The Answer Sheet: History


Posted at 08:23 AM ET, 01/24/2011

JFK's Harvard application: 'Lackluster' applicant
By Valerie Strauss
John F. Kennedy's 1935 application to Harvard College is now online, and it shows him to be something less than a superlative applicant.

By Valerie Strauss  |  08:23 AM ET, 01/24/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  college application, college essays, harvard application, harvard college, jfk, jfk anniversary, jfk application, jfk documents, jfk library, john f. kennedy, joseph p. kennedy, kennedy family

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/17/2011

A quiz: Martin Luther King’s unusual education
By Valerie Strauss
Martin Luther King Jr., had something of an unusual education. Test yourself on how much you know about it, and then read the answers, which include information that may surprise you about him.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 01/17/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  about martin luther king, day, facts about king, king and education, king facts, martin luther king, martin luther king day, martin luther king jr., mlk, mlk day, mlk facts

Posted at 03:16 PM ET, 01/13/2011

Va. orders history textbook review -- finally
By Valerie Strauss
The Virginia Board of Education has finally taken the first step toward removing two elementary school history textbooks that it had earlier approved despite many errors.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:16 PM ET, 01/13/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  errors in textbooks, five ponds press, history textbooks, textbook controversy, textbook errors, textbooks, textbooks and errors, virginia board of education, virginia history, virginia textbooks

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 01/10/2011

Latino studies program in Tucson declared illegal
By Valerie Strauss
An Arizona official has declared that an ethnic studies program on Latino culture is illegal under a new law that went effect on Jan. 1.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 01/10/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  arizona schools, ethnic studies program, ethnic studies program declared illegal, latino studies, mexican-american studies program, tom horne, tucson schools

Posted at 11:30 AM ET, 01/08/2011

Why Fairfax's textbook recall is surprising
By Valerie Strauss
Now that Fairfax County is recalling a fourth-grade social studies textbook with dozens of errors, the question is why any other system using them hasn't done the same thing.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:30 AM ET, 01/08/2011 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  a history of us, errors in textbooks, history textbooks, joy hakim, textbook adoption, textbook adoption process, textbook recall, textbooks, virginia social studies textbooks, virginia textbooks

Posted at 03:30 PM ET, 11/24/2010

The first Thanksgiving proclamation, by George Washington
By Valerie Strauss
From a 1789 newpaper, here's President George Washington's proclamation of the first official Thanksgiving holiday in the United States.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:30 PM ET, 11/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  first thanksgiving, george washington, history of thanksgiving, thanksgiving, thanksgiving holiday, washington's proclamation

Posted at 02:19 PM ET, 11/24/2010

Why we don't eat deer for Thanksgiving (the Pilgrims did)
By Valerie Strauss
When did Americans start eating turkey on the national holiday of Thanksgiving? It wasn't when, or for the reason, you probably learned in school.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:19 PM ET, 11/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  abraham lincoln and thanksgiving, colonists thanksgiving, george washington and thanksgiving, ha, history of thanksgiving, pardon and turkey, pilgrims, plymouth colony, presidential pardon, presidential turkey, squanto, thanksgiving, thanksgiving dinner, the first thanksgiving, turkey, wampanoag indians, when was the first thanksgiving?

Posted at 06:00 AM ET, 10/11/2010

Stuff you should know about Columbus
By Valerie Strauss
A lot of what you think you know about Christopher Columbus is probably wrong. Here are some things about the explorer that might surprise you.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:00 AM ET, 10/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  1492, christopher columbus, columbus bio, columbus biography, columbus day, columbus facts, discovery day, explorers, facts about columbus, history, native people

Posted at 04:32 PM ET, 09/24/2010

Lessons from Virginia's shift on Confederate history
By Valerie Strauss
Several months after issuing a proclamation about “Confederate History Month” in Virginia without mentioning slavery’s role in the Civil War, the state’s governor, Robert F. McDonnell, has decided to call it “Civil War in Virginia Month” instead. This underscores how the battle to teach the conflict to new generations of Americans continues 150 years later.

By Valerie Strauss  |  04:32 PM ET, 09/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History

Posted at 03:15 PM ET, 09/24/2010

Texas education board: Textbooks favor Islam over Christianity
By Valerie Strauss
The Texas Board of Education adopts a controversial resolution today that accuses textbook publishers of favoring Islam over Christianity and tells them to stop it. Never mind that the books the board cited as examples of bias were phased out of Texas classrooms long ago.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:15 PM ET, 09/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History, History | Tags:  islam resolution, mosque and ground zero, religion resolution and texas, resolution, texas, texas and islam, texas and textbooks, texas board of education, texas resolution, textbook resolution, textbooks and islam

Posted at 05:00 AM ET, 09/16/2010

Are Texas's social studies standards really so bad?
By Valerie Strauss
Texas has now officially adopted highly controversial new social studies standards. Here's a different view of the standards and the process by which they were approved.

