Social Studies, History
and Humanities Resources

Here are some collections of online resources for social studies, history, and humanities that you can use with your students. They are organized by category; resources are alphabetized within each category.

• United States Topics
  These are links to historical topics and sites. There are also archives of historical documents and speeches.

• International Topics
  These are links to sites of historical interest such as the Holocaust, and areas currently in the news such as Afghanistan and Iraq. You'll also find a list of Multicultural Resources elsewhere in the Teachers' Internet Use Guide.

• Other Resources and Collections
  News, current events, geography, economics, and more.

United States Topics

• America's Story from America's Library
  This Library of Congress Web site lets you jump back in time to explore America's history, meet amazing people, explore the states, and more.
• America's West - Development and History
  A presentation of the History and Development of the American West, from the Frontier- and Pioneer days with the Wild West, to today's Modern West. American West is a visually appealing site with easy-to-understand information. It contains links to other links with large amounts of information about nearly every topic related to the American West.
• Archives of American Public Address
  A collection of speeches by Americans, about American topics, maintained by Northwestern University
• Ben's Guide to U.S. Government
  This site is designed for children, but many adults will find the information useful too. The resources found here will teach children about how government works and how the Government Printing Office (GPO - the site's sponsor) can be used. Ben's guide has teacher resources including how teachers can get free print materials from the government and lessons that allow students to find materials for their own projects.
• Civil War Photographs
  Selected Civil War photographs from the Library of Congress. There are 1118 photographs that include scenes of military personnel, preparations of battle, and battle after effects. The collection also includes portraits of both Confederate and Union officers, and a selection of enlisted men.
• CNN Student News
  CNN Student News airs on CNN Headline News Monday through Friday from 3:12 - 3:22 am ET. Educators use CNN Student News in their classrooms for the news of the day, as well as segments that encourage student participation. CNN Student News is easy to integrate into any lesson and is closed-captioned for use by hearing impaired or ESOL classes. Look for the latest news on the upcoming elections, with associated student activities.
• CongressLink - Connecting Congress, the Clasroom, and the Internet
  CongressLink is a classroom friendly service for teachers and students of history, politics, civics, and related subjects in upper elementary schools through college who want to pursue the study of Congress as a springboard for learning activities related broadly to civic education. The program seeks to facilitate student-centered and inquiry-based learning through the use of a website and involvement in an online learning community. Features include sample lesson plans, suggested student activities, access to original historical documentation from The Center's collections, an annotated list of more than 75 websites on related topics, access to subject matter experts online, and collaborative communications.
• Elections and Inaugurations
  From the American Memory Collection. Covers issues such as political parties, woman suffrage, poll tax, campaigns, great debates, and inaugurations of past presidents.
• Exploring Amistad
  The Amistad Revolt was a shipboard uprising off the coast of Cuba that carried itself, inadvertently but fatefully, to the United States--where the Amistad Captives set off an intense legal, political, and popular debate over the slave trade, slavery, race, Africa, and ultimately America itself. This project of Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, where some of Steven Spielberg's historical movie was filmed, has been designated as a place for discussions of slavery and the rebellion.
• FirstGov.gov
  This is the U.S. Government's official Web site, containing information about the White house, Congress, Supreme Court, and federal agencies. Students can access laws, statistics from the Census Bureau and Labor Department, federal libraries, photo archives, and discover online resources under many topics. It also includes links to state, local, and tribal goernment Web sites.
• Foundations of our Constitution
  The Constitutional Rights Foundation(CRF) had a set of Online Lessons called Foundations of Our Constitution. These lessons are designed to help students explore documents that serve as the foundation for American democracy. Each lesson in Foundations of Our Constitution consists of three components: (1) a reading with discussion questions, (2) an interactive activity, and (3) the complete text of the document that the lesson explores.
• Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad
  This interactive site was written by second graders at Pocantico Hills School in Sleepy Hollow, NY. It has a timeline, interactive quiz, and caracter sketches written by second graders. It has additional resources and lessons for teachers. An outstanding site, winner of many awards.
• The Immigrant Corner
  This curriculum unit, "Dramatizing the Immigrant Experience", attempts to help students realize that they have the ability to respond to their many environments in a vivid, creative way, especially if they or their families are recent immigrants.
• Immigration to the United States
  This Discovery School lesson presents a balanced perspective on immigration to the United States, both legal and illegal.
• Lewis and Clark Page
  Many good annotated references on the Lewis and Clark Expeditions: maps, images, timelines, etc.
• National Archives
  NARA is an independent Federal agency that helps preserve our nation's history by overseeing the management of all Federal records. Among the treasures that await you here online are the cornerstone documents of our government -- the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, and the Bill of Rights -- as well as many of our current and past exhibits. This is a large and busy site, so give it time to load. Check out the "digital classroom".
• Patchwork of African-American Life: Exploring African-American Issues on the Web
  Pacific Bell has created six Web-based activities as models to suggest ways to integrate the World Wide Web and videoconferencing into classroom learning. African-American History was chosen as a topic because of its importance, popularity and the wealth of Internet resources available on the topic.
• Teaching with Historic Places: American Indian History
  To celebrate American Indian Heritage and generate public appreciation for diverse cultures, Teaching with Historic Places has posted on the WWW a set of seven lesson plans that consider important aspects of American Indian history. These lessons, based on sites listed in the National Register of Historic Places, are free and ready for immediate classroom use by students in history and social studies classes.
• Virginia Center for Digital History
  An eminent digital history site housed at the University of Virginia with lesson plans for K-12 social studies classes.
• WebQuest: Industrial Expositions and African-American Education
  One of the WebQuests in the University of Virginia's Special Collection. This is associated with the Jackson Davis Special Collection of African-American Educational Photographs. The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collection also hosts a number of other Exhibits and Online Resources at the University of Virginia.
• Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1830-1930
  This Website introduces students to primary documents related to women and social movements in the U.S. between 1830 and 1930, including letters and newspaper articles on the role of African American women in the passage of the Woman Suffrage Amendment.

