For Educators

The Gilder Lehrman Institute offers professional development and resources to assist teachers in their classrooms. The Institute has pioneered new models of history schools and programs, with proven success in improving academic achievement.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

• Teacher Seminars: Learn in-depth content knowledge around specific US history topics and themes. Led by historians and Gilder Lehrman Master Teacher Fellows. More>>
• Online Courses: Audit or earn graduate credit for individual courses or for an MA in Humanities with a US History Emphasis—on your schedule. More>>
• Self-Paced Courses: Graduate-level courses by eminent historians available to watch or listen to at your own time and pace. More>>

TEACHING LITERACY THROUGH HISTORY

• Teaching Literacy through History™ (TLTH) is a professional development program that trains educators to deliver rigorous instruction that develops students’ reading, writing, and analytical skills as emphasized by the Common Core State Standards through the use of historical texts and primary source documents. More>>
• Teaching with Documents: Using Primary Sources in the Classroom: A self-paced online course with instructional videos and lesson plans for teachers of grades 6–12. More >>

SCHOOL PROGRAMS

• Affiliate School Program - Join our free program to get access to educational resources, events, and tools designed to bring American history to life in the classroom. More>>

ONLINE RESOURCES

• AP US History Study Guide aligned with the new AP US History Exam, features videos, timelines, primary sources, essays, and more.
• SAT US History Study Guide provides a detailed video overview, interactive timeline, study cards, and other resources for in-depth study for every time period.
• Digital Literacy for Teachers and Students provides short videos on how to use digital tools to create innovative presentations of historical text, images, and maps.
• Interactive Features
  • Explore Why Documents Matter: An Interactive Digital Edition, our annotated, online version of Why Documents Matter: American Originals and the Historical Imagination, Selections from the Gilder Lehrman Collection.
  • Experience a soldier’s life through letters home from the American Revolution to the Persian Gulf War.
  • Explore propaganda posters of the 1940s and World War II.
  • Ride with the Freedom Riders and experience their journey through the South.
  • View American elections throughout out history in our Electing a President Interactive Timeline.
• History by Era contains our historical content, organized by time period, with resources ranging from essays and videos by award-winning historians to featured primary sources with historical introductions, transcripts, and images. Learn how to navigate the History by Era section here.
• Additional primary sources in the Gilder Lehrman Collection. Put your own search terms in the box in the left column here and select the filters for era, theme, or object type.