New ReviewGood primary resources, offering different perspectives on important issues and events, are hard to find. A packet of 12 primary source images, videos, audio recordings, records, and newspaper articles related to the 1960s civil rights...

New ReviewDespite the passing of the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, as well as the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the struggle to ensure fair voter registration and election procedures continues. Young historians...

New ReviewFifteen primary sources provide a context for a study of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The packet captures the excitement for the changes promised by the amendment as well as the backlash against it.

New ReviewSuffragettes, suffragists, and anti-suffragists. A two-day, richly detailed lesson plan has young historians investigate the twentieth-century suffrage movement. Groups examine primary and secondary source materials about Jane Addams and...

New ReviewThe third lesson in a unit that traces the history of African Americans serving in the US Congress examines the period from 1929 through 1970. After reading a contextual essay that details the few African Americans elected to Congress...

New ReviewDespite some advances made during the Reconstruction Era following the Civil War, the period from 1887 through 1929, African Americans serving in Congress suffered severe setbacks due to Jim Crow Laws and voter suppression. Class members...

New ReviewThe reading of a contextual essay launches a study of Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 through 1887. Young historians identify the African Americans who served during this period, investigate the ways they won national...

New ReviewIt's hard to believe that women had to argue for the right to vote a mere 100 years ago. Today, young historians can examine their case left behind in primary sources. Using a letter from a woman who claimed she should be able to vote...

New ReviewWhile Reconstruction laid the groundwork, many believe its revolutionary ideals weren't realized until the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. Using the 1965 Voting Rights Act, budding historians consider why it took more than 100 years to...

New ReviewA short video features Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. extolling his audience to register to vote in the upcoming South Carolina Primary election.

New ReviewTwo powerful video clips launch a study of race relations in the United States after the Selma, Alabama riots, the passage of the Votings Rights Act, and the riots in Watts, California. 

Explore what voting rights really are in an intriguing lesson plan that explores the history of American voting. The resource examines the timeline of voting rights in the United States with group discussions, hands-on-activities, and...

True or False: Only Presidential elections matter. Academics delve into common voting myths to understand what is true and why the election process is critical to democracy. The lesson uses group discussion, activities, and handouts to...

Uncle Sam wants everyone to vote in local elections! Geared toward middle and high school scholars, the resource explores voter turnout and the importance of local elections. Academics participate in group discussion, complete...

Promises made and promise broken. Spies and activists. Voting rights in Mississippi are the focus of a lesson that has class members research the history of the struggle in Mississippi. Learners take on the role of voting rights...

While they may not be old enough to vote in a national election, youngsters can learn about the political process that details how to become President of the United States. After studying an infographic that outlines the steps, class...

An 11-question online quiz permits young historians to check their knowledge of the history of voting rights in the United States. After reading a short introduction, individuals click through the questions that test their knowledge of...

The question in this episode of the PBS series "America From Scratch" series is whether voting in the United States should be mandatory. After listening to varying points of view on the question, viewers are asked to cast their own vote...

If you had the opportunity to change the format of the United States government, what changes would you make? That is the question asked by PBS's "America From Scratch" series. Would you require that half of the government be female?...

"The America From Scratch" series asks viewers to consider what they would change about the United States government if the Constitution were to redrafted, drawn again from scratch. In this episode, the narrator questions adults and...

A clip from the documentary Election Day launches a study of the challenges faced by voters in the 2004 presidential election. The first clip, "Voter Registration in Ohio," focuses on the experiences of several would-be voters at a...

The work of building and maintaining a democracy is, in the words of Justice William Hastie, "never finished." To better understand what Hastie sees as an ongoing building process, class members listen to a seven-minute podcast about two...

The final lesson in the seven-resource Reconstruction Era collection examines the legacies of Reconstruction. Class members investigate why the period has been called an "unfinished revolution," "a splendid failure," and "the second...

Memories of and interpretations of history change—that's the key takeaway from a lesson that has young historians compare the story of the Reconstruction Era as told by the historians of the Dunning School to the view of scholars today...