In this activity, students will explore the struggle for universal suffrage long after both men and women constitutionally had the right to vote. Following a progressive timeline, primary sources highlight voting problems which arose for minority groups throughout the 20th century. Students will answer questions as they work through the documents to reflect on if and when universal suffrage was ultimately achieved.

LOC has compiled a consortium of primary sources to work in the classroom. Ready-to-use lesson plans, student activities, collection guides and research aids to spread awareness and highlight the Asian Pacific American experience.

This document was identified by teachers in our Primarily Teaching 2016 Summer Workshop at the Truman Library.

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Students will analyze documents from the War Department’s Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands — better known as the Freedmen’s Bureau — that Congress established on March 3, 1865, as the Civil War was coming to an end. Using the scale in Weighing the Evidence, students will evaluate the effectiveness of the Freedmen’s Bureau in assisting formerly enslaved persons. Learning Objectives: Students will be able to identify and draw conclusions about the roles of the Freedmen’s Bureau (Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands), critically analyze primary sources, formulate opinions about the effectiveness of the Bureau, and back up their opinions verbally or in writing.

In this activity, students will analyze documents from the War Department’s Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands — better known as the Freedmen’s Bureau — that Congress established on March 3, 1865, as the Civil War was coming to an end. Using the scale in Weighing the Evidence, students will evaluate the effectiveness of the Freedmen's Bureau in assisting formerly enslaved persons.

In this activity, students will examine documents from the FBI case file about Bloody Sunday in Selma, Alabama. They will answer questions to show understanding of the events that took place, and how the spread of information about Selma impacted the Civil Rights Movement. They will also be asked to think about whether the Federal Government would have acted differently if the FBI knew that the public may be able to see their files — the Government was not required to release records like this until the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gave the public the right to request Federal agency records in 1966.

This photograph of a sculpture of Mary McLeod Bethune by Selma Hortense Burke is part of Harmon Foundation Collection. The Harmon Foundation, a nonprofit, private foundation active from 1922 to 1967, helped foster an awareness of African art. African artists would send their artworks to the United States for exhibit and sale. When the foundation ended its activities in 1967, it donated its entire collection of motion pictures, filmstrips, color slides, and black and white prints and negatives on a variety of subjects to the National Archives. Selma Hortense Burke (b. December 31, 1900, Mooresville, North Carolina - d. August 29, 1995, New Hope, Pennsylvania) was an American sculptor, educator, and member of the Harlem Renaissance movement. Burke created many pieces of public art, often portraits of prominent African-American figures like Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune and Booker T. Washington. She received national recognition for her relief portrait of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, which was the model for his image on the dime. In 1979, Burke was awarded the Women's Caucus for Art Lifetime Achievement Award.Learn more on our main National Archives website.

The original caption for this photograph reads: "Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and others at the opening of Midway Hall, one of two residence halls built by the Public Buildings Administration of FWA for Negro government girls."As a presidential advisor of African American Affairs during the Roosevelt administration, Mary McLeod Bethune formed the Federal Council of Negro Affairs, which would become known as the Black Cabinet. The Black Cabinet was instrumental in creating jobs for African Americans in Federal executive departments and New Deal agencies.Bethune’s influence within the Roosevelt administration also allowed her to direct funds created by the New Deal program to Black people. Programs such as the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and National Youth Administration (NYA) were successful in employing over 300,000 African Americans during the Great Depression.The original caption for this photograph uses the term "negro" to refer to Black people, which was commonly accepted in that era, but is outdated and inappropriate today.

Aggregated collection of openly licensed resources related to American Indian and Alaska Native Communities at the National Archives. The resources include information relating to American Indians from the 18th through the 21st century. The National Archives preserves and makes available the documents created by Federal agencies in the course of their daily business. The documents we hold related to American Indians reflect their interaction with the U.S. Government.