National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Freedom Riders and Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement
In this lesson plan, students will consider "The Freedom Riders and the Popular Music of the Civil Rights Movement." The plan includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
A&E Television
History.com: The First Woman to Swim the English Channel Beat the Men's Record by Two Hours
It was August 6, 1926, the day that an American, Gertrude Ederle, was poised to become the first woman to swim the English Channel. Only five men had ever swum the waterway before. The challenges included quickly changing tides, six-foot...
A&E Television
History.com: Why the Watershed 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival Was Overshadowed for 50 Years
The 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival brought over 300,000 people to Harlem's 20-acre Mount Morris Park from June 29 to August 24, 1969 against a backdrop of enormous political, cultural and social change in the United States. The summer...
Broward Education Foundation
Broward Education Foundation: Creative Canjos [Pdf]
Creative Canjos is an interdisciplinary unit that teaches American History through Folk Art and Folk Music. The students began the project in Art class. They were introduced to American Folk Art through a teacher made iMovie. The iMovie...
A&E Television
History.com: 8 Moments When Radio Helped Bring Americans Together
These are just a few of the historic radio broadcasts that seemed to have the whole nation listening. This article discusses eight of the most seminal moments in radio -- from KDKA's 's live nighttime Fireside Chats, the 'Fight of the...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Us History: 1800 1848: The Presidency of John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams narrowly beat Andrew Jackson in the presidential election of 1824. Though his 'American System' modernized the American economy, his endorsement of a protective tariff as well as his lenient stance toward Native...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Women's Rights
Such social reforms brought many women to a realization of their own unequal position in society. From colonial times, unmarried women had enjoyed many of the same legal rights as men, although custom required that they marry early. With...
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Gypsy Americans
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of Gypsy Americans. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
A&E Television
History.com: Tailgating: How the Pre Game Tradition Can Be Traced to Ancient Times
The ritual grew as ownership of automobiles and then mass production of portable grills and plastic coolers soared. Tailgating before college and professional football games is an American tradition. Temporary tent cities pop up in...
A&E Television
History.com: How Al Capone Spent His Time in Alcatraz
Public Enemy #1 was transferred to the now-infamous island prison a few weeks after it opened. To Americans of the 1920s and '30s, he was the notorious gangster Scarface Al, Public Enemy No. 1. But when he arrived at Alcatraz in late...
A&E Television
History.com: How Alexander Hamilton's Men Surprised the Enemy at the Battle of Yorktown
Hamilton's leadership in the war's last major land battle would deliver the future Secretary of the Treasury his long-sought glory. Alexander Hamilton, the first Secretary of the Treasury, known for his famous, fatal duel with Aaron Burr...
NPR: National Public Radio
Npr: Who Were the Cowboys Behind 'Cowboy Songs'?
This article and audio report [9:05] covers the origins of American cowboy folk songs. Uses popups. Also includes a brief video clip of a 19th century folk song being performed.
Other
Ascap Official Website
The official site by The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Of interest is the history of ASCAP as well as articles for those wanting to learn more about the music business.
PBS
Pbs: New Perspectives on the West
This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....
PBS
Pbs: Jazz Timeline
With this timeline, learn about how the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws and other forms of racial oppression impacted the rise of jazz in America. Also highlights the achievements of women, including Viola Smith in this world of music....
Varsity Tutors
Varsity Tutors: Web English Teacher: Langston Hughes
This resource focuses on the works of famous African-American author, Langston Hughes.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Jazz and Ww Ii: A Rally to Resistance, a Catalyst for Victory
Lesson plan that teaches the roles that jazz music and jazz musicians played in the war effort and that demonstrates the effect that the war had on jazz in America.
PBS
Pbs: Cole Porter: You're the Top
A high school lesson plan designed to delve deeper into the life of Cole Porter and the meaning in his music.
Countries and Their Cultures
Countries and Their Cultures: Multicultural America: Sioux
Provides an overview of the traditional culture and lifestyle of the Sioux, a Native American tribe. (Note: Content is not the most current.)
Other
Gotta Dance: American Rumba
This site from Gotta Dance offers an easy-to-read history of rumba.
Library of Congress
Loc: Southern Mosaic
This site, from the Library of Congress, provides a recording project by the WPA during the Depression Era of folk music collected throughout the southern states of the U.S. Supplemented by photos and other material to document life...
PBS
Pbs Teachers: February One (Lessons on the Greensboro Sit in of 1960)
Find two lesson plans developed for a PBS documentary about the Greensboro Four, whose sit-in at a whites-only Woolworth's lunch counter was a key event in the unfolding history of the civil rights movement. The lessons ask students to...
Contemplator
Popular Songs in American History: Ben Bolt: 19th Century Folk Song
This site contains the lyrics to a popular nineteenth century folk song. A MIDI file of the song is also available to download.
Contemplator
Popular Songs in American History: Rosalie, the Prairie Flower
This page presents the lyrics to a famous folk song of the nineteenth century.