Spotlight on: Primary Source Diary of World War I nurse Ella Osborn, 1918–1919 World History 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 At the outbreak of World War I, Ella Jane Osborn was a surgical nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. In January 1918, she volunteered to serve with the American Expeditionary Forces as a member of the Red Cross’s nursing...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Why Black men fought in World War I, 1919 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 During World War I, approximately 370,000 black men in the US military served in segregated regiments and were often relegated to support duties such as digging trenches, transporting supplies, cleaning latrines, and burying the dead....
Spotlight on: Primary Source Emma Goldman on the restriction of civil liberties, 1919 Government and Civics 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ Emma Goldman was born to a Jewish family in Kovno, Russia (present-day Lithuania). In 1885, at the age of sixteen, she emigrated to the United States, becoming a well-known author and lecturer promoting anarchism, workers’ rights,...
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Union Army and Juneteenth, 1865 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13+ This engraving depicts a White Union soldier reading the Emancipation Proclamation to an enslaved family. It was published in 1864 by Lucius Stebbins, based on a painting by Henry W. Herrick. According to Stebbins, the scene ...
Spotlight on: Primary Source A Civil War soldier’s satirical take on the news, 1863 Art, Government and Civics 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Between battles, marches, and military exercises, Civil War soldiers spent their free time in camp playing music, writing and reading letters, and, for those with the skill, sketching scenes from the day. This unknown soldier’s...
Lesson Plan American Women and World War I 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Click to download this three-lesson unit :
Spotlight on: Primary Source The Map Proves It, ca. 1919 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 Supporters of women’s rights used maps such as the one shown here to demonstrate where women were allowed to vote, when they won that right, and which elections they could vote in. The source of this map is unknown. Originally printed...
Spotlight on: Primary Source An appeal for suffrage support, 1871 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 The National Woman Suffrage and Educational Committee was formed in the spring of 1871. The Washington DC-based committee pledged to act as the “centre of all action upon Congress and the country.” The group was also dedicated to the...
Spotlight on: Primary Source Voting restrictions for African Americans, 1944 Government and Civics 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 In 1944 a group of southern editors and writers documented cases of voter suppression in southern states. They took this step because, in the presidential election of 1944, only 28 percent of potential voters in the South participated...