National Museum of American History: You Be the Historian
In this age of “use it once and throw it away,” you might be interested in looking at primary sources, in this case utensils and documents, to find out what life was like for a family in Delaware 200 years ago. Click on the clues, think about what the object might be, and then check your answer. A description of the object is given and additional questions ask you to think about your life now compared to the Springer family in the early 1800s. After you’ve made your observations, you can read conclusions historians have made about life at that time based on the sources you have just investigated. Teachers can print out a questionnaire for future historians based on the information on the site. A great way to bring history alive.
americanhistory.si.edu/kids/springer/
Tagged artifacts, primary sources, Site of the Day
