Teaching
History Online
Number
40: 19th May, 2002
Introduction
1.
American
Memory
2.
Battle
of Midway
3.
Child
Workers in the 19th Century
4.
Prohibition
5.
The
Progressive Era (1890-1913)
6.
Frances
Perkins
7.
Weatherhead
High School
8.
Scotland's
Secret Bunker
9.
Under
Two Flags
Introduction
Spartacus Educational
publishes Teaching
History Online
every week. The newsletter includes news, reviews of websites and
articles on using ICT in the history classroom. Members of the mailing
list are invited to submit information for inclusion in future editions
of Teaching
History Online. In this way we hope to create
a community of people involved in using the Internet to teach history.
Currently there are 19,020 subscribers to the newsletter.
John Simkin
spartacus@pavilion.co.uk
American
Memory is a project of the National Digital Library Program of
the Library of Congress. More than 5 million items relating to American
history are available from the unparalleled collections of the Library.
American Memory's collections include materials ranging from the papers
of Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln, to Civil War photographs and
early films of Thomas Edison, to panoramic maps and sound recordings,
and to documents relating to the women's suffrage and civil rights
movements.
Battle
of Midway: In a three day battle between June 3-6, 1942 United
States land and carrier-based planes decisively repulsed a heavy Japanese
naval and air assault. Japanese casualties included loss of 275 planes,
four large carriers, two heavy cruisers, and three destroyers and
damage to three battleships and four cruisers. American losses included
one carrier, one destroyer and 150 planes. This website, produced
by the US Department of the Navy, provides an illustrated account
of this important battle.
Child
Workers in the 19th Century: Teachers (and students) are often
reluctant to invest time and effort in historical role-play activities.
This is perhaps because the audience is invariably small and the assessable
evidence of student work too ephemeral. Apart from the memory of the
classroom audience, there is often no record of a student's success.
In a classroom with a digital video camera and when each student has
a laptop computer, all this can change. Year 9 history students (13-14
years) at the International School of Toulouse combined an online
role-play activity produced by Spartacus Education, with an assignment
in the use of digital media. In addition to researching, writing and
performing their contribution to a debate about child labour in the
19th century, students also used digital video cameras to record their
speeches and video editing software to produce a format suitable for
the Internet. The resulting website features evidence of student learning
as permanent and transferable as any that might be expected from a
traditional text centred lesson.
Prohibition:
In 1869 members of the temperance movement in the United States formed
the Prohibition Party. Its primary objective was to secure the prohibition
of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic drinks The party reached
the peak of its vote in 1888 and 1892 at just over 2 per cent of the
popular vote total. However, its greatest success was in persuading
Congress to pass the 18th Amendment in 1920. This website includes
background information on America's third oldest political party and
a collection of cartoons published on the subject of prohibition.
The
Progressive Era: At the end of the 19th Century there was a concerted
attempt in the United States to establish basic reforms in political,
economic and social affairs. Reformers campaigned against the employment
of child workers, slum housing, sweat shops, limited suffrage, unequal
distribution of wealth, business monopolies, racial discrimination,
unfair tax laws and political corruption. This website includes a
collection of articles on this period of American history (1890-1913).
Frances
Perkins: In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Frances
Perkins as his Secretary of Labor. Perkins, America's first woman
cabinet member, was a controversial choice. The former chairman of
the New York State Industrial Board (1926-29) was a well-known radical
and campaigner for women's rights, unemployment insurance, child welfare
and better working conditions. This website, produced by the Social
Security Administration, is dedicated to the achievements of this
remarkable woman.
Weatherhead
High School: A departmental web site created and maintained by
the History staff at Weatherhead High School in Wallasey. It has been
produced so that pupils can have access to downloadable homework and
classwork sheets, PowerPoint presentations, useful website links and
a vast number of History diagrams, clip art and revision sheets. These
resources can also be of use for the sharing of good practice between
History departments throughout the Wirral and even Britain. One of
the most used sections of the website is the 'Ask a Teacher' section
which many of our pupils find extremely useful after school hours.
Scotland's
Secret Bunker started life in the early 50's when it was constructed
in almost total secrecy. It opened in 1952 as a front line RAF radar
station (part of the 'ROTAR' system) and operated until the early
60's, when it was taken over by the then Civil Defence Corps, who
provided all the support services to the bunker as a Regional Seat
of Government. It was from this site that Scotland's government would
have been controlled in the event of a nuclear attack. Civil defence
was disbanded in the late 60's and the bunker then took a more sinister
role, as the Actual Central Government Headquarters in the event of
thermonuclear war. The Bunker has been fully restored with over 300
tons of original artifacts (including the nuclear button).
Book
Section
Under
Two Flags: Major General Sir Edward Louis Spears lived under two
flags: those of France and Great Britain. Brought up in France, he
became an outstanding liaison officer between the French and British
forces during the First World War. But it was his meeting with Winston
Churchill in 1915 that led to one of the closest friendships of his
life and he was sent by the Prime Minister in May 1940 as his representative
to France. This book by Max Egremont explores the life of Sir Edward
Spears and his wife, Mary Borden, one of the best writers to emerge
from the First World War. (Max Egremont, Weidenfeld and Nicolson,
ISBN 0 75380 147 7)
Available from Amazon Books
(order below)
