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American Cities – A special issue of the Gilder Lehrman Institute’s journal History Now focused on urban history and spotlighting such events as the revolutionary Philadelphia, immigration to New York City, and the San Francisco earthquake.
http://www.historynow.org/03_2007/index.html
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American Family Teacher Guides – As an accompaniment to its dramatic series about a Latino Family, PBS provides lessons that use community journals, murals, and multimedia storytelling as ways of exploring family and community history.
http://www.pbs.org/americanfamily/teacher.html
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America’s Byways –
This site from the U.S. Federal Highway Administration provides
historical background on nearly 100 “scenic byways,”
modeling for students of local history how a road might serve as
the focus of their study.
http://www.byways.org/
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Ancestors - This
companion site to the PBS series produced by KBYU at Brigham Young
University provides detailed information on family history sources
and the process of researching and writing a family history.
http://www.byubroadcasting.org/ancestors/
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Ancestry.com
- While this genealogy site provides a subscription service, it
also makes a wealth of information available free, including numerous
articles on conducting family history research.
http://www.ancestry.com/default.aspx
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At
Home in the Heartland - This family history site focuses on
the choices families have made throughout history, from the 1700s
to the present. The Illinois State Museum also provides teaching
activities to accompany the exhibit.
http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/athome/index.html
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A Colonial Family and Community - Students use clues in historical documents to answer questions about a colonial family. Part of the Web site of the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village.
http://www.thehenryford.org/education/smartfun/colonial/intro/index.html
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Curating the City – This site from the Los Angeles Conservancy “treats the city as a living museum” and provides a model for studying history through the built environment.
http://www.curatingthecity.org/html-wilshire_curating.jsp
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Cities Around the World – More than 5500 photographs of cities around the world provide primary sources for considering urban history. From the American Geographic Society Library.
http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/digilib/cities/index.html
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Digital
History: The History of Private Life – This resource from
the Gilder Lehrman Institute and University of Houston provides
three essays on family history and an annotated bibliography for
teaching family history.
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/private_life.cfm
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Ellis Island On-line
- Users can search passenger arrival records at Ellis Island. The
site also provides stories of six Americans of varying backgrounds
who researched their ancestry, a timeline of immigration history,
and tips for doing family history research.
http://www.ellisisland.org/
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Establishing
a School Archives - The National Archives provides guidance
on how to create a collection documenting school history.
http://www.archives.gov/about/history/building-an-archives/school-archives.html
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Explore Your Community
- The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress presents
an introduction to heritage studies and ideas for classroom projects.
http://www.loc.gov/folklife/poster/
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Exploring
Historic Cemeteries - A brief but helpful overview of the history
of cemeteries and their use in teaching local history. From the
Smithsonian.
http://www.nmnh.si.edu/anthro/outreach/edcemetr.html
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Family
and Friendship in Quilts - A lesson plan using quilts to examine
family and friendship in history. From the National Endowment for
the Humanities' Edsitement.
http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=346
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Family History
- The BBC presents a guide to conducting family history research.
While oriented toward those in the UK, many of the tools and tips
are applicable anywhere.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/
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Family History
- The Minnesota Historical Society provides useful tools for researching family history. While some information is Minnesota-specific, the strategies are more widely applicable.
http://www.mnhs.org/genealogy/index.htm
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From Native Prairie
to Present, Our Agricultural Heritage - An online unit on the
history of farming in a specific locale—northeastern Iowa.
An excellent model for exploring an important local industry.
http://www.campsilos.org/index.htm
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Historical Postcards of New York City from the Picture Collection at Mid-Manhattan Library - 500 historical photographs of New York City are available on this engaging site.
http://www.nypl.org/branch/central/mml/postcards/index.html
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Historic
Preservation Education: Architectural History and Building Styles
– An illustrated introduction to architectural history for
young people.
http://www.architeacher.org/historic/historic-styles.html
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History Comes Alive in the Graveyard – Colonial Williamsburg provides this lesson for exploring history through cemetery exploration.
http://www.history.org/history/teaching/graveyrd2.cfm
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History
Trail: Local History - This British site provides an interactive
introduction to doing local history, with special attention to tracing
the history of a factory, studying changes in the landscape, and
looking at small and large communities.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/trail/local_history/
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If These Walls Could Speak – The Atlanta History Center looks at four historic homes and the lives of the families that lived there.
http://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/edu/walls/
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Indivisible: Stories of American
Community - Through photographs and excerpts from interviews,
this site documents an aspect of the history of 12 communities:
how citizens have worked to improve them. Also provided is an educator's
guide on how to create a documentary record of local events. A collaborative
of the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke and the Center for
Creative Photography at the University of Arizona.
http://www.indivisible.org/
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Kids’
Guide to Local Culture – The Madison Children’s
Museum provides this handbook for studying the culture of the local
community.
http://www.madisonchildrensmuseum.org/playlearn/educator-materials
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Long
Island: Our Story – Newsday provides a comprehensive local
history site from which a great deal can be learned about the larger
history of the nation; the site could also be a model for other
communities wishing to create local history sites.
http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/
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MARIAL: Emory Center
for Myth and Ritual in American Life - Interesting articles
about the role of stories in family life.
http://www.emory.edu/college/MARIAL/
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Mark Twain’s Mississippi River - A look at the history of the Misissippi in Mark Twain’s time. From Northern Illinois University.
http://dig.lib.niu.edu/twain/
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Preservation
Organizations – Huge set of links to state and local historical
societies and preservation organizations.
http://www.preservationdirectory.com/HistoricalPreservation/Home.aspx
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RootsWeb.com - Billing itself
as the "oldest and largest free genealogy site," RootsWeb
provides background on and tools for conducting family research,
as well as numerous links.
http://www.rootsweb.com/
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Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project - A multimedia documentation of civil rights and labor history in Seattle. From the University of Washington.
http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/
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Smithsonian
Folklife and Oral History Interviewing Guide - Directions and
forms for conducting oral history interviews.
http://www.folklife.si.edu/explore/Resources/InterviewGuide/InterviewGuide_home.html
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Talking History:
The American Family - In September 2001, the Organization of
American Historians' radio program "Talking History" featured
a discussion of family history with Steven Mintz, followed by commentary
by Stephanie Coontz; both are noted family historians.
http://talkinghistory.oah.org/arch2001.html
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Teaching with Historic
Places - This site from the National Park Service provides tools
teachers can use to create learning experiences based on historic
places in their local communities.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/twhp/
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Teaching Tools for Local History – Templates and suggestions for using such resources as artifacts, town and city records, census records, and more to teach local history.
http://www.msp.umb.edu/LocHistoryTemplates/
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Through Our Parents’ Eyes – This site provides rich historical information about a locality—Southern Arizona—through local histories, information about ethnic groups in the area, and teaching materials. A good model for local history sites.
http://parentseyes.arizona.edu/
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Understanding
Old Buildings: The Process of Architectural Investigation –
A detailed guide for historic research in old buildings. One of
a series of Preservation Briefs from the National Park Service.
http://www.cr.nps.gov/hps/tps/briefs/brief35.htm
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Young Archaeologists’ Clubs: Factsheets – This British site provides detailed information on investigating buildings as a way of learning about local history.
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/yac/factsheets.html