Teaching Materials Archive

Liberty’s Forgotten Hero: The Revolutionary Life of James Forten

Picture book. By Kesha L. Grant, with illustrations by Anastasia Magloire Williams. 2026. 48 pages.
Tells the story of James Forten, who served in the American Revolution and then dedicated his life to fighting for the ideals set forth by the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal.”

Digital Transgender Archive

Digital collection. This archive increases the accessibility of transgender history by providing an online hub for digitized historical materials, born-digital materials, and information on archival holdings throughout the world.

American Revolution: Haudenosaunee Perseverance

Digital collection. In this lesson offered by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, students examine the challenges faced by the Haudenosaunee resulting from the American Revolution and their acts of perseverance in response.

Remember Us

Short Film. By Pablo Leon. 2024. 14 minutes.
In this animated historical fiction film, a journalist documents the experiences of three people who lived through the tragic 12-year-long Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s.

Call Me Miss Hamilton: One Woman’s Case for Equality and Respect

Picture book. By Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jeffery Boston Weatherford. 2022. 40 pages.
The story of Mary Hamilton, whose 1964 Supreme Court case led to the ruling that all people in court should be referred to with honorifics.

Granny Came Here on the Empire Windrush

Picture book. By Patrice Lawrence. Illustrated by Camilla Sucre. 2025. 40 pp.
The book's young protagonist learns from her beloved grandmother about the Windrush generation in England.

The Costs of War

Digital collection. Publishes public-facing research about the broad consequences of U.S. military operations and spending, including their domestic effects, and the ongoing costs of the U.S. post-9/11 wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.

Ida B. Wells, Voice of Truth

Picture book. By Michelle Duster, with illustrations by Laura Freeman. 2022. 40 pages.
An inspiring picture book biography of the groundbreaking journalist and civil rights activist as told by her great-granddaughter Michelle Duster.

Mother Jones and Her Army of Mill Children

Picture book. By Jonah Winter, with illustrations by Nancy Carpenter.2020. 40 pages.
The story of Mary “Mother” Jones and the 100 children who marched from Philadelphia to New York in a fiery protest against child labor.

Music and Silence: The Passion and Protest of Pablo Casals

Book — Historical non-fiction. By Christy Mihaly, with illustrations by Mariona Cabassa. 2026. 56 pages.
An inspiring picture book biography of a UN Peace Medal recipient who used his songs — and his silence — to fight fascism, oppression, and violence.

Storming Caesars Palace

Film. Directed by Hazel Gurland-Pooler. 2023. 85 minutes.
Tells the story of how Las Vegas activist Ruby Duncan's grassroots movement of moms fought for guaranteed income.

A Century of Struggle Poster and Guide

Poster. By Ricardo Levins Morales and Janna Schneider, with a Companion Guide by Jennings Mergenthal and Jaime Hokanson. 2025. 50 pages.
Chronicles U.S. social justice struggles, groups, activists, campaigns, slogans, publications, and events from 1900–2000.

Mapping Deportations: Unmasking the History of Racism in U.S. Immigration Enforcement

Digital collection. Invites you to see the history of U.S. immigration enforcement not as a series of disconnected events, but as a pattern.

Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink

Film. Directed by Rick Goldsmith. 2025. 87 minutes.
The story of a secretive hedge fund that is plundering what is left of newspapers in the United States, and the journalists who are fighting back.

Main Street: A Community Story About Redlining

Picture book. By Britt Hawthorne and Tiffany Jewell, and illustrated by David Wilkerson. 2026. 40 pages.
A girl learns how the history of redlining has affected her neighborhood in this intergenerational picture book about racism, community action, and resilience.

Constitution Gallery Walk

The "Ten Ways to Rethink the Constitution" framework is available in a shortened form for participatory gallery walks.

Book cover illustration showing children of all different shapes, colors, and sizes.

Our Skin: A First Conversation About Race

Picture book. By Megan Madison and Jessica Ralli , and illustrated by Isabel Roxas. 2021. 38 pages.
This read-aloud board book on race offers the opportunity to begin important conversations with young children in an informed, safe, and supported way.