Teaching the Civil War with Technology

During the recent ISTE Conference, I had the opportunity to meet Karen Needles who is the Director for the Lincoln Archives Digital Project (LADP).

According the the website, “the Lincoln Archives Digital Project is providing unlimited access to the historic but fragile paper records of the administration of President Abraham Lincoln.”  This project is “identifying documents from the State Department, Treasury Department, War Department, Justice Department, and other federal offices from the period of Abraham Lincoln’s presidency.”

With a few exceptions, the time period covered by the project is March 4, 1861, through April 15, 1865.

While this site is primarily a “pay for access” website ($2,000 for schools for a unlimited access for a year or $150 for a single PC), it does have some access to free resources related to Lincoln.  Karen, was kind enough to provide me with a temporary login so I could explore the site in more detail.

The Lincoln Archive Digital Project is broken into several sections including Library of Congress, National Archives, Dictionary, Podcasts, Photographs, Lesson Plans, Maps, Cartoons, Newspapers and Timeline to name a few.

So, I thought I would provide a review of a few of the sections.  Let’s start with the Newspapers.

The above graphic shows the listing of the newspapers that users can access via the LADP.  Each of the papers has an overview and background information about the paper (available for free) and then you can drill down to view specific dates for the papers.

Another cool section of the LADP is the maps section. You can view Civil War Battle Maps, City Maps, State Maps, European Maps, Territory Maps, and US Maps.

What is really cool about the maps (and other parts of the website) is a feature called Zoomify.  This feature allows you to zoom in on the maps (or newpapers or photos) and look at the artifact in greater detail. The following two photos are of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Here is the map at normal magnification:

Here is that same map, at max magnification:

Check out the details!  This feature can be used to really get your classrooms talking.  For example, why was the reserved artillery placed where it was?

Another interesting section is the Political Cartoons where you can also click on one of several papers and get some background information about the publication.  From there you can view and examine various cartoons from the period.  One interesting thing that you could do is to have your students compare and contrast political cartoons from the Civil War to those of today.

Two of the free sections of the website that I especially like is the Lesson Plans and the Timeline.  The Lesson Plans section contains links to some really good Lincoln related lessons and resources for use in your classrooms.  The timeline is a very well done and includes events from the day Lincoln was born in 1809 up until his death in 1865.

I recommend that you check out the Lincoln Archive Digital Project and let me know what you think.  If you are a school this could be a great resource for you and your students.

Posted under Famous People, Primary Sources

The Library of Congress sponsors discussions on various books and broadcasts them via their website. One of the webcasts was about Robert E. Lee and features the author Elizabeth Brown Pryor. The author talks about her research into Robert E. Lee and provides a unique insight into this famous historical figure.

Check out the webcast HERE

Photo credit: Selected Photographs of the Civil War

Stay warm…

Posted under Famous People, Primary Sources, Videos

Hi, Here is another acrostic poem. This time it is about Julia Grant, the wife of the 18th President Ulysses S. Grant.

Julia Grant was born at White House Plantation in St. Louis, Missouri

U. S. Grant proposed to her several times times before she said yes

Lonely without Ulysses Grant

In 1869, she entered the White House to begin, “the happiest period of her life”

Attended 1897 dedication of Grant’s tomb in New York City

Grant’s had 3 sons and a daughter

Received the position of 1st Lady

A family marriage held at the White House

Next to her husband’s grave

The 1st First Lady to write a memoir

Posted under Famous People

Eric Langhorst is an 8th Grade History teacher from Illinois and is the host of the Speaking of History podcast.  Well, a while back he made a trip to the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and recorded a podcast of his thoughts on the museum.

You can view pictures from his trip and listen to his podcast on the visit on his Speaking of History Blog.

He also recorded a podcast about some of the historic locations in Springfield, Illinois related to Abraham Lincoln that you can listen to HERE.

Be sure to check out all of the links Eric has included in his show notes. I’ll try to cover some of them in upcoming blog posts.

Until next time…

Posted under Famous People, Websites

Since I have posted on The Gettysburg Address in the past, I thought I would share this USA Today headline article about a “new” image of Abe Lincoln at Gettysburg being found at the Library of Congress.

The story discusses how an amateur historian was looking at photographs of the famous Gettysburg Address and found Lincoln in his famous top hat riding a horse to the speaker’s stand.

You can read the entire article HERE.

Here is a close up of the photo from the article showing what appears to be Lincoln

Photo from USA Today.

I have posted before about using photographs in your classroom. The historian in the article had researched the events around the Gettysburg Address and was simply looking at photographs and made a terrific discovery. You and your students can do the same thing in your classroom. Who knows, you may be the one to find the next photo of Lincoln or other famous Civil War figure.

Researchers advocate instructional approaches that engage students in the processes of doing history (Friedman, 2005). This process includes building historical knowledge through the use of primary sources, conducting historical inquiry, and encouraging students to think historically. As part of this process, students must be active learners, by seeking answers rather than waiting for them when engaging in the analysis of primary sources. The reason for this is that the process of engaging in historical thinking is more than simply absorbing information; instead it requires seeking out answers to questions (Friedman, 2005). While viewing a primary source, students will examine the historical document and then construct a narrative based on that document. Through the process of constructing this narrative, students have begun to develop inquiry skills that they will be able to use throughout their life (Wineburg, 2001). According to VanSledright (2002), children as young as seven and eight years old are capable of thinking historically.

Good luck and have fun exploring those photos.

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References:

Friedman, A. (2005, May). Using digital primary sources to teach world history and world geography: Practices, promises, and provisions. Journal for the Association of History and Computing, 8, Retrieved October 2005, from http://mcel.pacificu.edu/jahc/JAHCVIII1/articles/friedman.htm#037

VanSledright, B. (2002). In search of America’s past. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press

Wineburg, S. (2001). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Posted under Famous People, Primary Sources