Social Studies Help Center
Social Studies Help Center: Individual's Impact on the Nation's Problems
Find out about the impact of social reformers in the 19th century including women's rights, temperance, care for the mentally ill, and education.
PBS
Pbs: Not for Ourselves Alone
This site, a companion to a PBS program, explores the lives of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. With ample use of video and audio commentary, the site chronicles their work, their friendship and thus the history of the...
Henry J. Sage
Sage American History: Social and Cultural Issues in the Antebellum Period
Article covering Antebellum social and cultural movements including education reform, literature, Seneca Falls, immigration, and religion.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Prison and Asylum Reform
Two of the social movements of the 1830s and 1840s looked to improving the lot of the mentally ill and those in prison. Read about Dorothea Dix who crusaded for humane treatment and hospitals for the insane. Several others worked to make...
Library of Congress
Loc: America's Story: Jane Addams
The information here explores the role of Jane Addams in the social reform movement.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Religious Revival: The "Social Gospel"
Social reform and teaching in the church which reflected social reform joined forces in latter part of the 19th century. Read about how an urban revivalist movement addressed such problems as poverty, child labor, and working conditions.
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Teacher Serve: Racial Uplift Ideology in the Era of "The Negro Problem"
History professor Kevin Gaines explores the idea that educated blacks are responsible for the welfare of the majority of the race and how the uplift ideology undermined collective social advancement.
National Women's Hall of Fame
National Women's Hall of Fame: Jane Addams
Read this brief portrait of progressive social reformer Jane Addams. Addams was an advocate of such causes as women's suffrage, child labor reform, and settlement houses.
East of England Broadband Network
History's Heroes: Harriet Martineau (1802 1876)
This website explores the lives of heroic ordinary people who made their mark on history. Features illustrated story and timeline on Harriet Martineau, author and social reformer. Find out who she was, what she did, her achievements, and...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Roosevelt's Reforms
Article outlines the sweeping social, economic, and environmental reforms imposed by President Theodore Roosevelt during the early 20th Centruy Progressive Era.
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...
Other
America Dept. Of State: Outline of American Literature [Pdf]
This online book presents an overview of American literature chronologically. Eras and movements are explained and biographies of significant authors are provided. This is a good way to understand the background and influences of...
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Hudson River School
This collection uses primary sources to explore the Hudson River School.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
This collection uses primary sources to explore the poetry of Emily Dickinson.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: Mormon Migration
This collection uses primary sources to explore Mormon migration.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Primary Source Set: 19th Century Schools for the Deaf, Blind
This collection uses primary sources to explore the development of schools for deaf and blind students in the nineteenth century.
University of Pennsylvania
Twenty Years at Hull House With Autobiographical Notes
The text and pictures of the book written by Jane Addams about her experiences at Hull House.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Institutionalizing Religious Belief: The Benevolent Empire
Many social movements in the early 19th century had a religious foundation. Read about the Benevolent Empire, a loose coalition of Protestant denominations that addressed social issues of the time.
Other
Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography: Julia Ward Howe
Extensive profile of the life of American poet and reformer, Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910). She is best remembered as the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic."
Social Studies Help Center
Social Studies Help Center: Turn of the Century African American Reformers
A brief outline of information about African Americans & reform during the Progressive Era. Links to more information on Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey.
Other
Liberation Theology and Land Reform
This site provides an explanation of the Liberation Theology movement that swept through Latin American Catholicism to liberate the poor from economic and social oppression.
Curated OER
Social Studies Help Center
A brief outline of information about African Americans & reform during the Progressive Era. Links to more information on Booker T. Washington, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Marcus Garvey.
Independence Hall Association
U.s. History: Women in the Gilded Age
The roles available to women increased during the urbanization of America. Find out how the women's sphere of the home expanded into the community. See what new jobs were availabe to single, middle-class women, and read about how...
Other
Mu Special Collections: Dorothy Day
This site details the work of Dorothy Day as she began the Catholic Worker Movement. It gives an in-depth look at her religious influence and social ministry legacy.