Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
![A group of high school students sit at desks in conversation.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_480/public/2023-10/AdobeStock_254378868.jpg?itok=f6YAphey)
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
"The Honoured Representative of Four Millions of Colored People"
Historian Douglas R. Egerton describes the life and political career of Mississippi politician Blanche K. Bruce, the first African American to serve a full six-year term in the United States Senate.
![Portrait of man seated in suit.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/REC_04a_Blanche_Bruce.jpg?h=b75a1373&itok=WIl27GuK)
The Honoured Representative of Four Millions of Colored People (en español)
In Spanish, historian Douglas R. Egerton describes the life and political career of Mississippi politician Blanche K. Bruce, the first African American to serve a full six-year term in the United States Senate.
![Portrait of man seated in suit.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/REC_04a_Blanche_Bruce.jpg?h=b75a1373&itok=WIl27GuK)
The Importance of Getting History Right
Historian James Grossman describes the importance of establishing an accurate history of Reconstruction.
![A drawing of the first Black 7 senators and representatives in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/First_colored_senator_and_reps.jpg?h=a7421b6e&itok=EPFRKxDN)
The Influence of "The Birth of a Nation"
The three-hour silent film The Birth of a Nation did “incalculable harm” to Black Americans by creating a justification for prejudice, racism, and discrimination for decades to follow.
![Member of Ku Klux Klan holding a torch on a horse.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/REC_12_The_Birth.jpg?h=da7ce804&itok=o8NJxzoX)
Klansmen Broke My Door Open
This reading contains the testimony of a victim of Ku Klux Klan violence.
![Engraving showing African American family in a humble home. Woman is cooking at the fireplace, man seated alongside, and three children. A masked man from Ku Klux Klan is aiming a rifle in doorway; two more masked figures also peek in.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-02/1872_visitofthekkk_FH21201.jpg?h=5b419f6c&itok=FjKUk8wf)
Klansmen Broke My Door Open (en español)
In Spanish, this reading contains the testimony of a victim of Ku Klux Klan violence.
![Engraving showing African American family in a humble home. Woman is cooking at the fireplace, man seated alongside, and three children. A masked man from Ku Klux Klan is aiming a rifle in doorway; two more masked figures also peek in.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2023-02/1872_visitofthekkk_FH21201.jpg?h=5b419f6c&itok=FjKUk8wf)
Letter from Jourdon Anderson: A Freedman Writes His Former Master
Jourdon Anderson, a formerly enslaved person, responds to a request from his former master to return to work for him.
![A portrait of an African American family seated on a lawn.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/08762v.jpg?h=eaa4a767&itok=KrJAig0D)
Letter from Jourdon Anderson: A Freedman Writes His Former Master (en español)
In Spanish, Jourdon Anderson, a formerly enslaved person, responds to a request from his former master to return to work for him.
![A portrait of an African American family seated on a lawn.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/08762v.jpg?h=eaa4a767&itok=KrJAig0D)
A Lifeline for Democracy
In her 2005 commencement speech at the University of Vermont, Ruth Simmons describes experiences that helped her escape the poverty and discrimination of her youth to become the president of Brown University.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Louisiana White League Platform (1874)
The White League was a paramilitary group responsible for widespread violence against black and white Republicans in Louisiana and Mississippi. The group’s platform from 1874 is articulated here.
![Book cover of American flag with faces over it.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Reconstruction_cover_large.jpg?h=51bee232&itok=yY8xN3AK)
Names and Freedom
Historians Douglas Egerton and Leon Litwack explain the process of freedpeople adopting new surnames.
![A group of African Americans soberly observe Juneteenth in their hats, canes and bonnets in Austin, TX, 1900.](/sites/default/files/styles/dynamic_stack_296_1x/public/2022-06/Emancipation_Day_celebration_-_1900-06-19%20%281%29.jpg?h=6ea8326e&itok=2mUmYjCx)