Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Resources
Lesson Plans and Activities
American Memory Collections
"We'll Sing to Abe Our Song!": Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War from the Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
The collection includes more than two hundred sheet-music compositions that represent Lincoln and the Civil War as reflected in popular music. It spans years from Lincoln's presidential campaign in 1859 through the 1909 centenary of Lincoln's birth. Collection Connection of teaching resources for U.S. History, Critical Thinking and Arts & Humanities!
Lincoln, Abraham ~ Papers ~ ca. 1850-1865
The complete Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress consist of approximately 20,000 documents which include incoming and outgoing correspondence and enclosures, drafts of speeches, and notes and printed material. Most of the items are from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65. Treasures include Lincoln's draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, his March 4, 1865, draft of his second Inaugural Address, and his August 23, 1864, memorandum expressing his expectation of being defeated for re-election in the upcoming presidential contest. The Lincoln Papers are characterized by a large number of correspondents, including friends and associates from Lincoln's Springfield days, well-known political figures and reformers, and local people and organizations writing to their president. The online version of the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress offers access to the complete collection from the Library's Manuscript Division. This consists of approximately 20,000 items (61,000 pages) organized into three General Correspondence Series in the Lincoln Papers itself, and an additional three hundred Lincoln letters in other collections in the Manuscript Division. Most of the items are from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65. Collection Connection of teaching resources for U.S. History, Critical Thinking and Arts & Humanities!
Lincoln, Abraham ~ Multiformat ~ 1850-1909
Mr. Lincoln's Virtual Library highlights two collections at the Library of Congress that illuminate the life of Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States: the Abraham Lincoln Papers, containing approximately 20,000 items from the Manuscript Division; and "We'll Sing to Abe Our Song!" collection, containing more than two hundred sheet music compositions that represent Lincoln and the Civil War in popular music, from the Alfred Whital Stern Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Lesson Plans
| Title | Grades | Description | Themes, Topics, Disciplines or Eras |
|---|---|---|---|
| After Reconstruction | 9-12 | Students identify problems and issues facing African Americans immediately after Reconstruction using text based sources. | Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 |
| The Civil War through a Child's Eye | 6-8 | Students use literature and photographs to view the Civil War from a child's perspective. | Literature/Poetry, Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 |
| Ladies, Contraband, and Spies: Women in the Civil War | 10-11 | Students look at a series of document galleries to see the perspectives of slave women, plantation mistresses, female spies, and Union women during the Civil War. Ultimately, students understand the human consequences of this war for women. | Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 |
| Mathew Brady Bunch | 6-12 | Students become reporters, analyzing a Civil War photograph, and writing a newspaper article based on their chosen photograph. They then publish their articles on the World Wide Web. | Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 |
| Photojournalism | 5-8 | Students explore how and why war has been photographed and also see the bias within the recording/reporting of war. | Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877 |
| What Do You See | 5-12 | Students analyze Civil War photographs, and develop links between the Civil War and American industrialization. | Civil War and Reconstruction, 1861-1877; Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900 |
For more lesson plans and ideas from American Memory click here.
