How We Learned to Love the Bill the Rights; A new book argues that the fetishization of the first ten amendments is a recent thing – and that it comes at a cost.

How the Monuments Came Down explores the complex history of Richmond, Virginia through the lens of Confederate monuments, supported by an extensive visual record never before presented in a single work.

Through personal stories from descendants and history-makers, the film uncovers how Confederate monuments came to shape Richmond’s landscape and why protestors demanded they come down.

In this collection, you will find film clips and learning resources designed to engage students with primary sources found in the film. These curriculum resources were written by Rodney Robinson, the 2019 National Teacher of the Year and a 20-year veteran of Richmond Public Schools. For a PDF version of the guide, with extension activities, visit vpm.org/monuments.

How the Monuments Came Down is a production of Field Studio, in association with VPM.

Infrastructure is Good for Business; During the Depression, business leaders knew that public works funding was key to economic growth. Why have we forgotten that lesson?

Art objects made and used in the past can offer clues to the ideas and attitudes that may have been prevalent at the time of their creation. Spending time to thoughtfully examine and explain their own ideas about such an object encourages students to become curious and open lines of inquiry about historical context. This interactive exercise guides students as they document their thinking about an 18th century American artwork.

This activity activates prior knowledge while developing insight into historical perspectives. Use this activity to help students broaden their horizons and explore diverse ideas.

In this lesson, students engage in a historical jigsaw activity focused on westward expansion. The lesson ends with a coding project where students create “postcards” by coding with Twine, expressing the perspectives of different groups experiencing the effects of westward expansion.--

Law & Order, Philadelphia Style; The city that just elected a civil rights lawyer as D.A. is the same city presided over for years by "Mayor Cop" Frank Rizzo.

Legends and Lore; A roadside marker program in New York State embraces the gray area between official history and local lore.

Like so many other government agencies during the New Deal, HOLC and its parent bureau, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, shaped Americans' lives and livelihoods profoundly during and after the Great Depression of the 1930s. Both proved critical to protecting and expanding home ownership, to standardizing lending practices, and to encouraging residential and commercial real estate investment in a flagging economy. Across the middle third of the twentieth century, arguably the most prosperous decades in American history, these agencies worked with public and private sector partners to create millions of jobs and help millions of Americans buy or keep their homes. At the very same time, federal housing programs helped codify and expand practices of racial and class segregation. They ensured, moreover, that rampant real estate speculation and environmental degradation would accompany America's remarkable economic recovery and growth.

Mum’s the Word; In the height of the Cold War, the NSA created a series of posters to keep its secrets from leaking. They're both wonderful and creepy.

This Learning Resource is based on the American Panorama Map "Electing the House"

This Learning Resource is based on a Bunk excerpt and BackStory podcast episode

This Learning Resource is based on The Future of America's Past episode, "Freedom's Fortress"

This Learning Resource is based on the Bunk excerpt of The Nib's"Harriet Tubman"

This Learning Resource is based on the Washington Post collaboration with New American History, "Historians Guide to 2020" and an article by Joanne Freeman

This Learning Resource is based on the Washington Post collaboration with New American History, "Historians Guide to 2020" and an article by Amber Roessner