The Hudson River School was a group of distinctly American artists who painted landscapes in the mid-1800s. View the slideshow and consider how their depictions of nature reflected the ideas of the Transcendentalist writers of the same time period.
Tag Archives: Historic Figures
The Real Story of Revere’s Ride
Learn the facts about Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride, and scroll down to see an interactive map of his route.
Deep Survival: Anne Frank’s Extraordinary Act of Survival
In 2009, Anne Frank would have been 80 years old. Read about why her life in hiding can be called an inspiring true story of survival under extreme and terrifying circumstances.
Famous Ghosts in American History
Everyone knows that ghosts aren’t real. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t plenty of ghost stories to go around. This site lists a few of those stories, describing tales sometimes told about the nation’s most famous ghosts.
Lincoln-Douglas Debates
You can read, watch, and listen to materials on the seven debates that took place between Stephen A. Douglas and Abraham Lincoln during the 1858 Illinois state election campaign. The prize was a seat in the Senate, but the debates mainly focused on the important and contentious issue of slavery.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales 2012 – a multimedia pilgrimage
In 2012, a group of people retraced the route of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales pilgrims in a four-day trek. Listen to the audio and watch the videos embedded throughout the article to hear the participants recite pieces from the work.
Eugene O’Neill Biography
Over the course of his career, Nobel Prize-winning writer Eugene O’Neill used his struggles as inspiration for his moving plays. Read about his life in this biography.
Hiram R. Revels Biography
Hiram R. Revels was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. An academic and a minister, he supported integrated schools and equal opportunities for black workers.
My Life in France, 1939 – 1945
Although Anne Frank lived in hiding during World War II, many people hid their identities but lived in the open. Discover how one family struggled to live in occupied France.
Dunmore’s Proclamation: A Time to Choose
We tend to talk about the American Revolution in terms of two sides: the colonists and the British. But for enslaved people living in the colonies, the issue was far more complicated, especially after the Dunmore Proclamation was issued in 1775. Read this summary of the proclamation, the issues it raised, and its consequences.
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Georgia Douglas Johnson wrote a poem about taking a risk and soaring into the sky. Learn about the life of this important writer of poems, plays, and stories.
Old Friends Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Made History Together.
Though the contributions of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were invaluable in the fight for women’s rights, letters between the two reveal that each was aware of the long road toward equality that would have to be traveled by future generations.
Anne Frank at 85: What would she have become had she lived?
This year, Anne Frank would have been 85 years old. Though her short life still reverberates through the world, it’s hard not to wonder what it would have been like if she had lived longer. This article looks at some of the ways Anne Frank affected the world around her, and offers some ideas about the woman she may have become.
Remembering Nina Simone as a Siren and Powerful Civil Rights Activist
Nina Simone was a popular pianist and jazz singer with an unmistakable voice. Some of her later songs are considered by many to be anthems of the civil rights movement. Read this brief introduction to Simone and listen to the two clips of her work.
About Thoreau
Learn about the life of author Henry David Thoreau, the author who lived at Walden Pond, and whose writings on civil disobedience have inspired protesters for more than 100 years.
Mark Twain
The Prince and the Pauper was just one of many famous stories written by Mark Twain. Learn about the author’s life, the struggles he faced, and the tales that brought him worldwide fame.
10 Lucky Celebrities Who Escaped Disaster
You may be familiar with each of the 10 historic tragedies in this list, but chances are you don’t know that for each one, there’s a celebrity or public figure who narrowly avoided being part of it.
Frankenstein: Penetrating the Secrets of Nature
This site offers a wide variety of information related to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. Starting with “The Birth of Frankenstein,” use the table of contents on the left side of the page to browse topics ranging from historical and scientific background information to the story’s modern influences on film, culture, and research.
The Revised Dred Scott Case Collection: History of Dred Scott
This page offers a brief history of Dred Scott’s fight for his family’s freedom. Read the overview of Scott’s case and then explore the rest of the collection to learn more about how and why the Dred Scott decision came to be such a landmark case in American judicial history.
The Legacy of Medgar Evers
Medgar Evers was a civil rights activist who fought racial discrimination in many forms. His murder in 1963 sparked national outrage that helped increase support for legislation that led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Listen to this short piece about the lasting impact Evers’ life and work has had on his home state of Mississippi.