Back to top of page

International Topics

• Afghan I Stand: Learning and Teaching about the Culture and History of Afghanistan
  This interdisciplinary, middle/high school lesson was developed collaboratively through the New York Times Learning Network and the Bank Street College of Education. In this lesson, students explore the history of ethnic groups, leadership, internal and external conflicts, social and economic conditions, and geographical boundaries of Afghanistan to present to fellow classmates at a teach-in.
• Africa Reparations Movement: This website has been set up for those who are interested in Africa's people both on the continent and in the Diaspora. During your visit to this site you will receive information that is pertinent to the struggle for reparations for the harm done to Africa and the African diaspora through enslavement, colonization, and racism.
• Iraq
  From the CIA's World Fact Book, this page covers the geography, people, government, history, and other information about Iraq.
• Kosovo
  The Kosovo site is hosted by The New York Times and is suitable for History/Geography students in grades 6-12. With all the events happening in Kosovo, this site provides up to date information on the situation there. Check out the "related lesson plans".
• League of Nations Photo Archive
  The League of Nations Photo ARchive is a newly announced resource that is sponsored jointly by the Ceenter for the Study of Global Change, the United Nations Library, and the Indiana University Libraries. The Archives includes official records as well as portraits, painting, caricatures, original arttworks, and objets d'art. In addition, the site contains a digital copy of the Illustrated Album of the League of Nations, which includes a very concise overview of the League plus other photos and diagrams.
• Open Lines
  Open Lines is a place where teenagers can discuss world events and what they are concerned about with other students around the globe. All messages will be reviewed by the South Carolina ETV staff.
• Teaching the Holocaust
  A fine set of lesson plans on the Holocaust by Teresa Moretta, for grades 4-12.
• A Teacher's Guide to the Holocaust
  An overview of the people and events of the Holocaust through photographs, documents, art, music, and literature, produced by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology.
• Veterans History Project
  This is a project of the American Folklife Center of the Library of congress, updated just in time for Veteran's Day 2003.
• Vietnam Studies
  Since local newspapers are beginning to carry columns about whether or not the current Iraq situation resembles Vietnam, this collection of links may provide discussion materials for this question.
  • History 323 Research and Writing page
    A good starting point.
  • Vietnam War Bibliography
    Background information
  • The Vietnam War: Political and Military Figures
  • The History Place Presents the Vietnam War
  • Vietnam: A Cross-national, Interdisciplinary Perspective
    External links
  • Army Center for Military History
    Vietnam Studies
• War in Iraq - Online Lessons and Links
  The war in Iraq raises critical questions for the classroom. Constitutional Rights Foundation has prepared a focused series of online lessons and research links designed for classroom use. We will continue to add new online lessons and research links as events unfold in America, Iraq, the Middle East, and around the world. Topics include helping students cope, war and international law, and war and the media. Links include statistics, maps, Bush doctrine, humanitarian groups, history, analysis of media coverage, and much more.
• World Fact Book
  Compiled by the CIA, this page contains numerous links to pages about countries throughout the world, with history, flags, and a searchable database by country.

