Resources based on the primary and secondary sources found at the DC History Center to help educators enhance social studies instruction in their classrooms
Home Rule Curriculum Teaching Black Lives Matter at School Teaching Civil War Washington Teaching DC Neighborhoods Teaching DC Statehood
Mapping the District of Columbia – DC Geography for 3rd grade+) My DC Neighborhood Scavenger Hunt (3rd grade+) Community Explorer Scavenger Hunt (3rd grade+) Oral History at Home (3rd grade+) Analyzing Primary/Secondary Sources (5th grade+)
Washington History magazine is the only scholarly publication devoted to DC history.
Teachable Moments
“Teachable Moment” essays start with a document, map, or image, that invites close analysis to understand its deeper lessons. The features are also windows into how their historian/authors analyze and interpret primary sources to discover layers of context and meaning. Click on the links below to download a PDF of the essay:
Articles by Subject
These Washington History articles are great for students in higher grade levels, including college, who are doing research on local topics, as well as context for the adults who are guiding them. For younger students, while the text of the articles may be best suited for the adults guiding them, many of the articles make extensive use of historical photographs and artifacts. Click on the links below to download a PDF of the article:
Mitchell, Mary. “‘I Held George Washington’s Horse’: Compensated Emancipation in the District of Columbia.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 63/65 (1963): 221-29
Murray, Martin G. “Traveling with the Wounded: Walt Whitman and Washington’s Civil War Hospitals.” Washington History 8, no. 2 (1996): 58-73
Diner, Steven J. “The City under the Hill.” Washington History 8, no. 1 (1996): 54-61
Musgrove, George Derek. “‘Statehood Is Far More Difficult’: The Struggle for D.C. Self-Determination, 1980–2017.” Washington History 29, no. 2 (2017): 3-17
Harrold, Stanley C. “The Pearl Affair: The Washington Riot of 1848.” Records of the Columbia Historical Society, Washington, D.C. 50 (1980): 140-60
Richards, Mark David. “The Debates over the Retrocession of the District of Columbia, 1801-2004.” Washington History 16, no. 1 (2004): 54-82
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