Education Resources
Learning resources for students and teachers of all ages and grades.
Education Resources
Students explore the history of slavery in the U.S. and the stories of African Americans whose struggles for freedom shaped the nation.
Featured Resources
Fate in Her Hands
Educator’s Guide
Use this guide to open conversation about the economic and emotional toll of the U.S. Slave Trade
Education Resources
Life in Freedom and Slavery
Learning History Through Objects
What can objects tell us about the daily lives of enslaved African Americans?
Education Resources
Medieval West Africa
What can objects tell us about the history and culture of medieval West Africa?
Education Resources
Colonization, Emigration, and Maroonage
What can objects tell us about the experiences of African Americans in relation to the COlonization Movement, emigration, and marronage?
Education Resources
Smithsonian Learning Labs
Transatlantic Slave Trade
Learning History Through Objects
What can objects tell us about the experiences of those involved in creating and profiting from the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and those who were kidnapped and sold?
Education Resources
Slavery in Colonial America
Learning History Through Objects
What can objects tell us about the creation, development, and characteristics of slavery in Colonial America?
Education Resources
Atlantic Revolutions
Learning History Through Objects
What can objects tell us about the cultural understanding, use, and destruction of slavery throughout the Atlantic World by revolution?
Education Resources
The Paradox of Liberty
Learning History Through Objects
What can objects tell us about the paradox of liberty in the new United States?
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The Founding Documents
Learning History Through Objects
What can objects tell us about the Declaration of Independence, the United States Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and their relationships to the paradox of slavery and freedom in the new United States?
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Free African Americans and Their Communities
What can objects tell us about the experiences of free African Americans and their communities throughout the United States?
Education Resources
Smithsonian Learning Lab
Explore the interactive platform to discover collections, documents, and videos. Students will hone their historical thinking skills about the African American experience.
Education Resources
Students can continue the journey into how African Americans community institutions and activism created possibilities in a world that denied them opportunities.
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James Baldwin: Transatlantic Commuter
Learning History Through Objects
This Learning Lab Collection asks students to analyze documents, images, and objects that give insight into James Baldwin’s life as a transatlantic commuter and use objects to understand how they impacted his work and writings
Education Resources
Mae’s Hat Collection
Early Childhood Education
Explore a colorful collection of hats made by the amazing milliner Mae Reeve
Education Resources
Joyful ABC Activity Booklet Series
Early Childhood Education
These downloadable activity booklets invite caregivers and educators to support children’s positive identity development while also growing their language and literacy skills with activities, museum objects, and new words
Education Resources
Activism
This colleciton is designed to spark conversation with children about activism annd what children and adults can do to help make their communities, schools, and the world better, more fair places for all people.
Education Resources
Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and Modernized Schools
(H)our History Lesson
The National Park Service provides this lesson plan for teachers on the history of Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, and their work developing the Rosenwald Schools
Education Resources