TeachingAmericanHistory.Org Offers Free Online Professional Development

Teaching American History is a free resource that brings together primary documents, continuing education, and community for American history teachers. "We support teachers of American history, government, and civics, believing they do the most important work in America. We help them bring the documents and debates of America’s past into the present through free document-based …

How New Museums Curate Complex Stories in Black History

New African American Museums in Mississsippi, Alabama, South Carolina and Washington, DC are changing the way Black history is being told in America. USA Today has an in-depth piece. "In Mississippi, there is the Civil Rights Museum in Jackson and the B.B. King Museum in the Blues legend's native Indianola. In Alabama, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice tells the …

Black History and Cultural Literacy: So Much We Still Don’t Know

Today is the last day of Black History Month, but of course, it’s impossible to consume all we need to know for cultural literacy in one month. I’ve created a 25-post mini-course on Google Classroom for paying subscribers, just $5 a month. If you want access, click here to subscribe. We can glimpse what the …

Teach Black History and Celebrate Black Progress

Millie A. Smith, letter to The Wall Street Journal: "I would love for us black Americans to stop talking about white Americans (good or bad) and focus on the post-1965 progress made in the black community. This progress, in the face of injustice and inequality, is such a sweet story of perseverance that a lot …

Despite Backlash, This AP African American Studies Class Perseveres

Stay Tuned, an NBC News Brand: "Over a dozen states in recent years have implemented restrictions limiting how teachers discuss racism. We visit an AP African American studies class in Virginia that garnered significant backlash and almost didn’t happen. The teacher of the class says, “It’s just history,” but for a class in the political …

How to Combat Political Misinformation

Sharon McMahon, a former high school government and law teacher on a mission to combat political misinformation by sharing non-partisan facts about the US government, democracy and history. She is the host of the top-rated “Here’s Where It Gets Interesting” podcast, seeking to inspire people to become more well-informed citizens. She spoke with Steve Schmidt, founder of his …

Does Western Civilization Actually Exist?

Skepticism grows among historians about whether the traditional frames of teaching world history -- Western Civilization and Eastern Civilization -- actually exist. I explore this trend on Substack: https://jimbuie.substack.com/p/does-western-civilization-actually

Course Hero: Strong Resource Using AI

"Course Hero is an American education technology website company based in Redwood City, California which operates an online learning platform for students to access course-specific study resources and online tutors. Subscription or content contribution is required for students to use the platform." Wikipedia. It includes AI-generated quizzes, an AI homework assistant, 24/7 homework help, an online …

Prager “University” Confederate Propaganda Props Up Insurrectionists

Amanda Marcotti, Salon.com: "Abraham Lincoln is portrayed making arguments that sound like modern Proud Boys begging a judge for forgiveness...It's ironic that the team at PragerU hates communism so much since they produce dishonest agitprop that rivals anything the Soviet Union's most shameless propagandists produced. The "curriculum" — a word that really overrates what's now …

First Footers in Integrating Schools in the South Recall Their Seminal Experiences in the 1960s, Early 1970s

The generation that graduated high school in the late 1960s or early 1970s has now reached retirement age. Many have attended their 50th reunions, and begun to recall what the culture was like then, different from now. Several articles have crossed my desk in the last year or so. Among them: Rocky Mount (NC) High …