Jim Crow and Its Impact on African Americans
2026-11-12 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Ada, OK, Ada, OK, United States
This seminar will focus on the roots of Jim Crow in the late 19th century. What was the catalyst for Jim Crow legislation? How did the laws and customs of Jim Crow get firmly established? How was it defended by its supporters? How was it attacked by civil rights advocates and how did African Americans respond to the systematic discrimination of Jim Crow? Join us for a deep dive into documents that describe what C. Vann Woodward called, “The Strange Career of Jim Crow.”
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, with the Professor facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants , therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions.

The Constitutional Convention
2026-11-13 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Enid, OK, Enid, OK, United States
This seminar offers an overview of the debates at the Constitutional Convention. We will examine the purposes of the American political order, the defects of the Articles of Confederation, the debates over the reform of the Confederation government and squaring the institution of slavery. In our study, we will attempt to understand the interests and principles that divided the members of the Convention and how they arrived at a compromise that defined the Constitution of 1787.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with Professor Estes facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

LBJ: Lessons in Presidential Transitions
2026-11-13 18:00 - 2026-11-15 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Austin, TX, TX, United States
This seminar explores the presidential transition initiated by the assassination of President Kennedy and how President Johnson responded in his first year in office in terms of policy and executive leadership. The seminar will cover Johnson’s first week in office and the flurry of actions he took to transition the government from his predecessor to his own, before he moved to shape policy in a number of key areas during his first year in office. The individual seminars are as follows:

A Truncated Transition: From Dallas to Washington
LBJ and the Civil Rights Act
LBJ and Vietnam
LBJ and Voting Right
Stepping Down: Lessons from LBJ’s Withdrawal from the 1968 Race

Discussion Leader: Saladin M. Ambar
Historic Site: Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
Hotel: The University of Texas at Austin AT&T Hotel and Conference Center

Gather with a small group of teachers from around the country for three days immersed in discussion and exploration of a single topic in American history. Weekend Seminars are a free opportunity for teachers hosted near an important historical site. Teachers will prepare ahead of time for seminars by reading selected historical documents in the provided course packet. Once the seminar begins, the discussion leader guides a peer-to-peer, text-based conversation among all participants. Meals, materials, single-occupancy rooms, and historical site visits are 100% covered by Teaching American History. At the end of each course, every teacher receives a letter of participation for fifteen contact hours of continuing education and a stipend of $600 to help defray travel costs.

Jim Crow and Its Impact on African Americans
2026-11-14 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Richmond, VA, Richmond, VA, United States
This seminar will focus on the roots of Jim Crow in the late 19th century. What was the catalyst for Jim Crow legislation? How did the laws and customs of Jim Crow get firmly established? How was it defended by its supporters? How was it attacked by civil rights advocates and how did African Americans respond to the systematic discrimination of Jim Crow? Join your colleagues for a deep dive into documents that describe what C. Vann Woodward called, “The Strange Career of Jim Crow.”
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The Declaration of Independence in Crisis: Popular Sovereignty & the Kansas-Nebraska Act
2026-11-14 10:45 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online
The Declaration of Independence in Crisis: Origins of the Civil War is a live, interactive webinar series for secondary social studies teachers that centers the Declaration of Independence in the antebellum era. Through discussion of primary sources, participants will explore how its ideals fueled the debates and divisions that led to civil war and stood at the heart of the nation’s most profound test.
This webinar examines popular sovereignty and the Kansas-Nebraska Act through the lens of the Declaration of Independence and its promises of liberty and equality. Through primary sources, including the Lincoln-Douglas debates, participants will analyze how competing visions of democracy deepened sectional conflict.
Our live teacher webinars provide content-rich and interactive professional development through conversation. We’ll share a reading packet with registrants several weeks before the event and provide space for early discussion between participants. The documents, pre-seminar conversation, and questions asked in the discussion board are vital to shaping the direction of the panelists’ conversation. Audience members ask questions during the event, comment in the lively chat, and share resources and ideas.
Our online seminars meet monthly on select Saturday mornings from 10.45 am–12 pm ET. Those who remain digitally present for the duration of the conversation will receive an attendance letter from Teaching American History for 1.25 hours of professional development.

