Over the last couple of years, White nationalist groups have been at the forefront of American political life, especially with the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The historical roots of White nationalist movements run deep in the United States and are most closely associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In this article the authors explore…

Background/Context: Educators, parents, politicians, and the media often complain that young people know little history and compare them unfavorably to better-educated, earlier generations. However, the charge is exaggerated. Young people have performed poorly on history tests for decades. Students' poor scores on one test in particular, the focus…

This qualitative study examines the distinguishing themes of cultural responsiveness in state- and federally-derived document-based learning materials. Two data sources--"Teaching with Documents" articles in Social Education and Document Based Questions on New York State 11th-grade U.S. History and Government Regents exams--were examined…

The teacher who is the focus of this interpretive case study, uses primary sources regularly with her students in ambitious ways but does so less from the current reform efforts, recent history education scholarship, or the climate of accountability and more from her individual goals for history education, most significantly, to prepare her…

The 17th century Dutch colony of New Netherland, which was located between New England in the north and Maryland and Virginia in the south, has received little attention from most historians of colonial America. The New Netherland Project was formed in 1974 under the sponsorship of the New York State Library and the Holland Society of New York…

This report, the culmination of the 3-year "New York Document Conservation Administration Training and Planning Project," represents a distillation of the best thinking about preservation issues in New York after an exhaustive process of consultation and review. Its thesis is that preservation of New York State's historical records, rare…

In 1777, out of the confusion, fear, and chaos of battle, soldiers of the Continental Army forged a victory over professional British and German soldiers near Saratoga (New York). The two battles fought there changed the course of the American Revolution and insured the independence of the former British colonies that became the United States of…

The purpose of this book is to create a synergy between records custodians and educators that will make historical records an important part of every New York state student's education. The book's first three sections explain basic information about historical records: what they are, how they can be found, how educators and records custodians can…

This Social Science Docket theme issue focuses on teaching local history and included theme and non-themed articles, lesson plans, learning activities, and book, movie, and museum reviews designed for K-12 social studies teachers. Articles and materials in this issue are: "Editing Is Not Censorship" (Alan Singer); "Teachers Respond…

This publication opens with a statement by the 2001-2002 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) President Adrian Davis on the horrific events of September 11, 2001. Davis said that social studies educators need to reinforce the ideals of tolerance, equity, and social justice against a backlash of antidemocratic sentiments and hostile…

Completing the trilogy of local Amityville history written entirely by high school students using interviews, local newspapers, and documents, this journal contains 11 articles discussing the social, political, cultural, and educational scene of the community. The articles are: "De Facto Segregation in the Amityville School…

This booklet describes how students and other researchers can use historical resources in their community to explore the history of their school and to determine how that history relates to community-wide and statewide developments. Although the manual is written primarily from the perspective of the public schools, the underlying theme of the…

This lesson traces the use of Eleanor Roosevelt's retreat, Val-Kill, a "shack" (actually a stone cottage) built in 1925 on the grounds of the Roosevelt family estate at Hyde Park (New York), and how it nurtured her spirit, personal style, and humanitarian efforts. The lesson explains that Eleanor and her women friends later expanded the…

Springwood, the birthplace and home of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is a large, rambling structure faced with stucco and fieldstone, situated in a landscaped clearing on a bluff overlooking the Hudson River. Roosevelt was born there to a family of wealth and position on January 30, 1882. It is the only site in the U.S. where a president was born,…

An historical journal compiled by advanced placement American history high school students contains 10 articles about the experiences of residents of Amityville, New York, during World War II. Students used secondary sources, first-hand newspaper accounts, oral interviews, and primary source documents to recreate Amityville as it was during those…