19th Century Archives

Kids on Strike!

Book — Non-fiction. By Susan Campbell Bartoletti. 2003. 208 pages.
Describes the conditions and treatment that drove working children to strike, from the mill workers' strike in 1834 and the coal strikes at the turn of the century to the children who marched with Mother Jones in 1903.

The Bobbin Girl

Picture book. By Emily Arnold McCully. 1996. 36 pages.
Historical fiction for upper elementary based on a true story about the Lowell textile workers.

Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule

Book — Fiction. By Harriette Gillem Robinet. 1998. 144 pages.
Historical fiction featuring 12-year-old Pascal, 8-year-old Nellie, and their older brother Gideon, a Union Army aide, as they claim and farm the land promised to them during Reconstruction.

Pink y Say

Picture book. By Patricia Polacco. 2003. 48 pages.
In Spanish, the narrative of two young boys who meet and help each other during the Civil War for upper elementary.

Frederick Douglass | Zinn Education Project

Frederick Douglass: “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Frederick Douglass' speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" (1852) is read by Danny Glover.

Maria Stewart: Address Delivered at the African Masonic Hall

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Maria Stewart's "Address Delivered at the African Masonic Hall" (1833) by Alfre Woodard.

The North Star (News Clipping) | Zinn Education Project

Jan. 21, 1848: North Star Publishes Editorial on War with Mexico

The North Star published an editorial against the U.S. war with Mexico. Listen to an excerpt read by Benjamin Bratt.

Chief Tecumseh: “Speech to the Osages”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Chief Tecumseh's "Speech to the Osages" (Winter 1811-1812) by Deepa Fernandes.

Chief Joseph: “Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C.”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Dramatic reading of Chief Joseph's "Account of His Trip to Washington, D.C." (1879) by Q'Orianka Kilcher.

Henry McNeal Turner: “Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature”

Film clip. Voices of a People's History.
Henry McNeal Turner's "Eligibility of Colored Members to Seats in the Georgia Legislature" (1868), read by Danny Glover.

collage of six Black abolitionists in the United States.

‘If There Is No Struggle…’: Teaching a People’s History of the Abolition Movement

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow. Rethinking Schools. 16 pages.
In this lesson, students explore many of the real challenges faced by abolitionists with a focus on the American Anti-Slavery Society.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Lewis Hine’s Photographs

Teaching Activity. By Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson. Rethinking Schools. 4 pages.
Using photographs to spark creative writing and critical thinking about child labor issues and social justice.

Teaching Activity by Bill Bigelow

Slave Catchers, Slave Resisters

Film. Produced by Judy Richardson, Northern Light Productions for History Channel. 2005. 100 minutes.
Documentary on the many rebellions by enslaved people and other forms of resistance.

News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media

Book — Non-fiction. By Juan González and Joseph Torres. 2011. 256 pages.
The history of media in the United States, through the lens of race.

The Game of Silence

Book — Fiction. By Louise Erdrich. 2006. 288 pages.
The second in a series of novels for middle school and high school students about an Ojibwe family in the mid-19th century. The story parallels the time of the widely-read Little House on the Prairie series.