Underground Railroad: Primary Source Documents
Source: Pathways to Freedom
Explore letters and official documents related to the Underground Railroad from the front line in Maryland.
History
Hour of Horror Forever Alters American Lives
Source: The Wall Street Journal
Winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting, this analysis published on September 12, 2001, discusses how the previous day’s attacks might change day-to-day life in America.
Beyond Brown: Pursuing the Promise
Source: PBS
Once upon a time, a seven-year-old girl named Linda Brown walked six blocks to a bus stop and then rode a bus to school, although another school was only seven blocks from her home. Check out this site to learn what happened when she tried to change schools—and succeeded.
Oskar Schindler: Unlikely Hero
Source: Legacy.com
A Nazi industrialist may not fit the usual idea of a hero, but Oskar Schindler used his wealth, charm, and connections to save the lives of over 1000 Jews during World War II.
The Full Nelson
Source: USA Today
As many athletes and fans know, sports can unify people who don’t have much in common otherwise. This article explains how Nelson Mandela used rugby and other sports to help unify the people of South Africa after years of racial segregation.
How the California Gold Rush echoes in Silicon Valley
Source: Medium
Writer Mike McPhate discusses the mindset of settlers willing to take risks during the California gold rush of the mid-19th century. He ties that idea to tech entrepreneurs’ willingness to fail in the same state today.
Tenements
Source: HISTORY
In the last half of the 1800s, thousands of urban poor people, many who were immigrants, lived in overcrowded and unsafe tenement buildings. This article describes how tenements came into being and were eventually phased out.
The art of 9/11
Source: The Independent
Tom Sutcliffe, who writes about the arts and media, examines artists’ struggle to make works relating to 9/11.
How technology and capitalism shaped America after the civil war
Source: The Economist
A critic from The Economist magazine reviews The Republic for Which It Stands, in which author Richard White outlines the politics and economics of the United States following the Civil War.
This POW kept a secret diary that showed daily life in a concentration camp
Source: Public Radio International
Read this article to learn about the life of Anthony Acevedo, a former U.S. Army medic who kept a diary of his time in a Nazi concentration camp as a prisoner of war.