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Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

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Spring 2024 Registration Is Open

K-12 educators can earn their graduate degree in this affordable, online, accredited program. It's easy to apply and become an enrolled student.

Upcoming Spring Semester Dates

Applications End: Thursday, January 25, 2024

Courses Start: Thursday, February 8, 2024

Course Registration Ends: Wednesday, February 14, 2024

Begin the application process now to join us this spring!

Study with world-renowned scholars, connect with other teachers from across the United States, and reinvigorate your enthusiasm for teaching history! Whatever your budget and interests, the Gilder Lehrman Institute has a professional development opportunity for you next summer.

Online Options: 10 Teacher Seminars

In-person Options: 12 options in 7 locations across 5 states

Historical Holiday Resources

Explore the history of Thanksgiving, from its origins through its evolution into a recognized federal holiday with essays, videos, lesson plans, and more.

Warfare in Early America

Join Professor Timothy Shannon of Gettysburg College to explore the evolution of warfare in North America from the earliest contact between Native Americans and Europeans through the early nineteenth century.

Regular Price: $39.99

Affiliate Price: $29.99

Competition and Lottery Now Open

The Hamilton Education Program Online is a free program that helps students in grades 6-12 see the relevance of the founding era by using primary sources to create a performance piece following the model used by Lin-Manuel Miranda to create the musical Hamilton.

Students in the program will have the chance to submit their performance piece and be selected to see a performance of Hamilton in New York City.

Congratulations, Bruce Henderson

Bruce Henderson has been awarded the Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize for Bridge to the Sun: The Secret Role of the Japanese Americans Who Fought in the Pacific in World War II. An event celebrating the winner and the shortlisted authors will take place on Monday, December 4. Attend in person or via the livestream.

Issue No. 68: "The Role of Spain in the American Revolution" (Fall 2023)

Explore the often-neglected story of Spain's crucial role in the American Revolutionary War with six essays by historians and additional Gilder Lehrman resources.

Learn with the Gilder Lehrman Institute

MA in American History

Our master's degree program gives K-12 educators an affordable way to earn a graduate degree while working full time.

Self-Paced Courses

Explore American history from your own home, in your own time, and at your own pace! Educators can obtain professional development credit.

History U

These self-paced courses in American history are taught by the nation's top historians and are completely free for high school students.

Upcoming Events

NYC-area students and teachers: Join us at Trinity School for a special book talk on Frederick Douglass.

Join us to honor the winner of the 2022 Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize, Bruce Henderson.

Q&A session for prospective students to learn about the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman master's degree program

Upcoming Deadlines

Affiliate Schools, libraries, and other sites can host this exhibition for free in January and February.

Enter your EduHam Online creative piece for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to NYC to see a performance of Hamilton.

Publishers, agents, critics, and authors may submit or nominate books published in 2023.

Book Breaks

Every Sunday at 2:00 pm ET (11:00 am PT) on Zoom

Join us for our weekly interview series in which historians discuss their acclaimed books followed by a Q&A with the at-home audience. A Book Breaks subscription includes access to the weekly live programs and our ever-expanding archive, featuring 150+ episodes.

Book Breaks is completely free for all students, K-12 educators, and college professors. Others can purchase a one-year subscription for $25.

Log In Subscribe

Upcoming Episodes

Stacy Schiff

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

Theresa Runstedtler, American University

Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA

Mark Whitaker

Saying It Loud: 1966-The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement

Our Historical Documents

In 1991, Richard Gilder and Lewis Lehrman embarked on a mission to create one of the most important repositories of historical American documents in the country. Today, the Gilder Lehrman Collection contains 85,000+ items documenting the political, social, and economic history of the United States.

History Now

The Online Journal of the Gilder Lehrman Institute

History Now features essays by the nation's leading historians and provides the latest in American history scholarship for teachers, students, and general readers.

History Now is completely free for all K-12 students and teachers. Others can purchase a one-year subscription for $25.

