A typical U.S. high school student today might be able to recite some milestones of civil rights history--the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-56; the Freedom Rides of 1961; and (some would add) the election of the first African American president in 2008. But how many students understand that these events, which historians call out as milestones,…

In this article, the author goes beyond Supreme Court decisions to investigate the upbringing and personalities of three Supreme Court justices who left their mark on history: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, and Sandra Day O'Connor. His interviews with their biographers, G. Edward White for Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., Juan Williams…

For many of the students in the author's American history class, early twentieth-century American history seems far removed from their daily lives. Being first and second-generation American citizens, many of the students do not have the luxury of hearing grandparents and great-grandparents telling stories about FDR and Henry Ford. More…

William L. Shirer, author of Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, discusses a wide variety of subjects, including the personalities of Roosevelt and Hitler, why the Germans succumbed to Nazism, McCarthyism in the United States, and the heroic resistance of the Russians to German invasion. (CS)

Political reporter Theodore H. White discusses American politics in this interview. Issues examined include racism, one-term presidencies, how what liberals have done in the past 30 years has created a nation of dependents, the primary system, election polls, and what young people should be taught about American history and politics. (RM)

Presents information gathered about two exemplary teachers of U.S. history using research methods, such as interviews and observations. Discusses how the teachers fostered empathy in their classrooms by focusing on the use of stories and social themes to connect history to students' lives. (CMK)

High school students can study the life of Franklin Delano Roosevelt using primary and secondary sources, including biographies, autobiographies, diaries, interviews, and memoirs. Afterwards, students should prepare their own evaluative essays on Roosevelt. This approach will help them to understand a highly complex president. (CS)

Discusses the audio documentary series entitled "Will the Circle be Unbroken?" that uses the oral histories of more than 250 people to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement. Provides excerpts from "Episode 12: Nine for Justice" that involved school integration in Little Rock (Arkansas) and sample lessons to accompany the…

Provides guidelines for using intergenerational interviews as a technique to make the past more immediate and concrete for fourth and fifth grade students. Solutions to common problems encountered with this type of project are presented. (JDH)

Presents an interview with James Loewen who wrote "Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your High School History Textbook Got Wrong" and "Lies Across America: What our Historic Sites and Monuments Get Wrong." Focuses on topics such as what led him to write these two books and why they are popular. (CMK)

Presents an interview with Tim Robbins that focuses on the making of the film "Cradle Will Rock." Robbins offers his perspectives on issues such as the power of art to convey important social messages and sources of violence in schools. Includes resources for teachers. (CMK)

Presents an interview with the Youth For Understanding (YFU) President Sally Grooms Cowal focusing on such issues as how Elian Gonzalez and his family came to stay at the YFU's Rosedale estate in Washington, D.C., how Elian spent his time there, and the effects of the Elian case on U.S.-Cuban relations. (CMK)

Contends that oral history is a unique way to learn about past events and experiences. Describes an oral history project that resulted in the publication of 26 stories of Rhode Island women during World War II. Discusses the stories and their impact on the students who conducted the oral history interviews. (CFR)