Examining historical statistical atlases is a useful way for students to practice geographic thinking and data literacy skills while gaining insights into American history.
Primary sources related to Cherokee removal offer a rich and complex story detailing how the systems of federalism and separation of powers failed to protect Cherokee treaty rights.
Have you ever considered using a literary map with your students? In the May/June 2018 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article features literary maps for the humanities classroom.
While searching through our collections for maps to use for display in the exhibition Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I, I found one among our uncatalogued holdings that caught my attention. As the title states, it is a map presenting the role of North American Indians in the World War.
In the November/December 2017 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article features a 1910 map of South San Francisco, San Mateo County, California. The map was created for the unique purpose of documenting estimated fire hazards, and resides in the Sanborn Map Collection, part of an ongoing digitization project at the Library of Congress.
In the January/February 2016 "Sources and Strategies" article in Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, Cheryl Lederle and I focus on helping students understand cartographers’ purpose through comparing two 16th century maps: Americae sive quartae orbis partis nova et exactissima descriptio by Diego Gutierrez and page 18 of Theatrum orbis terrarium by Abraham Ortelius.
Textbooks and teachers often tell students about German scientist Alfred Wegener who went public in 1912 with his theory of continental drift. The scientific community did not widely accept Wegener's ideas during his lifetime and often derided colleagues who entertained the theory. Wegener passed away in 1930. Even as Marie Tharp was creating maps in the 1950s, scientists were actively constructing ideas and compiling evidence related to seafloor spreading and magnetic striping.