Primary
Resources
Documents using local American History sources.
Click here.
Essex LINCs (Local History In a National Context)
is a three year project designed to connect Essex County elementary teachers with local primary source material to make their social studies lessons more relevant and exciting.
Find out more about teaching American History in Essex County.
Click here.
Created by Essex County teachers using local resources.
Click here.
Documents using local American History sources.
Click here.

Educators from across Essex County participate in hands on lessons designed to help teach American History topics
Connecting Essex LINCs
Promote Your Page Too
Information on this page is here for access by participants in the Essex LINCs program.
These templates are for the activities that teachers have developed to extend or support the main lessons from the workshops conducted during the school year.
Lesson plans developed by the museum educator, Rebecca Zimmerman, and Essex County teachers can be accessed through the Lesson Plans page. They are linked directly to the primary resources found here.
A hotlist of web resources is in process... until then please consider these web links.
This section includes information pertaining to workshops and seminars for Essex LINCs. We have a space limit of 25 teachers for each cohort. At present we have filled our fall 2009 cohort. For more information concerning seminars, please contact: Rebecca Zimmerman at essexlincs@gmail.com or Bethany Jay at bjay@salemstate.edu
“Local History in a National Context”
Thursday, February 25th, 2010
National Archives – Waltham, MA.
Salem State College Professors Brad Austin and Bethany Jay use the National Archives’ incredible American history resources to show teachers how broad political, social, and cultural movements are reflected in the stories of local towns and cities. After this discussion, teachers have the opportunity to examine a variety of federal records from the National Archives’ vast collection, which they can use in their own activities. The lesson connected to this seminar is an introduction to using primary source material and involves an eagle concentration game, geography location activity, and triangle trade focus.
due date for activities; March 12th
“Governing in New England and the United States”
Saturday, March 20th, 2010
Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA
Teachers partiipate in a discussion of the political development of government in New England and the United States from the colonial era through the ratification of the Constitution. Educators then consider local architecture associated with governmental buildings and the social implications of this visible construction. A simple math lesson shows how social studies can be linked to other disciplines.
due date for activities; April 3rd
“Working in New England and the United States”
Saturday, April 10th, 2010
Lawrence Heritage State Park, Lawrence, MA
Professors Austin and Jay discuss how labor in New England changed from the home-based industry of the colonies through the region’s maritime heyday and on into the industrial era. Following this discussion, the seminar focuses on the Industrial Revolution in Essex County as teachers are introduced to an array of classroom-ready resources contrasting life on a farm with mill workers' experiences in the Merrimac Valley during the late 19th century.
due date for activities; April 24th
“Populating New England and the United States”
Thursday May 6th, 2010
Andover Public Library & the Andover Historical Society, Andover, MA
The residents of New England and the United States are the focus of this seminar as changes in the region’s population from the colonial through the Civil War era are discussed. Educators will be provided with a variety of artifacts and documents which directly relate to residents of local communities. The lesson will focus on how to tell the story of their experiences as well as interweave local and national history.
due date for activities; May 20th
There will be 2 summer institutes for participants from any of the previous cohorts. The themes will be "Working" and "Populating". Institute participants must have taken part in a workshop series prior to the summer, complete an application and be accepted. Orientation sessions for these institutes will be held in late May.The institutes will be held during the first two full weeks of July. Further information can be found here closer to the summer months.