The First Three Presidents
2026-11-19 09:00 - 14:45 (America/New_York) | Jasper, IN, Jasper, IN, United States
The presidencies of George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson established precedents and dealt with issues of executive power. This seminar will examine documents from the Washington, Adams and Jefferson administrations including topics like the Alien and Sedition Acts and the Louisiana Purchase.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The Declaration of Independence in Crisis: The Election of 1860 & Secession
2026-12-12 10:45 - 12:00 (America/New_York) | Online
The Declaration of Independence in Crisis: Origins of the Civil War is a live, interactive webinar series for secondary social studies teachers that centers the Declaration of Independence in the antebellum era. Through discussion of primary sources, participants will explore how its ideals fueled the debates and divisions that led to civil war and stood at the heart of the nation’s most profound test.
This final session examines the election of 1860 and the secession crisis through the breakdown of consensus around the Declaration of Independence and its founding ideals. Through primary sources, participants will analyze how political conflict over liberty and equality culminated in disunion.
Our live teacher webinars provide content-rich and interactive professional development through conversation. We’ll share a reading packet with registrants several weeks before the event and provide space for early discussion between participants. The documents, pre-seminar conversation, and questions asked in the discussion board are vital to shaping the direction of the panelists’ conversation. Audience members ask questions during the event, comment in the lively chat, and share resources and ideas.
Our online seminars meet monthly on select Saturday mornings from 10.45 am–12 pm ET. Those who remain digitally present for the duration of the conversation will receive an attendance letter from Teaching American History for 1.25 hours of professional development.

African American Women: Gender & Equality
2027-02-06 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Vancouver) | San Anselmo, CA, San Anselmo, CA, United States
This seminar will examine the lives of African American women from Reconstruction through the latter twentieth century. Using primary source materials from leading African American female intellectuals, activists, and organizations, we will concentrate on African American women’s experiences in politics, the workplace, race and social movements, and on historical debates about men and women’s private and public roles in society. We will explore the diverse ways that African American women have engaged with questions on human and gender equality, equity, and “rights” broadly defined. Some topics covered may include Reconstruction and Jim Crow, Suffrage, Domestic labor movements, religion and civic organizing, the civil rights movement, and the U.S. Women’s Movement.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

The First Amendment
2027-02-06 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Sarasota, FL, 5401 Bay Shore Rd, Sarasota, FL, United States
The First Amendment defines and shapes America by guaranteeing five core freedoms: Religious Liberty, Freedom of Speech and Press along with the Right to Peaceably Assemble and Redress Grievances of our Government. These few words create a unique civic identity built on individual conscience, democratic accountability, and limits state censorship or intrusion. This seminar will explore the theory, practice and Supreme Court cases that have defined the limits of the Constitution’s First Amendment.
This program will be conducted as a Socratic discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

Lincoln and Shakespeare
2027-02-19 08:30 - 14:15 (America/Chicago) | Enid, OK, Enid, OK, United States
From a young age Abraham Lincoln was a voracious reader, especially of the writings of William Shakespeare. He was known to carry a worn-out pocket-sized copy of Macbeth while law circuit riding and later campaigning. Why was Lincoln so interested in Macbeth, a play about tyranny? Join us as we consider Shakespeare passages, writings of Lincoln, and other documents to see what they can teach us about the threat tyranny poses to selfgovernment.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with Professor Tucker facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Women in American History
2027-03-04 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Charlestown, IN, Charlestown, IN, United States
Women’s political, social, and economic status has undergone several transformations in American history. This seminar will explore readings and documents in those stages: Women of Reform and Revolution, Women in the Progressive Era and Voting Booths and Is Suffrage Enough – the Lasting Impact.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.

Women in American History
2027-03-13 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Richmond, VA, Richmond, VA, United States
Women’s political, social, and economic status has undergone several transformations in American history. This seminar will explore readings and documents in those stages: Women of Reform and Revolution, Women in the Progressive Era and Voting Booths and Is Suffrage Enough – the Lasting Impact.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

The American Founding
2027-03-16 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Frankton, IN, Frankton, IN, 46044, United States
This seminar offers an overview of the principles of the American Founding and the documents that embody them, especially the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution. These principles will be illuminated through a close study of the events of the American Revolution and the debates on the ratification of the Constitution.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

The Legislative Branch
2027-03-18 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Greenville, OH, 5279 Education Dr., Greenville, OH, 45331, United States
Learn about the evolution of Congress in this documents-based Seminar. The documents will explore the major issues and concerns over congressional representation at the Constitutional Convention, the powers of Congress, the balance of those powers between the States and federal government and will conclude with Congress and the modern administrative state.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. All attendees will receive a Letter of Attendance at the end of the seminar.

WWII on the Homefront
2027-04-24 08:30 - 14:15 (America/New_York) | Buffalo, NY, NY, 14216, United States
Although the farm sector had struggled in the 1920s, the United States had enjoyed eight years of unprecedented prosperity under as the 1928 presidential race drew to a close. Seven months after the new president, Herbert Hoover took office, the stock market crashed. After two weeks, it recovered somewhat, but then began a long-term decline, as the American economy fell into what became known as the Great Depression. Economists still debate what broader effect the stock market crash had on the American economy and why the Great Depression was so severe and so prolonged. This seminar will examine this long-standing debate using by examining the history of the Great Depression in the words of the policymakers of the era.
This program will be conducted as a discussion, utilizing primary source documents as the only readings, and with the Discussion Leader facilitating the conversation, instead of lecturing or presenting. Registrants, therefore, are highly encouraged to read all the documents in advance and come ready with questions. Teachers will receive a Letter of Attendance at the conclusion of the seminar.
