Becoming US: The Immigrant Experience through Primary Sources

FAIN: ES-267130-19

Historical Society of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA 19107-5699)
Beth A. Twiss-Houting (Project Director: February 2019 to October 2020)
Mariruth Leftwich (Project Director: October 2020 to March 2022)
Justina Barrett (Project Director: March 2022 to January 2026)

A one-week institute for 30 K-12 teachers to study U.S. immigration history through archival collections in Philadelphia.

The Historical Society of Pennsylvania seeks a grant of $81,621 to develop and implement a one-week summer institute for 30 educators (grades 6-12) with the goal of introducing them to archival research and providing them with strategies for using primary source materials to build lesson plans within their social studies and civics education curriculum. Titled Becoming U.S., the institute will focus on broad themes of immigration and its complexities throughout American history, placing lessons about the past within historical and contemporary contexts. Pennsylvania was a critical port of entry in the 18th century as the colonies grew into a young nation. The institute will simultaneously engage the teachers with HSP’s renowned archival collections that document the stories of our nation’s past immigrant groups and their experiences while delving into how to use these stories and collections to make social studies curriculum more effective.