Students will learn what a symbol is and how this particular symbol—the American flag—is an important part of our everyday lives. Learning the history of the flag will help instill in students respect for our national symbol and help them learn appropriate etiquette regarding our flag. Students will learn that other symbols of our country, such as the president and certain holidays, like Flag Day, are important to us as well. Students can also contribute symbols from their familial, ethnic and national cultures to show the diversity of American society and its links to other parts of the world.
Fabric of History Podcasts
From the Bill of Rights Institute, Fabric of History weaves together U.S. history, Founding Principles, and what all of this means to us today. Join Mary, Gary, and Eryn as they delve into the most controversial, inspirational, and hilarious moments of history and strive to find the common thread between them.
Curating the Slave Quarters
This lesson plan encourages students to analyze and use evidence from diverse sources to act as curators and create an interpretation plan for the Greenhouse Slave Quarters at Mount Vernon.
Evaluating the New Departure Strategy in the Fight for Women’s Suffrage
In this activity, students will evaluate the New Departure strategy of the women’s suffrage movement – the idea that the Constitution already guaranteed the right to vote for women, they just had to test it by voting – that was championed by the National Woman Suffrage Association. Students will analyze documents from Susan B. Anthony’s arrest and trial for voting in the 1872 election. They will answer questions as they work through the documents and evaluate the claim that the Fourteenth Amendment enfranchised women.
Juneteenth General Order
In this activity, students will carefully analyze General Order 3 from Major General Gordon Granger which informed the people of Texas that “all slaves are free.” This activity is appropriate as a conclusion to the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction.
Women & the American Story: Growth and Turmoil, 1948-1976
This free curriculum unit from the New-York Historical Society explores the decades following World War II and considers the action that different groups took to advocate for their rights. Materials examine how shifting political and social ideologies impacted women’s lives and the roles women played in the wide array of activist-led movements that formed in the 1960s and 1970s.
Women & the American Story: Confidence and Crises, 1920-1948
This free curriculum unit from the New-York Historical Society considers what it meant to be American in the decades following World War I. Materials focus on the tensions caused by the social, economic, and political shifts of the era and how women took action on a broad array of issues.
Women & the American Story: Modernizing America, 1889-1920
This free curriculum unit from the New-York Historical Society examines how women used various forms of activism to fight for social change during the Progressive Era. Materials consider how women advocated for their rights and the role of women’s suffrage in this advocacy.
Women & the American Story: A Nation Divided, 1832-1877
This free curriculum unit from the New-York Historical Society delves into the ways women participated in all aspects of the Civil War and on both sides of the conflict, from the early debate over the expansion of slavery through the end of federal Reconstruction. Materials examine this pivotal moment in American history through the experiences of diverse women and consider how the war and then Reconstruction policies shaped their lives.
Women & the American Story: Settler Colonialism and the American Revolution, 1692-1783
This free curriculum unit from the New-York Historical Society explores the active and engaged role that 18th century women played in colonial and revolutionary America. Materials consider how women experienced and were integral to settler colonial society, as well as the ways they participated in political discourses surrounding the American Revolution.