By Valerie Strauss  |  05:00 AM ET, 09/16/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  rewriting history, texas rewrites history, texas social studies standards, texas standards

Posted at 03:51 PM ET, 09/15/2010

Texas considers how Islam is portrayed in textbooks
By Valerie Strauss
The Texas Board of Education finally adopted its social studies standards a few weeks ago, seeming to put an end to the a huge controversy that erupted when critics accused religious fundamentalists of rewriting American history. Now, apparently, it is taking up a new issue: How students should learn about Islam.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:51 PM ET, 09/15/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  social studies standards, texas and islam, texas and social studies, texas and standards, texas board of education, texas islam rule, texas school board

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 07/23/2010

The history of ice cream (July is National Ice Cream Month)
By Valerie Strauss
I love history. I love ice cream (and so did George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and, of course, Dolley Madison). So, to mark National Ice Cream Month, for which we have Ronald Reagan to thank, here is the history of ice cream. It’s more interesting than you might think and even your kids might like it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 07/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, july is national ice cream month, national ice cream month, the history of ice cream

Posted at 12:06 AM ET, 07/23/2010

From a list of ideas to an 11,200-word essay
By Valerie Strauss
In this letter a high school student details how he wrote a scholarly history paper that was published and what he learned from the experience.

By Valerie Strauss  |  12:06 AM ET, 07/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  concord review, history, how to write a research paper, walter johnson high school, writing research papers

Posted at 09:56 AM ET, 07/11/2010

The story behind ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
By Valerie Strauss
"To Kill a Mockingbird" turns 50 on Sunday. Here's the story of how the author, Harper Lee, came to write it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  09:56 AM ET, 07/11/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History, History | Tags:  50th anniversary and mockingbird, anniversary of to kill a mockingbird, atticus finch, boo radley, dill, harper lee, harper lee and to kill a mockingbird, harper lee's novel, jem, literature, scout, to kill a mockingbird, to kill mockingbird's 50th anniversaity

Posted at 07:12 AM ET, 07/03/2010

Top 5 Independence Day myths
By Valerie Strauss
Did you know that American independence wasn't really declared on the Fourth of July? Or that most delegates to the Constitutional Convention didn't sign the Declaration of Independence on the Fourth of July? Read on.

By Valerie Strauss  |  07:12 AM ET, 07/03/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  adams and jefferson, declaration of independence signed, facts about independence day, facts about july 4, history, independence day, john adams and thomas jefferson, july 2nd and independence, july 4th, malia obama and birthday, the crack in the liberty bell, the liberty bell, when did adams and jefferson die, when was independence declared

Posted at 10:13 AM ET, 07/02/2010

Declaration of Independence rough draft shows crossout
By Valerie Strauss
Just in time for the Fourth of July, the Library of Congress has this news: Hyperspectral imaging of Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence has confirmed that he originally wrote the phrase “our fellow subjects,” but then scrawled over it the word “citizens.”

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:13 AM ET, 07/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Fourth of July, July 4, declaration of independence, declaration of independence and signers, declaration of independence text, history, independence day and history, library of congress and declaration, thomas jefferson and declaration

Posted at 02:06 PM ET, 06/23/2010

Law student James Madison rediscovered through lost notes
By Valerie Strauss
The discovery that a series of aw notes thought to have been written by Thomas Jefferson were actually penned by James Madison has led to a call for a reassessment of the fourth U.S. president.

By Valerie Strauss  |  02:06 PM ET, 06/23/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, james madison and law, james madison notes, jefferson's papers, library of congress and jefferson, library of congress and madison, lost notes found, madison notes found, thomas jefferson and james madison

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/24/2010

Bad standards: Not just in Texas
By Valerie Strauss
Texas isn’t the only place with lousy social studies standards, though you might be forgiven for thinking so considering all the attention that Texas Board of Education has received in recent months as it adopted a new set of standards.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/24/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  Indiana textbooks, Oregon standards, Texas board of education, Texas social studies standards, Texas standards, history, social studies standards, standards, textbooks

Posted at 10:56 AM ET, 05/22/2010

California bill takes aim at new Texas standards
By Valerie Strauss
A bill introduced in California seeks to protect the country’s largest school system from the Texas Board of Education and its new social studies standards.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:56 AM ET, 05/22/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Texas social studies, Texas social studies standards, Texas standards, history, social studies standards, texas board of educaiton

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/21/2010

The worst Texas social studies standard?
By Valerie Strauss
I’ve been reading the social studies standards in Texas as well as the many proposed changes being pushed by religious conservatives on the Board of Education, and playing an entirely subjective game: Which is the most egregious twisting of history?

