Folklife Resources for Educators

Materials Related to Social history

There are 6 titles in this list.

Baseball: Across a Divided Society - Primary Source Set
by Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/baseball/

Sheet music, video clips, images, trading cards, and photographs tell the story of how baseball emerged as the American national pastime. Featured primary source items show Americans from different backgrounds and social experiences embracing the sport. A Teacher Guide (7 p. PDF) provides background on baseball in the context of American social and economic history, including a focus on minority participation, and a discussion of baseball in both urban and rural contexts.

Sponsoring Organization:
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington DC 20540-1300
(202) 707-5000
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

Craft Revival: Shaping Western North Carolina Past and Present
by Hunter Library, Western Carolina University
http://www.wcu.edu/craftrevival/index.htm

Educational website documenting the Craft Revival movement in western North Carolina from 1895 to 1945, drawing on a virtual collection of photographs, documents, craft objects, and artifacts maintained by Western Carolina University’s Hunter Library. The site includes over 25 accompanying lesson plans for grades 3-12, which focus on weaving, basketry, pottery, and other mountain crafts and traditions found in the Southern Highlands of North Carolina. Additional lesson plans cover cottage industries, industrialization, the Cherokee presence, and the social, economic, and cultural aspects of the Craft Revival in the Appalachian Mountain South. Curriculum areas covered include language arts, social studies, history, art, and math.

Sponsoring Organization:
Hunter Library, Special Collections
Western Carolina University
Cullowhee NC 28723
(828) 227-2499
http://www.wcu.edu/1597.asp

Dust Bowl Migration -- Primary Source Set
by Library of Congress
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/dust-bowl-migration/

Photographs, recorded music, and song lyrics document the daily ordeals of rural migrant families from the Great Plains during a decade marked by both the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. The resources in this primary source set are intended for classroom use. Includes a Dust Bowl Migration Teacher Guide (8 p. PDF), photographs, and sound recordings collected at California migrant labor camps, and a link to primary source analysis tools.

Sponsoring Organization:
Library of Congress
101 Independence Avenue, SE
Washington DC 20540-1300
(202) 707-5000
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/

The Maine Song and Story Sampler
by Maine Folklife Center
http://umaine.edu/folklife/msss-curriculum-connection-series/

Educational website with thirteen lesson plans plus activities for K-12 teachers that focuses on the folklore, social conditions, history, politics, economics, and cultural life of the state of Maine. Includes access to the Maine Song and Dance Sampler Map with links to audio recordings of stories and songs from the Maine Folklife Center's archival collections, searchable by people or place. The curriculum suggestions are correlated to Maine educational standards for Social Studies.

Sponsoring Organization:
Maine Folklife Center
5773 South Stevens, Room 112B
Orono ME 04469-5773
(207) 581-1891
http://umaine.edu/folklife/

Other Organizations:
University of Maine
Orono ME 04469
207-581-1865
http://www.umaine.edu/

Teacher Lesson Plans
by John Michael Kohler Arts Center
https://www.jmkac.org/TeacherLessonPlans

Lesson plans for the home and the K-12 classroom on such topics as Wisconsin folklore and regional history, the arts and social change, and visionary environmental art. The lesson plans are divided into "Constructed Realities Lesson Plans," and "Environmental Builders Lesson Plans," and are based on exhibits that the John Michael Kohler Arts Center has featured. Included are lessons with activities, in PDF format, focusing on traditional, ethnic, and visionary artists, and legendary figures from Wisconsin folklore.

Sponsoring Organization:
John Michael Kohler Arts Center
608 New York Avenue
Sheboygan WI 53081
(920) 458-6144
http://www.jmkac.org/

Veterans' Stories: Struggles for Participation - Primary Source Set
by Veterans History Project
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/veterans/struggles.html

Primary source materials from the Veterans History Project Collection at the Library of Congress that support teaching about U.S. history and social studies. Women and people of color have often had to overcome obstacles in order to participate fully in the U.S. armed forces. In these materials, veterans tell their stories of discrimination and struggles for recognition in the U.S. armed forces through interviews, memoirs, and photographs. Materials on the site include an accompanying Teacher Guide (8 p. PDF), and audio and video recordings. For the Veterans' History Project, go to: http://www.loc.gov/vets

Sponsoring Organization:
Veterans History Project
Library of Congress
Washington DC 20540-4615
(202) 707-4916
http://www.loc.gov/vets