Note to the teacher: The documents cited in this project are taken from the extensive collections of the Library of Congress American Memory website. The documents used in this project can be viewed in any order. Although we have tried to be very selective in our choice of documents, the teacher may decide it is necessary to limit further which ones are accessed and whether hard copies of them to be given to students should be prepared beforehand. Last, because internet connections vary from school to school, downloading motion pictures may pose the greatest access challenge (although the films cited here are very short). For additional ideas on how to work with primary documents see the Library of Congress American Memory Using Primary Sources in the Classroom.

1. Document collection: The Emergence of Advertising in America, 1850-1920: A Selection of Images from the John W. Hartman Center for Sales, Advertising & Marketing History

Document: Ayer's Sarsaparilla trade card

• How might the contents of Ayer's Sarsaparilla changed as a result of the passage of federal pure food and drug laws in 1906?
• Who do you think was the intended audience of this advertisement?
• Why would childhood health have been a major focus of advertisement in the 1880s and 1890s?

Document: Eastman Kodak advertisement

• Who do you think was (were) the intended audience(s) of this advertisement?
• Describe the relationship the advertisement tries to draw between taking pictures and being fashionable.

2. Document collection: Small-Town America: Stereoscopic Views from the Robert Dennis Collection, 1850-1920

Read "Special presentation: About stereoscopic views"

Document: Niagara Falls (Underwood & Underwood) NYPG91-F75 011F

• Find this stereocard by clicking on Search by Keyword and then typing "Niagara Falls Underwood." The stereocard can be found in the first of the 89 collections that are found.
• Look at the enlargement of the front side of the card and see if you can spot the difference between the men's fedora and bowler.
• Looking at the title of the card, tell exactly where the tourists are standing.

Document: Promenade, Brooklyn Bridge, New York NYPG91-F173 101F

• After viewing this stereocard, consider why there are so many views of the Brooklyn Bridge in this collection. What is it about this bridge that captivated Americans?

3. Document collection: Baseball Cards, 1887-1914

Read "About the collection" and "Special presentation: Tinkers to Evers to Chance"

Document: Ty Cobb baseball card

• Find the second of the Ty Cobb cards in the collection and find out when it was produced and the name of the company that issued it.

4. Document collection: Inventing Entertainment: The Motion Pictures and Sound Recordings of the Edison Companies

Document: Motion picture "Admiral cigarette"

• Locate, download and view this 1897 motion picture by typing its title in the keyword search box. What is the surprise for the circus workers?
• Locate the film "The great train robbery." These files may be too large for you to download at school, but can you find out why this motion picture is such a landmark?

5. Document collection: The American Variety Stage: Vaudeville and Popular Entertainment, 1870-1920

Document: Photograph of Harry Houdini, full-length portrait, standing, facing front, in chains, 1903

• What was Houdini's early nickname?

6. Document collection: The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898-1906

Read "New York City at the Turn of the Century" and "America at the Turn of the Century."

Document: "Arrival of emigrants [i. e. immigrants], Ellis Island" motion picture

• What seems to be happening in the picture? Can you find out why many Americans concerned with immigration at this time? Would this motion picture confirm or dispel their fears?

7. Document collection: Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904

Read "The Westinghouse World: The Companies, the People, and the Places: Working Conditions."

Document: "Taping coils" motion picture

• Locate, download and view this motion picture. Can you find evidence of "progressivism" in the working conditions for these women? Are there differences you would expect in modern factory work?

8. Document collection: The Northern Great Plains, 1880-1920: Photographs from the Fred Hultstrand and F. A. Palzandak Photograph Collections

Read "Special Presentations: Implements used on the farm." Can you find an implement that would have been used on the farm described in the short story "Under the Lion's Paw"?

Document: Carl E. Jerdin sod house near Soper Post Office, North Dakota taken September 1897

• What are two things you can learn from studying this photograph? Why do you think the photograph was made?

9. Document collection: The Evolution of the Conservation Movement: 1850-1920

Document: Theodore Roosevelt and John Muir on Glacier Point, Yosemite Valley, California photograph

• Find this dramatic and famous photograph. Be sure you can identify John Muir. Why might the conservation movement gained such momentum in the early years of the twentieth century? What role might photographs have served? Can you think of a modern example when visual images galvanized public opinion?