an excerpt of a story published in the Japanese press about two Japanese soldiers' brutal actions in China.
![Japanese-Chinese War ADN-ZB / Archive The Japanese Aggression and China's National Liberation Struggle Against the Agressors 1931-1939 Japanese troops taking Nanking. Ann .: January 1938 [Second Japanese-Chinese War, China.- Taking Nanking by Japanese troops.]](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-U1002-502%2C_Japanisch-Chinesischer_Krieg_Medium_res.jpg?h=048697cd&itok=0w4tu3v2)
What Did You Learn in School Today?
The following is an Introduction to Teaching Mockingbird and was written by Facing History's Senior Scholar and President Emerita, Margot Stern Strom.
![Photograph of books stacked atop a desk.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/2014_6614FacH00654_FH130928.png?h=0d27ee61&itok=LrW3hHyF)
Western Diplomats
Consider how diplomats from Western countries responded to news of the Nanjing atrocities.
![Chinese citizens, and American and British visitors, evacuate Nanjing in preparation for an attack by the Japanese.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/IMAGE_33_5_EVACUATION_Medium_res.jpg?h=d9e3d5ec&itok=xyqP52So)
Western Imperialism in East Asia
Introduce students to the history of Western imperialism in East Asia with this historical overview and map.
![An Ukiyo-e of the Utagawa school depicting foreigners in Japan, including Russians, Dutch, British, Americans, French and Chinese. A closeup of the Dutch, Americans and Chinese in the center of the picture](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-05/Foreign_nations_in_Japan.jpg?h=bb3745a7&itok=kNJq-Ev3)