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  revising social studies standards, texas and standards, texas board of education, texas social studies standards, texas standards

Posted at 03:23 PM ET, 05/13/2010

Did Texas school board abuse its power?
By Valerie Strauss
With the Texas State Board of Education getting ready to adopt controversial new social studies standards, a new report accuses the panel of abusing its power and asks the state Legislature to intervene. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of...

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:23 PM ET, 05/13/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history, history standards and texas, texas board of education, texas social studies standards

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 05/04/2010

Arizona strikes again: Now it is ethnic studies
By Valerie Strauss
First Arizona passed a law requiring police to question anybody who looks like an illegal immigrant. Then we learn that the state order school districts to get rid of teachers with very heavy accents. Then the legislature approved a bill targeted at a Mexican-American studies program that the state education chief doesn't like. Arizona doesn't know when to quit.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 05/04/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Arizona and heavily accented teachers, Arizona and law, Arizona immigrant law, Mexican-american studies, ethnic studies in Arizona, heavily accented teachers, history

Posted at 11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010

Teaching the Civil War: Debate still alive
By Valerie Strauss
Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell’s apology for leaving slavery out of a proclamation declaring April as Confederate History Month cannot gloss over the fact that the issue is still alive. While there is little disagreement among professional historians that slavery was the central reason for the secession of 11 Southern states from the union and the eruption of the war, it is still taught as only one of the issues in many Southern schools.

By Valerie Strauss  |  11:29 AM ET, 04/08/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  causes of civil war, mcpherson and civil war, obama, obama and civil war, obama and history, slavery as cause of civil war, teaching the civil war, virginia gov. civil war, virginia politics

Posted at 06:04 PM ET, 04/07/2010

McPherson on slavery and Virginia's governor
By Valerie Strauss
Civil War expert James McPherson says that Virginia Gov. McDonnell had it wrong when he indicated that slavery was not “most significant” for Virginia as an issue during the Civil War period. Let's hope Virginia's student learn Civil War history the way McPherson teaches it.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:04 PM ET, 04/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Confederate Month, Gov. McDonnell, James McPherson, Virginia, history

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 04/07/2010

Texas did not really rewrite history--Sewall
By Valerie Strauss
The director of the independent American Textbook Council says that the reports that came out of Texas about conservative changes to the social studies curriculum are wrong.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 04/07/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  T, Texas and history, Texas board of education, Texas conservatives, Texas curriculum, Texas social studies, Texas standards

Posted at 06:29 AM ET, 04/02/2010

James McPherson on Texas history curriculum
By Valerie Strauss
I asked award-winning historian James McPherson how much we should worry about the changes to social studies curriculum being made by conservatives in Texas. Here's what he said.

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:29 AM ET, 04/02/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  history curriculum, texas, textbooks

Posted at 10:20 AM ET, 03/17/2010

Texas and its history mess--deja vu all over again
By Valerie Strauss
Texas is under scrutiny for silly and historically inaccurate revisions that its state board of education made to its American history curriculum. But it's not the first time Texas has been in a mess with its history textbooks.

By Valerie Strauss  |  10:20 AM ET, 03/17/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  Texas history standards

Posted at 03:49 PM ET, 01/21/2010

That first big research paper
By Valerie Strauss
The following was written by Christiane Henrich, a 17-year-old high school student about how she wrote her first substantial research paper, which was published in the academic journal for high school students, The Concord Review. She begins: "Before crafting my research paper on U.S. Civil War Medicine, I had never composed a piece of non-fiction literature beyond six or seven pages. Twenty pages seemed to be an unconquerable length." I remember the dread that filled me as my AP United States History teacher, Mrs. Melissa Humphrey, handed out the assignment for the twenty-page research paper. She also passed around copies of The Concord Review as examples of research papers done well. For us, the first deadline was only a few weeks away. We had to have a thesis. It was then that I truly realized the depth of this academic adventure. My job was not to simply report on some topic in U.S. history; I had to prove something. I had to create an arguable thesis and defend it. I was overwhelmed.

By Valerie Strauss  |  03:49 PM ET, 01/21/2010 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History, History | Tags:  history paper

Posted at 06:30 AM ET, 12/14/2009

How should history be taught?
By Valerie Strauss
Most historians writing about the historic events of the last year in the United States would likely concentrate on the election of the first black president, Barack Obama, and the conditions that led to his victory. Not Howard Zinn. The longtime historian and social activist said he would instead focus on “people who are still struggling." This approach to history--focusing on how ordinary people help turn people rather than presidents and generals--was seen in "The People Speak," a film documentary that premiered last night on The History Channel. What do you think of Zinn's approach to history?

By Valerie Strauss  |  06:30 AM ET, 12/14/2009 |  Permalink  |  Comments ( 0)
Categories:  History | Tags:  teaching history