ACTIVITY TITLE: PAPER TRAILS


SUBJECT AREAS: American History, Language


YOUR INVESTIGATION:


We all leave trails of our existence. Archaeologists study the garbage of ancient peoples to learn of their lives. Historians study a variety of paper documents, from a packing slip, to a diary page, to a formal speech. You are leaving a paper trail of your own that will be able to be researched in the future.
Locate some famous "paper trails" and find out what these documents say about American life during that time.
Share this with your classmates, along with two documents of your own "paper trail". What will they tell historians of the future about you? (e.g. report card)


QUESTIONS TO GUIDE YOU:

1. What does Eleanor Roosevelt's note of resignation from the D.A.R. tell us about the problems of the time?
   
2. What effect did the Louisiana Purchase have on the lives of the people of that era?
   
3. How does the 19th amendment affect you directly?
   
4. How would you go about preserving your own paper trail?
   
   
   

SITE TO SEARCH:


http://www.nara.gov/exhall/originals/original.html



Activity created by Joan Berger
Internet Educational Consultant
jberger5@concentric.net