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Anchorage Public Library >> Picturing America >> Resources

"Picturing America" - Resources for more exploration...

The following resources are suggested pathways to explore more about the images featured this month at Anchorage Public Library. You can find out more about themes related to this month's images with books available at the Anchorage Public Library, as well as some selected websites linked below.

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Thomas Hart Benton, The Sources of Country Music, 1975

Country Music and Its Roots

• The Long Gone Lonesome History of Country Music
  by Bret Bertholf
  J 781.64209 BERTHOL
• Honky-tonk Heroes & Hillbilly Angels: The Pioneers of Country & Western Music
  by Holly George-Warren
  J 781.642092 GEORGE
• Square dancing Is for Me
  by Mildred Hammond
  J 793.34 HAMMOND
• This Land Was Made for You and Me: The Life and Songs of Woody Guthrie
  by Elizabeth Partridge
  J 782.4216213 PARTRID
• The Diane Goode Book of American Folk Tales & Songs
  Collected by Ann Durell
  J 398.20973 DIANE
• Music
  by Angela Medearis and Michael Medearis
  J 780.8996073 MEDEARI

Websites

• Encyclopedia of Arkansas: Thomas Hart Benton
  The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History & Culture Web site's page on Thomas Hart Benton gives a brief biography with hyperlinks to topic of interest in Arkansas history. It mentions The Sources of Country Music.
• Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site
  Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, Thomas Hart Benton Home and Studio State Historic Site contains a teacher’s guide for a lesson "to provide a fundamental basis for the interpretation of the life and art of Thomas Hart Benton." Contains background information on the artist, art vocabulary, and bibliographies for Grades 6–12, and links to a list of Missouri Show-Me State standards.
• PBS: Thomas Hart Benton for Educators
  PBS, Ken Burns American Stories, companion Web site for the film, Thomas Hart Benton, with section for educators containing a lesson plan geared to Grades 7–12 that correlates to national standards of Mid-continent Research for Education and Learning for Art, Visual Art, and Historical Understanding.

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George Caleb Bingham, The County Election, 1852

United States before the Civil War

• The Jeffersonian Republicans, 1800-1823: The Louisiana Purchase and the War of 1812
  by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier
  J 973.46 COLLIER
• The Westward Movement and Abolitionism, 1815-1850
  by William Loren Katz
  J 973.5 KATZ
• Andrew Jackson's America, 1824-1850
  by Christopher Collier and James Lincoln Collier
  J 973.56 COLLIER
• U.S.-Mexican War
  by Bronwyn Mills
  J 973.62 MILLS
• Projects about Westward Expansion
  by Marian Broida
  J 979.503 BROIDA

Elections and Voting

• Running for Public Office
  by Sarah De Capua
  J 324.70973 DE-CAPU
• Vote!
  by Eileen Christelow
  J 324.973 CHRISTE
• The Voice of the People
  by Betsy C. Maestro
  J 324.973 MAESTRO

Websites

• George Caleb Bingham: Artist of Missouri and the American Frontier
  Web site dedicated to Bingham: George Caleb Bingham: Artist of Missouri and the American Frontier, including a biography, many images, and a database of research.
• NGA Classroom: 19th-Century America in Art and Literature
  National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, Web site, NGA Classroom for Teachers and Students, 19th-Century America in Art and Literature, has an historical overview of the nation at the time of Bingham’s painting in addition a painting by him in the Gallery. There are links to printable worksheets and other resources.
• Vote: The Machine of Democracy
  Smithsonian National Museum of American History Web site, Vote: The Machine of Democracy, traces the voting process in America with links such as America’s Voting Patchwork, and The Paper Ballot. Includes interactive material and an image and discussion of The County Election.
• ArtsEdge: Who Can Vote for President?
  Kennedy Center Web site, ARTSEDGE lesson plan for Grades 5–8, Who Can Vote for President? involves students in the campaign process including learning about the voting process, learning how to find information on the U.S. Constitution, and creating a campaign poster.
• U.S. Electoral College
  National Archives and Records Administration Web site, U.S. Electoral College, with links to lesson plans about the electoral process.
• Ben’s Guide to U.S. Government for Kids
  U.S. Government Printing Office Web site, Ben’s Guide to the U.S. Government for Kids; choose K–2, 3–5, 6–8, or 9–12 for link to the election process for information geared to these grades.