Back to top of page

Other Resources and Collections

• Atlapedia Online
  This Web site contains full-color physical and political maps as well as key facts and statistics about countries of the world.
• Ancient Sites
  This British Web site has some impressive pictures of ancient sites such as Stonehenge, with history and interpretation. A related site is Exploring Ancient World Cultures. This is an online course supplement for students and teachers of the ancient and medieval worlds.
• Biography.com: Lives that make a difference.
  A product of A&E television network, this site offers a host of biographies of famous people. the "Classroom" link contains study guides. Note: there are some annoying pop-up screens with advertisements.
• Christian Science Monitor
  This is a colorful, easy to access, easy to read site with an extensive menu.
• Dennis Boals History/Social Studies Web Site for K-12 Teachers
  A HUGE site with a very thorough set of links to arts, humanities, history, and social studies resources for K-12 educators.
• EcEdWeb - Economic Education Web
  The University of Nebraska at Omaha provides economics resources for K-12 teachers, including lesson plans and an index to useful Web sites.
• EconEdLink
  This site explores the connections between economics and real-world issues. They have several lessons that typically can be completed within a single class period.
• EDSITEment
  Funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, this Web site features a reference shelf, teachers's lounge, and a collection of lesson plans. Major areas are literature and language arts, foreign languages, arts and culture, and history and social studies.
• Eyewitness: History Through the Eyes of Those Who Lived It
  Eyewitness contains a number of personal narratives directly from people who lived through a particularly important moment in history. Narratives are indexed by historical date and often include alternative viewpoints. A few audio clips are also available with interviews from famous figures in history.
• Justice Learning
  NYTimes.com and NPR have launched Justice Learning, a free civics Web site designed for high school students and teachers. The Web site is organized around eight distinct civic issues that are updated twice yearly. It will use lessons and articles from the New York Times Learning Network and content from NPR's Justice Talking radio show. Current issues include gun control, affirmative action, juvenile justice, and Web censorship.
• National Geographic's Map Machine
  National Geographic provides a "zoom-able" set of relief maps, street maps, historical maps, and even political/cultural maps. It's a better teaching resource than MapQuest, which is primarily used for travel directions.
• Scholastic News
  This is Scholastic's source for news and current events.
• NCSS Online: The Information Source for Social Studies Education
  The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) is the largest association in the US devoted solely to Social Studies education. Also explore National Council for the Social Studies.
• Smithsonian Institution
  This is a huge site. Enter "Lesson Plans" in the search screen and you will find lesson plans in a multitude of subjects.
• Teaching Zack To Think This is an article by Alan November that discusses the results of student online research that was done without considering validity issues.

Back to top of page

Return to "Implementing a Lesson"

To next step: "Evaluating a Lesson"