Describes how high school students in Virginia helped construct a Chesapeake Bay deadrise oyster boat in order to help gain an appreciation for the culture and history of their area. (JDH)

Addresses the ways in which the United States uses history to justify present events. Suggests that two myths about history tend to confuse thinking (1) the notion that history repeats itself, and (2) the belief that hindsight is 20-20. Argues that history teachers must alert students to the complexity of human events and avoid misleading…

Addresses the media's role in changing the nature of heroes in the United States. Describes the changes in cultural values that resulted in statesmen and soldiers being replaced by athletes and film and television celebrities. Attributes change to the development of the consumer society, centralization of the entertainment industry, and advances…

Addresses the National History Day 2000-2001 competition topic "Frontiers in History: People, Places, Ideas," which encourages analysis of how frontiers develop and their impact on human life. Describes different approaches to the topic, what is expected of students, and the competition itself. (CMK)

This article describes the different world views and sense of history held by typical United States and Chinese citizens. Based on a personal relationship between the author and a family of intellectuals in China, the article includes anecdotes from the Chinese Cultural Revolution. (JDH)

Presents part of the Aspen High School curriculum about the United States civil rights movement. Focuses on why Blacks were segregated and disenfranchised prior to the movement, why the movement took place, what were the results of the movement, and what is the present condition of Blacks in American society. (JDH)

Addresses the history of Spanish-American missions, discussing the view of missions in church history, their role in the Spanish conquest, and the role and ideas of Herbert E. Bolton. Focuses on differences among Spanish borderlands missions, paying particular attention to the Florida missions. (CMK)

Discusses the founding of San Antonio, originally San Antonio de Bexar, which, in 1718, came into being as a military settlement involved in Spanish imperial defensive measures. Focuses on the development and continued growth of San Antonio, Texas's most populous city in the 19th century. (CMK)

Explores the family farm as an economic institution and cultural symbol in U.S. history. Explains how farms worked as economic units. Contrasts the idyllic family farm against realities of business failures and family problems. Examines the family farm's role in shaping the U.S. character and asks what its essential demise will mean. (CH)

Maintain that the years of 1800-1830, or the early republic, set the stage for dramatic changes in women's lives that became apparent by the mid-nineteenth century. Explores the routes scholars have taken when studying women's history in the early republic in order to identify potential topics for the classroom. (CMK)

Addresses two aspects of the First Lady's role that are applicable to the use of material culture in the classroom: (1) the First Lady's social role, its impact on the presidential administration, and its use as a reflection of the changing status of the nation; and (2) the First Lady's role as campaigner. (CMK)

Describes life in the mestizo society during the Spanish colonial rule of California. Addresses such topics as, but not limited to, racial diversity and socioracial stratification of the population, what life was like for the families of soldiers and settlers, and the size of the families in California. (CMK)

Discusses the transformation of the U.S. consumption habits and the creation of the consumer during the Progressive Era. Describes the relationships among the production of goods, advertising, and progress. Focuses on the role advertising played in altering U.S. cultural beliefs and the continued attachment to the past. (CMK)

Presents a method for teaching about the 1970s and provides an overview of the decade analyzing major events. Presents the underlying tone of the time period showing how different political, economic, and social events affected society's spirit, attitudes, and moods. (LS)

Surveys current literature dealing with the 1970s feminist movement, concentrating on national public policy. Remarks that little of the research is archival because the Nixon and Carter presidential papers were just recently opened. Offers predictions for the second wave of reconstruction and interpretation that will follow the opening of the…