Log In Subscribe

"Their Full Measure"

Veterans Legacy Program: Online Exhibition

Gilder Lehrman is proud to announce the launch of this new online exhibition introducing viewers to nineteen men and women who served during six conflicts in American history.

News

Our News

Stay up to date with all the work that we do to combat historical illiteracy and invigorate the study of the past.
See Our News

Newsletter

Catch up on the highlights from our work with students, teachers, researchers, and the general public.
Read Newsletter

Press Releases

See all official press releases for our important events, significant programs, and special initiatives.
View Press Releases

NYC-area students and teachers: Join us at Trinity School for a special book talk on Frederick Douglass.

Join us to honor the winner of the 2022 Gilder Lehrman Military History Prize, Bruce Henderson.

Q&A session for prospective students to learn about the Gettysburg College-Gilder Lehrman master's degree program

Affiliate Schools, libraries, and other sites can host this exhibition for free in January and February.

Enter your EduHam Online creative piece for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to NYC to see a performance of Hamilton.

Publishers, agents, critics, and authors may submit or nominate books published in 2023.

Stacy Schiff

The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams

Theresa Runstedtler, American University

Black Ball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Spencer Haywood, and the Generation that Saved the Soul of the NBA

Mark Whitaker

Saying It Loud: 1966-The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement

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Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History |

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Born with a hearing disability and mistakenly placed in the special ed track, Amy Livingston never expected to find a vocation in teaching. Now she teaches young citizens that they all are part of America's story.

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Teaching American History is a free resource that brings together primary documents, continuing education, and community for American history teachers.

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Established in September 1999, the Bill of Rights Institute is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization that works to engage, educate, and empower ind...

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Gimkit is a game show for the classroom that requires knowledge, collaboration, and strategy to win. Get started for free!

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Wayground - The world's most engaging learning platform

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Find and create gamified quizzes, lessons, presentations, and flashcards for students, employees, and everyone else. Get started for free!

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Smithsonian

Learning Lab

Discover the digital education platform that connects people to Smithsonian objects, resources, and stories.

Collections by Grade

Explore some of our most popular Learning Lab Collections. Use them as a springboard to continue your exploration of the many collections available on the site.

Talk with Me!
Learn about your community and neighborhood. In this Toolkit, leaners explore different homes, shops, and people in your neighborhood and have fun with related activities.

Talk with Me Toolkits provide you with chances to talk with your children to improve thinking, vocabulary, and language development. Talking with your child is great-and research shows that the quality of words children hear matters more than how much you talk.

Talk with Me Toolkits give you ideas to begin conversations that are organized around a theme. The Toolkits feature videos, photographs, paintings, and artworks along with questions to talk about with your child. At the end of each toolkit there are more activities to do and books to read together. Go through this toolkit with your child and see how many topics there are to talk about!
This toolkit was adapted with a grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.

Links to third-party websites and videos are included in this Toolkit for informational purposes only. They do not indicate the Smithsonian's endorsement, sponsorship of, or affiliation with the third party or content of the linked site, including any advertisements that might be posted.

Learn More

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

What inspires you? Get to know Alma Thomas, (b. Columbus, Georgia; lived and worked in Washington, DC, 1891-1978), an American artist and educator known for her signature painting style using bright colors and patterns inspired by nature. She became a full-time artist late in her life. Born in a time of horses and buggies, she lived through big advancements in technology, such as the space race and moon landing. Her art was inspired by the nature she saw outside her home studio, and awe for the exploration of our vast universe.
Get To Know Alma Thomas Use it in the classroom to teach:
is part of the Hirshhorn KIDS About the Artist series. About the Artist biographies are designed for kids under age 12. Modern and contemporary artists' lives reflect recent human history and events. Sharing these life stories and artworks can help kids see their own potential and better understand the world and their place in it. It is our goal to inspire future generations of artists, makers, and creative problem solvers-sharing artists stories is one way Hirshhorn KIDS realize this goal.
Art classroom: Color Theory, Pattern

Language Arts classroom: Biography

Social Studies classroom: 20th century

Learn More

National Museum of American History

In this playlist you will learn about how three of the first presidents shaped the executive branch of the United States government.

