This small piece of yellow metal is believed to be the first piece of gold discovered in 1848 at
Grade Range: 9-12
Resource Type(s): Lessons & Activities, Interactives & Media, Lessons & Activities, Primary Sources, Interactives & Media
Date Posted: 11/2/2009
This resource includes an introductory essay entitled Looking at Artifacts, Thinking about History, 6 sections that each focus on an object from the collections of the Museum, an archive of curator commentary, and an online tool with which students can create virtual exhibits. Also included is a section of teacher's materials, lesson plans and resources revolving around the themes that are highlighted throughout the website.
The Object of History is a cooperative project between the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History and George Mason University's Center for History and New Media.
The following objects are included in The Object of History: Thomas Jefferson's desk, the gold nugget that launched the Gold Rush, Mary Todd Lincoln's dress, a voting machine, a short-handled hoe from the Braceros migrant worker program, and a segment of the lunch counter from the sit-ins in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The materials on the site are designed to improve student's knowledge of standard topics in U.S. History and to improve their ability to understand material culture objects as types of historical evidence.
United States History Standards (Grades 5-12)
2: How the industrial revolution, increasing immigration, the rapid expansion of slavery, and the westward movement changed the lives of Americans and led toward regional tensions
4: The sources and character of cultural, religious, and social reform movements in the antebellum period