Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Exploring Diversity Lesson Plans: http://www.hsp.org/
The Historical Society of Pennsylvania’s Education Department provides a range of lesson plans, images, and primary documents about early ethnic, racial, and cultural diversity, including three lessons focusing on Nativism or anti-immigrant sentiment and stereotyping during the 19th century. Using the Irish as a case study, students learn about the reasons Nativism emerged in American life, and how they can apply the lessons of history to understand and contextualize attitudes toward immigrants today.
Library Company of Philadelphia, Prints and Photographs Collection: http://www.librarycompany.org/collections/prints/index.htm
The Library Company of Philadelphia is an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries. The Library Company’s Prints and Photographs Division (http://www.lcpgraphics.org) is especially strong in the documentation of architecture and urban development, social and political life, and the early history of photography. In addition to Philadelphia-area materials, the graphic collections include historical and commemorative prints, portraits, and political cartoons documenting American history at the national level from the 18th through the early 20th centuries; many of these digitized images are featured online at “Ben’s Lens,” “Featured Collections,” and “Curator’s Favorites.”
Eastern State Penitentiary:
http://www.easternstate.org/
When the Eastern State Penitentiary opened on October 25, 1829 it was the world’s most expensive and high-tech prison. Its design brought together the most advanced building technology at the time with a radical new system of prisoner isolation, and caused a global sensation. As governments began to copy the new prison, Eastern State Penitentiary became the most influential prison ever built. Its website provides basic information about the site’s history, tour schedule, and changing exhibitions.
Explore PA History:
http://www.explorepahistory.com
ExplorePAhistory.com was launched in the spring of 2003 with support from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the William Penn Foundation, and the United States Department of Education. It provides users with three principal entry points: “Stories from PA History,” “Visit PA Regions,” and “Teach PA History.” “Stories from PA History” includes histories built around state historical markers. “Teach PA History” includes elementary, middle, and high school lesson plans for teachers of Pennsylvania and American history. “Visit PA Regions” provides useful information for those who are interested in visiting historic sites associated with ExplorePAhistory stories; it includes sample itineraries and directions to local points of interest, hotels, restaurants, and more. The “Teach PA History” section is searchable by key word, grade level, discipline, and historical period, and many classroom activities relate to larger themes in American history, not just Pennsylvania events.
Five Points New York Archeological Project: http://r2.gsa.gov/fivept/fphome.htm
Named for the points created by the intersection of Park, Worth, and Baxter streets in New York, the Five Points neighborhood was known as a center of vice and debauchery throughout the nineteenth century. In 1991 a team of 17 archaeologists, conservators, and historians conducted an archeological excavation that recovered 850,000 artifacts from the Foley Square courthouse block of Five Points. Their analysis provides a rich story about the working-class, residents of the city, the neighborhood’s reputation as New York’s most notorious slum, and its overcrowded tenement neighborhood teeming with newly arrived immigrants struggling to succeed in an alien city. The website includes a virtual exhibit, featured objects, and a good overview of urban historical archeology.
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