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.

Saugus Iron Works

Field & Web
Resources

Find out more about teaching American History in Essex County.

Find out more here.

Old Burial Salem class

Lesson
Plans

Created by Essex County teachers using local resources.

Find out more here.

Washington commission

Primary
Resources

Documents using local American History sources.

Click here.

  • Updates: Next workshop at National Archives in Waltham in February, 2010..


Educators from across Essex County participate in hands on lessons designed to help teach American History topics

Connecting Essex LINCs

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Primary Resources

Primary Sources Connected to 2008 Summer Institute Workshops

This is a page designed to help you locate local Essex County resources. They are linked to lessons which were created especially for the Essex LINCs seminars. You can access the lesson plans on the Lesson Plans page. Primary Sources listed here were located by our museum educator, Rebecca Zimmerman. Please contact us if you have any comments or questions regarding these documents.

(All images link to .pdf files)

July, 2008 Summer Institute Workshop
National Archives & Record Administration, Waltham, Mass.

The documents and links contained on this page are used to help Essex County teachers explore historical links to their communities. Specific pages were developed from information contained in Town and City Seals of Massachusetts:Presenting the Official Seals of Some of the Town and Cities of Massachusetts, Together with Brief Historical Sketches and Local Anecdotes, which was published by the Salem Street Trust Co. in 1950.

Information used in the "Seals from the National to the Local" lesson....from the U.S. Department of State

  • .pdf brochure which gives information on the history and present use of the Great Seal of the United States
  • This document gives a detailed account of the origin and present uses of the Great Seal. It includes a timeline, drawings of various configurations of the seal and the instances when the seal is used today. For older students this is a valuable text resource and for younger students, teacher-read excerpts could help to "flesh out" information needed for this lesson.

Documents ...based on information from the pamphlets Town and City Seals of Massachusetts: Presenting the Official Seals of Some of the Town and Cities of Massachusetts, Together with Brief Historical Sketches and Local Anecdotes

  • Information on Local City Seals - Andover, N. Andover, Ipswich, Peabody & Rockport
  • This set of documents shows a sampling of information taken from the above text. Each page includes the information about the city seal and the choice of symbols to represent that community. These particular communities are included because they are towns of schools of the first cohort of teachers. Other communities examined by our teachers include; Amesbury, Beverly, Essex, Gloucester, Salem, Wenham and Hamilton. Check your local Massachusetts library for this useful book.
  • Information on the State Seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
  • This page from the above cited text gives information on the adoption and symbolism of the Massachusetts State Seal.

Additional teacher resources ...from Ben's Guide to US Government for Kids - US Symbols "The Great Seal"

  • Symbols of US Government; The Great Seal of the United States
  • This site maintained by the government printing office contains many "kid-friendly" links. Check out the resources here for the Great Seal!

Click here to return to the Main Primary Resources page