Presents a lesson plan that requires students to use their research and analytical skills in studying the social and economic importance of small business. Activities include interviewing local business owners and producing a written summary, developing a survey showing and explaining area land use, and researching opposition to Wal-Mart stores.…

Summarizes some of the research involved in a current oral history project that examines the migration of southern African American women to Cincinnati, Ohio. Discusses the reasons for leaving the South as well as the role women played in keeping families together while attempting to provide some continuity to their lives. (MJP)

Maintains that social studies education arose out of a concern for an educational system that prepared citizens for a democratic society. Describes the influence of the National Education Association and the American Historical Association on the National Council for the Social Studies. (CFR)

Discusses the importance of architecture in Thomas Jefferson's life. Presents a lesson plan based on Jefferson's Monticello and designed to encourage students to identify and understand elements of classical architecture in their local area. Includes a photograph of Monticello and six architectural illustrations. (CFR)

Contends that oral history is a way to involve students in thinking about and understanding history and the contemporary world. Includes a family history chart, recommendations for creating an oral history questionnaire, sample interview questions, and four student oral history writing models. (CFR)

Discusses reasons for studying history. Suggests that compelling arguments for historical study will affect students' attitudes throughout life. Evaluates common rationales for studying history. Includes history as fun, tradition, great ideas, human folly, escapism, and nationalist legitimation. Urges that students be taught history as facts that…

Recommends providing fifth and sixth grade students in social studies classes with an understanding of how people lived in a specific era through original experiences. Outlines two lesson plans for studying ancient Egypt, giving students hands-on experiences. Finds lessons appropriate for special education students and those with limited English…

Analyzes problems confronted when integrating women into U.S. history textbooks and college survey courses. Reviews feminist scholarship to examine how women's experiences have differed from men's throughout U.S. history. Although acknowledging the importance of exploring these differences, argues scholars also must investigate women's…

Discusses the initial integration of African American scholars into U.S. higher educational institutions after World War II. Concludes that the practices of the post-World War II era placed a badge of inferiority on African American scholars at traditionally white universities that continues today. (CFR)

Traces social and working history of Sicilian women. Examines this history's significance to the development of Ybor City, an immigrant community settled by Sicilians, Cubans, and Spaniards in Tampa, Florida. Presents experiences and lifestyles of women employed in cigar factories, characterizing them as labor radicals yet traditionally domestic.…

Presents background information on Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972) in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Wisconsin could not compel Amish students to attend high school. Outlines a lesson plan for simulating the court's decision. Includes discussion questions that distinguish between the First Amendment establishment and free exercise clauses and…

Describes social and intellectual climate at beginning of World War I that was exemplified by overzealous patriots demanding public displays of loyalty. Relates how six professors of German were permanently discharged by University of Ann Arbor. Describes incidents of goading by students and colleagues, and discusses failure of the American…

Maintains that General William T. Sherman deliberately changed the text of his valedictory message to troops at the end of the Civil War to create a public memory in line with national goals. Provides an annotated bibliography and a copy of the original draft of the speech in Sherman's handwriting. (CFR)

Reviews the origin and growth of Afro-Cuban communities in Ybor City and Tampa, Florida, that began in the late 1880s as the cigar-making industry grew. Calls for more research into the history of black Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans. (CFR)

Presents a teaching unit on the global impact of the abolition of slavery in the Western Hemisphere. Asserts that abolition of slavery brought economic disruption to many African states and parts of the Western Hemisphere. Provides a chronologically based map, five student handouts, and questions for each handout. (CFR)