Start by clicking on the first tile in the upper left hand corner. Then move through the playlist by clicking on the ">" symbol at the bottom of the page. Look for the information and paperclip icons to provide more information about selected resources. There are 34 tiles in this collection.

Learn More

Educator Programs

Cultivating Learning is a professional development series where Smithsonian educators model teaching techniques for using digital museum resources to support student learning. This year's series celebrates America at 250. Programs are free and accessible to anyone.

Wednesday, April 15, 4:00 PM EST

Join Phoebe Sherman of the National Postal Museum to explore how postage stamps can be used in the classroom to encourage civic awareness and engagement. We'll examine how stamps can spark curiosity and deepen understanding of civics, American history, national identity, and commemoration by using thinking routines that focus on both subject matter and artistic design. You'll see how these approaches come to life with students and leave with classroom-ready resources and fresh ideas for incorporating postage stamps into your teaching practice.

Watch

Wednesday, May 20, 4:00 PM EST

Join Nyssa Buning of the National Museum of American History's Spark!Lab and Carol O'Donnell of the Smithsonian Science Education Center to explore strategies for cultivating an inventive mindset in your students. We'll discuss the history of STEAM innovation in America and try an open-ended invention challenge that uses object-based learning techniques to encourage creative problem solving and support curiosity and perseverance, skills essential to inventors throughout history. You'll leave with a set of facilitation tools to support students as they develop their own inventive identity and become future problem-solvers. You'll also receive access to a newly released e-book from the Smithsonian Science Education Center, STEAM Innovation: Celebrating Our Nation's 250 Years.

Register

Wednesday, June 17, 4:00 PM EST

As America turns 250 in 2026, young people are writing its next chapter. Join a group of educators who apply interdisciplinary approaches to learning to engage young people in civic dialogue tied to their communities.

Register

What will you find in the Smithsonian Learning Lab?

Resources

Millions of Smithsonian digital images, recordings, texts, and videos in history, art and culture, and the sciences

Collections

Thousands of examples of resources organized and structured for teaching and learning by educators and subject experts

Resources

Millions of Smithsonian digital images, recordings, texts, and videos in history, art and culture, and the sciences

Collections

Thousands of examples of resources organized and structured for teaching and learning by educators and subject experts

Browse individual resources by type

Browse model collections on different topics

Tips

Tips

Create collections of resources to engage learners, or freely adapt ones already made by Learning Lab users like you.

Use Learning Lab tools to customize and enhance your collections.

Browse ready-to-use model collections by educational use

Browse ready-to-use model collections by learning strategy or theme

Tips

Tips

Subscribe to our Bright Ideas newsletter

To learn more about the Smithsonian Learning Lab and to read about strategies, approaches, new features, and more, subscribe to the Bright Ideas newsletter. We'll be sending out a new issue every few weeks.

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Smithsonian Learning Lab: Discover, Create, Share

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Smithsonian Learning Lab Discover the digital education platform that connects people to Smithsonian objects, resources, and stories. Explore some of our most popular Learning Lab Collections. Use them as a springboard to continue your exploration of the many collections available on the site. Talk with Me! Learn about your community and neighborhood.

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https://www.timemaps.com/

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If you want to know why our world is the way it is, you're in the right place!

Both an atlas and an encyclopaedia, the Timemap of World History covers all the world's history.

The Atlas gives you a panoramic overview of the grand sweep of history.

The Encyclopedia provides a wealth of information which lets you dig deeper into civilizations, empires and events.

The Education area offers teachers and students ideas for getting the most from the site.

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The Timemap of World History: the online atlas and encyclopedia

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Both an atlas and an encyclopaedia, the Timemap of World History covers all the world's history. The Atlas gives you a panoramic overview of the grand sweep of history. The Encyclopedia provides a wealth of information which lets you dig deeper into civilizations, empires and events.

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https://www.cnn.com/cnn10

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CNN 10 is an on-demand digital news show ideal for explanation seekers on the go or in the classroom.