Curated OER
Susan B. Anthony, Activist
Young scholars examine Susan B. Anthony's life and causes she worked for. In this Susan B. Anthony lesson, students work in groups to research the activist roles of Susan B. Anthony and decide if she was a philanthropist. Young scholars...
Curated OER
On the Brink
Learners view a film about environmental issues. They discover how environmental degradation can lead to disease. They identify the relationship between population growth and the environment.
Curated OER
Exposes in Different Eras: The Work of Dorothea Dix and Burton Blatt
Students discover that Dorothea Dix was the first to make the pubic aware of the terrible living conditions of people with mental illness in the 1800's. They evaluate the influence of citizen action on public policy.
US National Archives
Docsteach: The Suffrage and the Civil Rights Reform Movements
This short comparative analysis activity involves comparing and contrasting two images of marches for freedom - a 1917 march of suffragists and the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom by Civil Rights leaders. Students will...
Other
Wake Forest University: The Social Gospel, Part Ii
A continuation of Part I of "The Social Gospel", the underlying causes for the reform movements in the last part of the 19th century and early 20th century.
Other
Humboldt Univ.: Political, Economic and Social Consequences of Manifest Destiny
An extensive look at the consequences of manifest destiny, with emphasis on six different topics for student discussions. These include the growth of a national market economy, the impact of drastic economic changes on American society,...
Annenberg Foundation
Annenberg Learner: America's History in the Making: The Progressives
Comprehensive teaching unit that explores the Progressive period in America and the reform movements that accompanied it. Contains video and text materials, web interactives, student oriented activities, and a timeline of key events from...
Stanford University
Sheg: Reading Like a Historian: Settlement House Movement Sac
[Free Registration/Login Required] Lesson using primary sources from Progressive Era about the Settlement House Movement. Includes downloadable teacher materials, student materials, and primary source documents.
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.
Digital History
Digital History: Pre Civil War Reform: Assisting the Disabled
The early 19th century saw giant strides in social reform. Read about those who advocated for the mentally ill, deaf, and blind from the Digital textbook from University of Houston.
Internet History Sourcebooks Project
Fordham University: Modern History Sourcebook: The Social Gospel, 1908
An excerpt from Walter Rauschenbusch's "Christianity and the Social Crisis." Rauschenbusch was a Baptist minister and proponent of The Social Gospel movement.
Digital Public Library of America
Dpla: Women and the Temperance Movement
This primary set uses photographs, letters, posters, and publications to explore women and the Temperance Movement. Includes teaching guide.
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.
Other
Smith College: Across the Generations:exploring Us History Through Family Papers
The reform movement during the nineteenth century is explored through original documents. This site gives an overview of the social history of this time period.
National Women’s History Museum
National Women's History Museum: Jane Addams
A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize.
Other
Aim: Trail of Broken Treaties 20 Point Position Paper
Original text of the plan for the reconstruction of Indian communities, developed by the American Indian Movement (AIM.)
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.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Harcourt: Biographies: Jane Addams
In Spanish, learn of this accomplished woman's endeavors to improve the lives of the poor and disadvantaged. Jane Addams famous "Hull House" was copied throughout the U.S. Pictures and other links as well. (In Spanish)
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.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: A Monumental Idea
This is a small-group project utilizing web research, cooperation, creativity and hands-on production in order to fully understand the impact of social reformers of the 19th century. Students will be responsible for building a monument...
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.