NARA Southeast Region's History Education Archives
Teacher Professional Development
Our teacher workshops are designed around primary source documents within the holdings of the Southeast Region and from other National Archives facilities across the nation. Teachers will handle documents, applying reading, interpretation and brainstorming skills necessary to use them in the classroom. These sessions are not content lectures but content background and understanding will be a component of these presentations. If your school district or school are interested in any of these sessions, contact Joel Walker, Education Specialist at the National Archives - Southeast Region at joel.walker@nara.gov or call 770-968-2530.
Teacher Workshops at the National Archives-Southeast Region Facility
The Immersion Experience: A Day at the Archives
Workshops at the National Archives at Atlanta
Teacher Workshops at Your Facility (Hosting institution to cover travel costs)
Full-day:
Single Topic Sessions:
- Alphabet Soup: The New Deal Agencies
Using documents from the holdings of the Southeast Region and NARA's online Archival Research Catalog, this session presents primary sources to interpret the government's response to the Great Depression.
(75-90 minutes)- A Time of Becoming: Early Civil Rights Cases in the Holdings of the Southeast Region
Session covers the early years of the Post-World War II Civil Rights Movement from the mid-1940s to the conclusion of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
(75-90 minutes)- The Southern Home Front in World War II as Documented in the Southeast Region
This session will address the textile industry's role in war effort, women in the war production workforce, and race-related labor issues.
(75-90 minutes)- Mining the Wealth: An Introduction to the Online Sources of the National Archives
Teachers will be introduced to the online resources of the National Archives: Teaching with Documents Lesson Plans, ARC (Archival Research Catalog), the Digital Vaults, and the Online Exhibits
(75-90 minutes)
The Immersion Experience
Educator In-Service Day At the National Archives at Atlanta
Session I. Welcome
Introduction to the National Archives and Records Administration:
Who We Are, Where We Are and What We Have
15 minutes
Session II. Diving In
Teachers will work with a variety of facsimile NARA documents from NARA repositories across the country. These documents will pertain to significant American History content. Some of these documents include the following:
- A resolution by the Continental Congress
- Letter from George Washington to President John Hancock in 1775
- Arrest of Susan B. Anthony for voting
- Note written by General Eisenhower concerning the "failure" of the D-Day invasion
- Letter to Congress from Thomas Jefferson on the success of the recent exploration west
- Telegram from Major Anderson describing the surrender and evacuation of Fort Sumter plus others
Session III. Tours of the National Archives - Southeast Region
Teachers will be introduced to the operations of the National Archives at Atlanta. A trip into the stacks will expose the educators to the 120,000 cubic feet of holdings in the Southeast Region.
30 minutes
Session IV. Documented Rights Exhibit Activity
Using primary materials from all fourteen of the Regional Archives of NARA, this exhibit documents the expansion of individual rights through the span of the nation's history. Represented inside the exhibit are the stories of the Amistad, the Japanese Internment, and the legal fight for Public School Integration as well as lesser-known stories such as the escape of Jane Johnson from slavery, the struggle to end the practice of peonage in the South, and the story of Jackie Robinson during World War II. Different curricular activities will be experienced by the teachers including the online educational component. Exhibit is on display from June 16, 2009 until February 28, 2010.
45 minutes
Session V. Teaching with Documents from Documented Rights
In addition to facsimile documents from the exhibits, this session will add supporting documents to flesh out the stories within the exhibit. Topical content covered during the session will include the slave trade of the early 19th century, the African Colonization Movement, the illegal practice of Peonage in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Susan B. Anthony's arrest for voting, the increasing support for the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Jackie Robinson's court martial in World War II, and the Brown v. Board Case featuring the Briggs v. Elliott Case.
45 minutes
Lunch on your own
60 minutes
Session VI. Online Sources
Teachers will have an opportunity to peruse the educational websites of the National Archives.
- Teaching with Documents Lesson Plans
- ARC (Archival Research Catalog)
- The Digital Vaults
- The Online Exhibits
Session VII. Teaching A Topic with Southeast Region Documents
Teachers will be divided into small groups and will search through original primary sources on a variety of topics including those listed below.
- Tennessee Valley Authority
- Montgomery Bus Boycott
- The Southern Home Front in WWII
- Briggs v. Elliott
Resources for Teaching American History:
What the National Archives at Atlanta Can Bring to Your Classroom
Educator In-Service Day At Your School or School District
Presented by the National Archives at Atlanta
Session I. Introduction
Introduction to the National Archives and Records Administration:
Who We Are, Where We Are and What We Have
15 minutes
Session II. Diving In
Teachers will work with a variety of facsimile NARA documents from NARA repositories across the country. These documents will pertain to significant American History content. Some of these documents include the following:
- A resolution by the Continental Congress
- Letter from George Washington to President John Hancock in 1775
- Arrest of Susan B. Anthony for voting
- Note written by General Eisenhower concerning the "failure" of the D-Day invasion
- Letter to Congress from Thomas Jefferson on the success of the recent exploration west
- Telegram from Major Anderson describing the surrender and evacuation of Fort Sumter plus others
Session III. Online Sources
Teachers will have an opportunity to peruse the educational websites of the National Archives.
- Teaching with Documents Lesson Plans
- ARC (Archival Research Catalog)
- The Digital Vaults
- The Online Exhibits
75 minutes
Lunch Break
Sessions IV. And V.
Choose two from four sessions. All sessions are75 minutes in length.
I. National History Day and NARA's Southeast Region
Session connects the NHD 2010 theme of Innovation in History with the holdings of National Archives in Atlanta.
75 minutes
II. Alphabet Soup: The New Deal Agencies
Using documents from the holdings of the Southeast Region and NARA's online Archival Research Catalog, this session presents primary sources to interpret the government's response to the Great Depression.
75 minutes
III. A Time of Becoming: Civil Rights Cases in the Holdings of the Southeast Region
The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Briggs v. Elliott Case (Brown v. Board) are just two important stories of the Civil Rights Movement found within the collection of the National Archives in Atlanta. Other cases not as well known yet foundational to the understanding of the era such as the U.S. v. Shull, a case dealing with the mistreatment of a World War II African American soldier just recently discharged from the military, will also be presented.
75 minutes
IV. The Southern Home Front in World War II as Documented in the Southeast Region
The massive need for material to fight World War II transformed the economy of many parts of the South. Primary sources within the holdings of the Southeast Region focus attention on the poor working conditions of the textile industry, the tension under-riding the attitudes about racial segregation of labor, and changing assumptions about women in the workforce.
75 minutes
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