Publications

• Our Mothers Before Us: Women and Democracy, 1789-1920. An Educational Document Resource
  
  
  This exciting resource brings original source material from the records of Congress at the National Archives into the classroom. Our Mothers Before Us traces the history of women's organized petition campaigns from the First Congress in 1789 to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. The long history of women's involvement in the civic life of the nation and the background of the struggle for woman suffrage, typically missing from traditional histories, are revealed in depth and detail in this new educational resource for high schools. This publication highlights a heritage we all share and offers a rich supplement for the study of United States history.
  
  
  At the heart of Our Mothers Before Us are the writings women sent to Congress reproduced as high-quality, full-color facsimiles. As replicas of the original documents, these facsimiles offer the teacher the opportunity to use primary documents in the classroom. The documents enable students to hold history in their hands and practice the historian's craft, as they consider historical evidence, form hypotheses, and draw conclusions about the petitioners and the issues that moved them to write.
  
  
  $59.95 plus $5.00 for shipping and handling (Unit #11142). To order, please call the Publications Office of the National Archives at 1-800-234-8861.
  
  
• The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809. An Educational Document Resource
  
  
  The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson uses the historical records of Congress to highlight major events Jefferson and the nation confronted at the beginning of the nineteenth century. This educational document resource features color facsimiles closely matched to original documents, giving students the opportunity to practice hands-on history as they hold and decipher facsimiles of documents nearly 200 years old. Students practice the art of historical inquiry and problem-solving, strive to place a document in time and place, and actively learn history. This publication is not currently available for purchase.