Archives Adventure

Archives Adventure: Unlocking the Civil War for Young Historians

Dates: June 17, 2024 through August 1st (last lesson released July 29) for 6 week length

New lesson each week for a total of 6 lessons

Ages: Lessons focused on 5th through 8th grades (middle school)

Join the 11th OVC and the Research Arsenal for a 6-week virtual Civil War Archives Adventure for children ages 10 through 15! Students will be given a weekly research topic and asked to study it using the Research Arsenal database. Each week students will meet with a featured guest historian over a Zoom video call who will give a presentation on the weekly theme and answer any questions the students may have. In addition, all students will have access to a private Facebook group to interact with fellow students and the class’s featured historians.

Enrolling in the Archives Adventure program also includes free access to the Research Arsenal database for 6 months (a $72 value)! VIP enrollment includes a free swag bag with a Research Arsenal mousepad (design of your choice!), pin, and sticker!

Zoom meetings will be held on Thursday evenings at 5:00 pm MT/7:00 pm ET except where otherwise noted.

Topics for each week:

1st Week, June 17th, with Zoom on Thursday, June 20th: Introduction to Civil War research and the database and navigating database with short exercises. (Johanna Wickman & Steve Dacus)

2nd Week, June 24th, with Zoom on Monday, June 24th: “Daily Life of a Soldier”—use the database to learn what equipment soldiers carried, types of food eaten, how they stayed dry in the rain, etc.  (Brandon Lewis)

3rd Week, July 8th, with Zoom on Thursday, July 11th: “Weapons of the Civil War”—using primary records to learn about what weapons different regiments carried and how primary records can disprove myths of the war. (Bob O’Neill & Steve Dacus on Spencers in the war & post war)

4th Week, July 15th, with Zoom on Thursday, July 18th: “Pets of the war”—Just like today, pets made daily life entertaining. Use the database to research the different types of animals and mascots used by the military and families at home (Jess Craig)

5th Week, July 22nd, with Zoom on Thursday, July 25th (or Friday?): “Studying Photos”—What can you learn from a photograph? Have students look at images and find important details. Learn the value of a single image and all of the details hidden within them. (Bob Szabo)

6th Week, July 29th, with Zoom on Thursday, August 1st: “Researching a Regiment”—Last week of class. Kids should be familiar with using the database now. Let them pick a regiment to study and utilize all aspects of the database to write up a summary of the battles they participated in, weapons they carried, casualties during the war and highlights from the soldier's perspective.