“The Matthew Brady Bunch: Civil War Newspapers” is a series of lesson activities that ultimately has students produce their own newspaper articles on different aspects of the Civil War as a larger class project. Created by Amy Donnelly and Elizabeth Ridgway for American Memory, the project is intended for students in the seventh grade, though it can easily be adapted. The activities require students to use a selection of the Library of Congress’ collection of Civil War photographs, first to analyze the primary sources before choosing one for their article. Eventually the goal is for students to produce a website, or an online archive, for their “newspaper”.

Meant to take place over several days (possibly a week), the project can be modified to suit individual class needs. One example of such a modification would make the project interdisciplinary, in conjunction with English class. The “Matthew Brady Bunch” project acts as a good way to end a unit on the Civil War, allowing a class to cover a wide range of events, people, or places. In addition, the project requires students to work with primary sources, develop research skills, and improve writing skills.

The University of California’s Calisphere has several “themed collections” on a number of subjects, including the Gold Rush, that are designed to help educators “quickly find compelling primary sources.” One can use this site to explore how California “changed…dramatically” as a result of the “sudden influx” of people after 1848. The collection is sub-divided into several topics, such as “Environmental Impact” and “Everyday Life and People.” Each one provides a short overview and lots of relevant primary sources. In addition, the collection has links to primary sources related to the Gold Rush – Frontier and pioneer life, western expansion, and more. Also check out the teacher resources, which offer ideas for using primary sources in the classroom.

Walt Whitman is the subject of not one, but two, interdisciplinary lesson plans hoping to explore the connection between the literature of the Civil War and the War itself. The first, aimed at students in grades from 7-12, is written by Nancy Hall and based off of Ken Burns’ documentary The Civil War, which has already been discussed previously. The second, aimed at students in grades from 9-12, is available through the National Endowment for the Humanities.

While both ask students to evaluate Whitman’s work in the context of the War, the lesson plan from the NEH is arguably the better of the two. Specifically, it asks students to examine primary sources such as photographs and letters, poems, and short prose pieces he wrote. Topics covered in the lesson include Civil War hospitals, the 51st New York regiment, and Washington DC during the War. In addition, students are encouraged to look at pages from Whitman’s notebooks, which offer an interesting look at how the writer worked. Group work is essential in completing this lesson and assumes an average of thirty-one students per class, though the numbers are flexible depending on individual class needs. Conclusions to the lesson include having students write their own poems or small presentations.

A great general resource on the web is PBS Teachers. Easily searchable, resources are broken down by grade, subject, and topics. It seems that PBS strives to make their resources interdisciplinary and tie in with different media sources. One example uses the Ken Burns’ film, The Civil War, to explore the music of the period. Michael Hutchinson wrote Civil War Music (.pdf available here) to be taught in conjunction with the film, but does not necessarily require the film itself.

Civil War Music is a straight forward look into the songs and “battle hymns” popular at the time of the Civil War. Aimed at students from grades 7-12, the lesson explores two Confederate and two Union songs. In addition, Hutchinson offers a handful of follow up and extension activities, a possible way to round out the lesson if necessary. The subject is potentially interesting for a wide range of students as music, and the feelings associated with music, could be seen as universal.

Written in 2002, the resources linked to lyrics and MIDI files no longer work, though YouTube has versions of all four songs and lyrics can be found easily through a Google search. For ease, examples are linked here. “Battle Cry of Freedom (Union)” (lyrics, music); “Battle Cry of Freedom (Confederate)” (lyrics, music); “Dixie’s Land” (lyrics, music); and “Union Dixie” (lyrics, music).

Though previously mentioned in another post, the The Valley of the Shadow Project has a wide range of primary sources from newspapers, maps, letters, and statistics all available for use in the 7-12 classroom. Broken up chronologically into three periods, the Project archives two communities (Augusta County, Virginia and Franklin County, Pennsylvania) between the years of 1859 and 1870. A particularly good lesson plan by Alice Carter compares the impact and the development of the railroads in both counties using various articles from historical newspapers. The lesson provides a teacher with preselected articles, however, one may choose to either find newspaper accounts that reflect individual class interests or allow students to search for their own, using the newspaper indexes. One special note: teachers could extend the lesson and explore the impact of railroads during reconstruction.

Understanding family life in the 19th century necessitates a look at what was popular with children at the time.  This website, put together by an English professor at West Chester University, lists periodicals for children published in the nineteenth century, each of which includes a chronological list of its important articles and links to a digital copy.  The magazine Youth’s Companion (which has also been digitized here) covers the most extensive range of topics, with many articles imparting a moral lesson.  There are some very interesting articles from the war period to be found as well.   Other publications worth noting for their relevance to the circumstances of the Civil War are the Student and Schoolmate, The Slave’s Friend, and The Little Corporal.  These primary resources make a great addition to a classroom discussion of the nineteenth century from the perspective of children.

A number of organizations in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland have organized events for the sesquicentennial anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. These include the Virginia Historical Society’s exhibit “The Portent: John Brown’s Raid in American Memory,” a reenactment of the march from the Kennedy Farm in Maryland to Harpers Ferry, and an academic symposium. The full list of events schedule for Oct – Dec 2009 is available here. (Registration is required for some of the events). In addition, the Harpers Ferry National Historic Park will commemorate Brown’s raid with a wide range of activities from Oct. 16-18. Check out the full schedule here. Teachers may want to check out this list of resources, which include links to lesson plans.

Check out Debating Emancipation Online, a new interactive site developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Students assume “the role of Lincoln’s closest advisers” and use primary sources to “learn how they would advise the President on this controversial issue.” Be sure to download the teacher guide for an overview of this online program, lesson plans, and other supplementary material that would help students prepare for the activity.

Among the many websites and digital projects bringing the 19th century to the World Wide Web is the Lincoln Archives Digital Project from researcher Karen Needles. This ambitious project began in 2002 with the goal of digitizing all federal records from the Lincoln administration, including every cabinet and every agency. The project is the first of its kind to digitize the holdings of an entire administration and its standards are high. The project uses high resolution scans of original documents from the National Archives and incorporates technology such as “Zoomify” to create a high quality and easily accessible collection.

The project is not limited to just federal documents and includes maps, newspapers, photographs, political cartoons, blogs, lesson plans and even a dictionary and who’s who of the period. The wealth of information is seemingly endless and is always growing, although a subscription is required for full access to the project. For more information, check out the project and the August article about it in Civil War News.

The Northern Illinois University offers digital access to a number of different publications. Nine magazines are available from the Illinois Periodicals Online, such as Illinois Heritage (1997-2007). Teachers may want to check out Illinois History Teacher (1994-2009). Each article provides suggestions on how to use it in your classroom. For example, take a look at “Yankees and Southerners Clash in Frontier Illinois” by James E. Davis and the accompanying curriculum materials.  In addition, some of the magazines are appropriate for younger readers (see Illinois History).

Teachers can also access the Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1979-2006) through NIU’s Illinois Historical Digitization Project.