Over the ten plus years I've been writing Teaching Montana History and putting my stuff up on my blog, I've written 91 posts on teaching with primary sources. And I figure it's time for post 92. That's how much I love primary sources.
The Montana Memory Project is the go-to place for finding primary sources relating to Montana history. It recently moved to a new platform, with, I'm told, better functionality. Jennifer Birnel, head of the Montana Memory Project is going to join us on December 8 from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. to offer a tour of the new platform and searching tips. Register here before December 7 to receive a link to the Zoom meeting.
Looking for tips about how to use primary sources in your classroom. Check out this the Digital Library of America's 10 Ways to Use the Primary Source Sets in Your Classroom. Then spend some time surfing the DPLA's collection, which is remarkably broad.
The National Archives explains why using primary sources is so powerful in History in the Raw. The National Archives also has some great activities on DocsTeach, including this one that starts with an anti-Chinese boycott poster from Butte.
EIU Teaching with Primary Sources also talks about the "why" (exposing students to multiple perspectives; helping them develop critical thinking skills and empathy for the human condition; and helping students understand that all history is local) as well as offering tips on how to choose and cite primary sources.
Of course, the mother ship for primary sources is the Library of Congress. I recommend looking first at the Library of Congress Primary Source Sets.
I also love, love, love digitized newspapers--you can find many on Chronicling America, a Library of Congress site, and even more from Montana on MontanaNewspapers.Org.
Finally, William Madison Randall Library also lists several online repositories--you'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page.
Happy surfing!
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