Maintains the enduring public fascination with the Civil War provides opportunities and dangers for history teachers. Reviews changes in historical interpretations of the Civil War. Asserts that recent scholarship suggests that both the South and North fought to preserve doomed social systems. (CFR)

Maintains that, although historiography and historical interpretation of the American Revolution have led to new questions and new answers, historians have become more sensitive to the complexity of that event and era. Presents an extended annotated bibliography of research and writing about the American Revolution. (CFR)

Asserts that the study of history involves more than the passive absorption facts, dates, names, and places. Maintains that real historical understanding requires students to engage in historical thinking, to raise questions, and to marshal evidence. Describes skills for five types of historical thinking. (CFR)

Traces the life and career of DeWitt Clinton, who served as mayor of New York City, governor of New York, and U.S. senator. Stresses that Clinton deeply impacted the state and nation as the founder of New York City's public schools, as an advocate of higher education for women, and as a major figure in building the Erie Canal. (NL)

Offers a lesson plan for teaching students about religious leaders' views concerning poverty. Provides quotations from a rabbi, a Catholic bishop, and a Methodist minister concerning their approaches to dealing with the poor. Includes questions for students dealing with the quotations. (SG)

Maintains that tremendous changes in the historiography and treatment of Native American history have occurred since the late 1960s. Provides a historiographic essay on contemporary historians and their interpretations of Native American history and culture. (CFR)

Documents history of Lowell, Massachusetts, from the careful planning of town, the recruitment of farm family daughters into the labor force, the demise of the town, and Lowell's subsequent regeneration as a high technology center in the 1970s and 1980s. Suggests that the study of this town's history can illuminate the study of current U.S. urban…

Discusses whether history was taught in U.S. schools when they began around 1820. Reports that what was labelled history dealt with the founding of the republic, the Constitution, and government. Includes information on U.S. historians. Suggests that a society does not teach its history until it reaches a certain level of stability or maturity.…

Urges that history be based on sound historical scholarship. Suggests that the most important key to good history is provided by well-trained history teachers who understand the dynamic nature of historical inquiry and help students develop a critical perspective of the past. Recognizes that women and minorities have been significant actors in…

Examines various ways that a documentary film about a southern textile strike can be used in a social studies classroom. Describes a series of student comments about the film followed by responses from the teacher/filmmaker. Briefly annotates five Internet sites related to oral history. (MJP)

The roots of American involvement in Vietnam, which stem from the ending of World War II, are examined. (RM)

When used to supplement print materials, explore dimensions of interpretation, and raise questions about bias, films can prove valuable aids for arousing students' curiosity about the past. Films that can be used in secondary classes to teach about the sixties are described. (RM)

This special theme issue of the OAH Magazine of History contains articles that present a variety of perspectives on the Columbian Quincentenary--the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's voyages of discovery. The articles include: "Exploring the Columbian Quincentenary through Historiography" (John Hebert); "Science, Religion,…

Two teachers describe their junior high school's involvement in National History Day. Participation in History Day provides students with the thrill of competition and the satisfaction that comes from really getting into a topic of their choice. (RM)

Describes the way in which a social studies chairman has used document-based lessons to encourage the use of primary sources in high school U.S. history classes. Lessons are designed to enable students to examine how national events are played out locally. (RW)