Educational Resources Supported by the NEH Division of Public Programs
Art History
Smarthistory
Smarthistory
https://smarthistory.org
Free, award-winning digital content that unlocks the expertise of hundreds of leading scholars, making the history of art accessible and engaging to more people, in more places, than any other provider.
Striking Iron: The Art of African Blacksmiths
Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles https://www.fowler.ucla.edu/exhibitions/striking-iron/striking-iron-k-12/
Educational resource illustrating the artistry of blacksmiths in Africa south of the Sahara, featuring works dating from the seventeenth century to recent times.
Government
Constitution USA
Twin Cities Public Television
https://www.pbs.org/tpt/constitution-usa-peter-sagal/home/
Does the Constitution have what it takes to keep up with modern America? Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! hit the road to find out. Through 4 one-hour videos Sagal travels the country searching out where the U.S. Constitution lives, how it works and how it doesn’t… how it unites us as a nation and how it has nearly torn us apart. the site also includes lsson plans and other resources.
Race to Ratify
iCivics, Inc.
https://www.icivics.org/games/race-to-ratify
Race to Ratify drops you into 1787, where the ink is still drying on the new Constitution. Will it become the law of the land or will it fall into the dustbin of history? The fate of the young nation is in your hands!
History
The Asian Americans
Center for Asian American Media
https://whut.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/asian-americans-pbs/#.X0f6duTsahc
A five-hour film series and lesson plans that casts a new lens on U.S. history and the ongoing role that Asian Americans have played.
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow
New-York Historical Society https://www.nyhistory.org/exhibitions/black-citizenship-age-jim-crow#
Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow offers curriculum material to explore the struggle for full citizenship and racial equality that unfolded in the 50 years after the Civil War.
Backstory
Virginia Humanities
https://www.backstoryradio.org/episodes
From 2008 to 2020 Backstory’s podcasts probed current events in America by taking a deep dive into our past to trace how it shaped who we are today. Hosted by noted U.S. historians, each episode provides listeners with different perspectives on a particular theme or subject – giving you all sides to the story and then some.
Chasing the Moon
WGBH Educational Foundation
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/chasing-moon/?feature_filter=Interactive
A film by Robert Stone that reimagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama. Utilizing a visual feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material the film features a diverse cast of characters who played key roles in these historic events. Interactives immerse users in a deeper exploration of the story.
Digital Giza
President and Fellows of Harvard College
http://giza.fas.harvard.edu
The Giza Project, an international collaboration based at Harvard University, aims to assemble and provide access to all archaeological records about the most famous site in the world: the Pyramids, surrounding cemeteries, and settlements of Giza, Egypt.
The Emma Lazarus Project: From Sitting Room to Soap Box
The American Jewish Historical Society
https://ajhs.org/emma-lazarus-project-exhibition
Emma Lazarus composed the poem New Colossus for the Statue of Liberty from her sitting room where she engaged in the debates and literature of her time. These virtual resources explore the question of American identity through her story and her writing.
The House on Henry Street: Settlements, Public Health, and Social Reform
Henry Street Settlement
https://www.thehouseonhenrystreet.org/?_ga=2.211904471.2141964486.1597170112-1915503472.1597170112
An Online exhibition, timeline, and lesson plans tell the story of social reform in the US from 1910 to 1970 through the lens of the Lower East Side of New York and the Henry Street Settlement.
Impressions from a Lost World
Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association
https://dinotracksdiscovery.org/
The Connecticut River Valley (also called Pioneer Valley) in western Massachusetts is the site of the earliest discovery of dinosaur footprints known to science. It is here in the East, rather than the West, that the first American dinosaur remains were found in 1835, seven years before the word dinosaur was coined. Scientists thought the tracks had been made by prehistoric birds. The discovery had a profound effect not only on science but also on American religion, arts, and culture.
Mission US
WNET Thirteen
https://www.mission-us.org
Mission US is an award-winning educational media project that immerses young people in transformational moments from U.S. history
1770: The American Revolution - For Crown or Colony?
1848: The Antebellum Era - Flight to Freedom
1866: Westward Expansion - A Cheyenne Odyssey
1907: Immigrant Experience - City of Immigrants
1929: The Great Depression – Up from the Dust
1941: World War II - Prisoner in my Homeland
People Not Property: Stories of Northern Colonial Enslavement
Historic Hudson Valley
https://hudsonvalley.org/themes-and-projects/slavery-in-the-colonial-north/
This groundbreaking interactive documentary website reveals the history of Northern slavery through the stories of the enslaved individuals at Philipsburg Manor and beyond.
UNLADYLIKE 2020
Futuro Media Group
https://unladylike2020.com
26 short films profiling diverse and little-known American women from the turn of the 20th century, and contemporary women who follow in their footsteps.
The Vietnam War 1945-1975
New-York Historical Society
https://vietnamwar.nyhistory.org/?_ga=2.243998213.1075191881.1600789945-478453987.1600789945
The website for this exhibition includes videos, oral histories, curriculum materials, and links to additional resources examining varying aspects of the Vietnam War.
Literature
It’s Lit! A Series about Books from PBS
PBS Foundation
https://www.pbs.org/show/its-lit/
A series of short humorous explorations of our favorite literature hosted by Lindsay Ellis.
Lift Every Voice: Why African American Poetry Matters Today
Library of America
https://www.africanamericanpoetry.org
Library Of America, in partnership with the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, presents Lift Every Voice, a nationwide celebration of the 250-year-long African American poetic tradition.
Walden, A Game
University of Southern California
https://www.waldengame.com
Walden, a game is an exploratory narrative and open world simulation of the life of American philosopher Henry David Thoreau during his experiment in self-reliant living at Walden Pond.
Philosophy
Wireless Philosophy
Squire Family Foundation
https://wi-phi.com
Wi-Phi’s mission is to introduce the public to the practice of philosophy through free, entertaining, and accessible videos featuring experts from around the world.