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John Singer Sargent, Portrait of a Boy, 1890

Children -- One Hundred Years Ago

• To Be Young in America: Growing up with the Country, 1776-1940
  by Sheila Cole
  J 973 COLE
• Victorian Days: Discover the Past with Fun Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes
  by David C. King
  J 306.09747 KING
• Kids at Work: Lewis Hine and the Crusade against Child Labor
  by Russell Freedman
  J 331.31 FRE
• Welcome to Samantha's World, 1904: Growing up in America's New Century
  by Catherine Gourley
  J 973.91 GOURLEY
• The 1900s
  by Adam Woog
  J 973.911 WOOG

Websites

• National Gallery of Art: Whistler, Sargent, and Tanner: Americans Abroad in the Late 1800s
  National Gallery of Art, online exhibit of the works created by Sargent and his American contemporaries while studying and working in Europe.
• The Sargent Murals
  The Sargent Murals at the Boston Public Library: History, Interpretation, Restoration, is a Web site detailing Sargent’s monumental mural cycle, Triumph of Religion (1890–1919), installed in the Boston Public Library's main building, designed by McKim, Mead, and White. Site presents current restoration, as well as the story of the mural’s creation, with many images and a biography of John Singer Sargent. The site also includes Quicktime movies.
• ARTSEDGE: Culture and Society of the Gilded Age
  The Kennedy Center, ARTSEDGE Web site has a lesson plan, Arts of the Gilded Age, for Grades 9–12, in which students choose among the fine and performing arts of the late 19th century and construct or perform a project appropriate for one of the mansions a companion-page lesson, Three Newport Mansions of the Gilded Age (http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/content/2386/).
• Edith Wharton's World
  National Portrait Gallery's online exhibit, Edith Wharton's World: Portraits of People and Places, features a biography of the writer, linked to art that reveals different aspects of her life in America and Europe from the Gilded Age to her death in 1937.

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John Singleton Copley, Paul Revere, 1768

Living in the American Colonies

• Our Colonial Year
  by Cheryl Harness
  J 973.2083 HARNESS
• A Day in the Life of a Colonial Miller
  by Laurie Krebs
  J 664.72092 KREBS
• A Day in the Life of a Colonial Wigmaker
  by Kathy Wilmore
  J 646.7248 WILMORE
• Colonial Troops, 1610-1774
  by Rene Chartrand
  J 355.14 CHARTRA
• Food and Recipes of the Thirteen Colonies
  by George Erdosh
  J 641.597309032 ERDOSH

Websites

• EDSITEment: American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins
  National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, American Colonial Life in the Late 1700s: Distant Cousins, for grades 3-5. Introduces students to American colonial life and has them compare the daily life and culture of two different colonies in the late 1700s. Students study artifacts of the thirteen original British colonies and write letters between fictitious cousins in Massachusetts and Delaware
• Digital History – Learn about the Revolutionary War
  University of Houston collaborative project, Digital History, Learn about the Revolutionary War, with information and lesson plans.
• EDSITEment: Revolutionary Tea Parties and the Reasons for Revolution
  National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, Revolutionary Tea Parties and the Reasons for Revolution, for Grades 6–8. Page asks students to consider what actually happened at this event and its place in the American Revolution.
• EDSITEment: Why Do We Remember Revere? Paul Revere's Ride in History and Literature
  National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, Why Do We Remember Revere? Paul Revere’s Ride in History and Literature, for Grades 6–8. Students explore the differences between the account of Revere’s ride in Longfellow’s poem and historical evidence. They consider the importance of his ride in American history.

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Hiram Powers, Benjamin Franklin, 1862

Benjamin Franklin

• The Remarkable Benjamin Franklin
  by Cheryl Harness
  J 921 FRANKLI HARNESS
• Ben Franklin's Almanac: Being a True Account of the Good Gentleman's Life
  by Candace Fleming
  J 973.3092 FLEMING
• Who Was Ben Franklin?
  by Dennis Brindell Fradin
  J 921 FRANKLI FRADIN

The Constitution and Its Founders

• The Founders: The 39 Stories behind the U.S. Constitution
  by Dennis Brindell Fradin
  J 973.3092 FRADIN
• Extraordinary Patriots of the United States of America: Colonial Times to Pre-Civil War
  by Nancy Robinson Masters
  J 920.073 MASTERS
• In Defense of Liberty: The Story of America's Bill of Rights
  by Russell Freedman
  J 342.73085 FREEDMA
• We the Kids: The Preamble to the Constitution of the United States
  by David Catrow
  J 342.7302 CATROW
• The Articles of Confederation: The First Constitution of the United States
  by Barbara Silberdick Feinberg
  J 342.73029 FEINBER

Websites

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• EDSITEment: Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
  National Endowment for the Humanities, EDSITEment, Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers for Grades 6–8 involves students in researching the philosophical contributions of Franklin to the formation of the Republic.
• Benjamin Franklin: In His Own Words
  Library of Congress Web site, Benjamin Franklin  . . . in His Own Words. The companion Web site to exhibit; has background information on Franklin.
• PBS: Benjamin Franklin
  PBS Web site, Benjamin Franklin: An Extraordinary Life, An Electric Mind, a National Endowment for the Humanities-funded documentary broadcast in 2002, has background information, interactivities, timeline, lesson plans, and activities.