National Archives – Eyewitness Online Exhibit

Over the last few years, the National Archives has been working hard to connect their content with users outside of their traditional brick and mortar buildings. They have Facebook pages, Flickr accounts, Twitter feeds, RSS feeds, YouTube channels and numerous blogs.

Its Education Page is wonderful and NARA has consistently excellent online resources available through its main web site and on the web sites of its regional offices. I talked about one of my favorite online exhibits, Digital Vaults, several years ago.

Another favorite is an exhibit called Eyewitness.

Gripping eyewitness accounts—in the form of letters, diaries, audio and film recordings—chronicle dramatic moments in U.S. history.

Eyewitness provides a wide range of primary sources from a variety of periods. And NARA has packaged the site using Flash so it’s incredibly easy to find and use the materials.

I was browsing through the collection this morning and ran across John Lewis’s account of his participation in the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery and the events of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965.

His account of the physical and verbal abuse suffered in 1965 would make for an interesting addition to stories published recently concerning the treatment Lewis, now a US representative from Georgia, received during the national health care debates.

The good news about Eyewitness? Tons of great resources.

The bad news? Once you start browsing, it’s tough to leave.

NARA sharing the goodies!

Several weeks ago, I mentioned how the Library of Congress is jumping into the 21st century by creating its own channel over at Youtube. Today, going through the latest issue of Social Education, I found out that the National Archives is also stepping a bit out of its traditional box.

NARA is working to digitize millions of its documents and share them with the public. It’s an encredible undertaking and the NARA folks are using 21st century tools to make it a bit easier.

To share textual documents, NARA is working together with Footnote to provide tons of free access to some very cool stuff. Footnote is a great primary source web site with some amazing features. But it has one drawback – it’s not free. I personally believe that every school should pay for a Footnote account but I also understand that’s probably not gonna happen.

So when I found out that Footnote and NARA have created a special free section for recently digitized NARA documents, my first thought was “sweet!” Take advantage of all of Footnote’s cool tools to annotate, share and view some amazing documents!

The special Footnote section has six categories of documents:

• Papers of the Continental Congress – The correspondence, journals, committee reports, and records of the Continental Congress (1774-1789).
• Constitutional Convention Records – Journals of proceedings, early drafts, and other papers relating to the formation of the US Constitution.
• Mathew B. Brady Photo Collection – Brady led a team of photographers who captured thousands of the most memorable images of the Civil War.
• Southern Claims Commission – In the 1870s, southerners claimed compensation from the U.S. government for items used by the Union Army, ranging from corn and horses, to trees and church buildings.
• Civil War Pension Index – Index to pension applications for service in the U.S. Army between 1861 and 1917, grouped according to the units in which the veterans served.
• FBI Case Files 1908-1922 – The Bureau of Investigation investigated real and perceived threats to the nation and its citizens before it became the FBI.

NARA has also been working with the Google Video people to host a variety of short films by NASA, the War Department during World War II and the Department of the Interior. It’s a small collection at the moment but NARA is committed to posting more in the future.

You can also go directly to the NARA Archival Research Catalog and simply type “google” in the search box and get a list of all of the videos. (Clicking the “Hierarchy” tab will organize the films by category and makes it a bit easier to find things.)

Both sites give teachers a chance to view, download and use a wide variety of newly digitized primary sources. Give ’em a try!

Primarily Teaching with NARA

We can all use more training on integrating primary sources in the classroom.

I’ve pasted below an announcement from the National Archive folks in Kansas City for their “Primarily Teaching: Original Documents and Classroom Strategies” workshop that does just that.

And, yes, it’s blatant advertising for NARA but you’ll just have to deal with it. I was able to attend a similar session two years ago at the Eisenhower Museum and it was phenomenal.

The National Archives at Kansas City is pleased to announce that it is one of nine locations across the country to host “Primarily Teaching: Original Documents and Classroom Strategies.” The week long institute will be held July 13-17, 2009, at the region’s new facility located at 400 West Pershing Road, Kansas City, MO 64108.

Primarily Teaching is designed to provide access to the rich resources of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for educators at the upper elementary, secondary, and college levels. Participants will learn how to research historical records, create classroom materials based on the records, and present documents in ways that sharpen students’ skills and enthusiasm for history, government, and the other humanities.

Each participant will research the holdings of the National Archives at Kansas City for documents suitable for classroom use and develop strategies for using these documents in the classroom or design professional development activities to help classroom teachers use primary source documents effectively.

The cost of the institute, including all materials, is $100. Graduate credit is available for an additional fee. Space is limited; interested persons are encouraged to apply early.

An application for the institute is available online.

For more information about Primarily Teaching, contact:
Lori Cox-Paul, Education Specialist
Phone: (816) 268-8017 Email: lori.cox-paul@nara.gov