Civic Season

Explore Congress.gov
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Library of Congress, United States
Congress.gov is the official website for U.S. federal legislative information. The site provides access to accurate, timely, and complete legislative information for Members of Congress, legislative agencies, and the public. It is presented by the Library of Congress (LOC) using data from the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Office of the Secretary of the Senate, the Government Publishing Office, Congressional Budget Office, and the LOC’s Congressional Research Service.

Freedom Summer 1964: citizens fight for their rights
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Indiana University Center on Representative Government, United States
Freedom Summer 1964 is a free digital learning tool that explores key events surrounding the early years of the Civil Rights Movement, the 1964 Mississippi voter registration drive, and the eventual passage of both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Warning Signs Videos about Lincoln, Threats to Democracy, and Freedom
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Lincoln Presidential Foundation, United States
Warning Signs: Lincoln’s Response to Rising Tensions in the 1850s features four short films that help us understand our present reality.
Explore different perspectives about an extremely polarized moment in U.S. history and what it reveals about maintaining a healthy democracy today.
The films feature three dynamic experts who focus on how polarization before the Civil War affects our current civic lives.
Together, four professors describe Lincoln’s struggle with the morality of slavery and its westward expansion, the increasingly irreversible political divide, the character of the Constitution itself, and the ultimate value and meaning of human equality.
After describing Lincoln’s views on the Constitution, they tackle questions like: “What does it mean to be a self-governing people? What are the sorts of things we need to think alike about, where we can differ on policy, but what are some building blocks of democracy and republicanism and self-government that we need to all share in order to get along?”
Dr. Lucas Morel:
“For a republic to be viable, for a republic to last, for a republic to perpetuate itself, it has to produce election after election after election. Good winners. And good losers.”
Learn how Lincoln grappled with the unprecedented crisis facing the republic, his views on self-government, and how he saw progress inspired by the Declaration of Independence but bound by the Constitution.
The resources are available to the public free of charge and include Spanish-language closed-captions.

Race: Are We So Different? – Social Stratification Virtual Exhibit
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Museum of Us, United States
The Museum of Us’ Race: Are We So Different? – Social Stratification virtual exhibit highlights how social stratification intersects with race to create significant impacts on how we experience our lives.

We the Teens: Gen Z and the Pursuit of....
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Idaho State Museum, 610 N. Julia Davis Dr., Boise, ID, 83702, United States
This exhibit is by teens, for teens! The 2022-2023 GEM High School interns created an exhibit focusing on how different Gen-Z groups in Idaho come together to create communities and change. Learn more about Gen-Z advocacy in the Gem State and how teens form communities and find support in Idaho.

Civic Empathy Exhibits
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Heinz History Center, United States
As part of the History Center’s pilot Civic Empathy Project, History Center staff worked with 15 of its Affiliates Program sites to develop exhibitions that prioritize building empathy and taking action to further civic engagement. Each site identified a relevant story from their community’s history and developed a small exhibit that demonstrates how civic action brought about positive change. The sites then linked that story to a current need in their community. By highlighting actions that address that need, they connected history to civic action, providing a way for visitors to make a difference in their communities.
Learn how these calls to action, rooted in historic precedent, demonstrate how change for the collective good can be made by active, informed, empathetic citizens.

The Constitution Primary Source Set
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Library of Congress, United States
Come explore a selection of Library of Congress primary sources dedicated to the United States Constitution. This set also includes a Teacher’s Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Watch "American Neighbor Films: Race in America"
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Interfaith America, United States
In the summer of 2020, weeks after George Floyd’s murder, The Nantucket Project assembled a diverse team of Americans who traveled the length of the Mississippi River by car stopping in small towns and big cities to host public conversations about race in America. From Minneapolis to New Orleans, locals from all walks of life came out to join the conversation—young and old, from diverse racial, political, religious and socio-economic backgrounds. The sessions weren’t scripted or staged; participants shared their unvarnished stories of challenge, pain, division and opportunity set against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic and a re-ignited racial reckoning in America. Join the journey by watching the five American Neighbor documentary films.

Test Your Knowledge of the Constitution!
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | George Washington’s Mount Vernon, United States
How much do you know about the making of the U.S. Constitution? Test your knowledge of the vocabulary, timeline of events, and the specifics of the compromises that were made during the Constitutional Convention with five quizzes on the document that outlines our system of government.
We recommend watching Mount Vernon’s 21-minute video “A More Perfect Union” before taking the quizzes.

Explore the "Race: Are We So Different?" Virtual Exhibit
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/Los_Angeles) | Museum of Us, 1350 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA, CA, 92101, United States
The Museum of Us’ “Race: Are We So Different?” virtual exhibit explains the origins of race and racism, and helps us understand how to deal with them in productive, enlightening ways. Most of what we think about race is based on myth, folklore, or assumptions unsupported by genetics or biology.

Explore the "We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist D.C." Exhibition
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | National Women’s History Museum, 901 G Street NW, Washington, DC, 20001, United States
This special exhibition traces Black feminism in Washington, D.C. from the turn of the 20th century through the civil rights and Black Power movements to today.
We Who Believe in Freedom: Black Feminist D.C. is on view on the first floor of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. as part of a groundbreaking partnership between the National Women’s History Museum and D.C. Public Library. You can also explore the exhibit virtually!
Visit the exhibition for free through September 2024, and explore online resources related the Black Feminist DC at womenshistory.org/BlackFeministDC.

Stowe House Tours
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, 77 Forest Street, Hartford, CT, 06106, United States
A 45 – 60 min tour of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s home in Hartford, CT. The tours teach about her life and literary career while blending social justice conversations that link back to her international best-selling novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin.

60-Second History Series
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Made By Us, United States
Only got a second? Explore 60-Second Histories on Instagram, hosted by Made By Us’ Cameron Katz. Follow @historymadebyus for more!

Flag Day: Citizenship in a One-Room School
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Fourth Wall Films, United States
Flag Day originated in a one-room school in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. Learn about the schoolhouse, now a National Historic Site, and how America’s early one-room schools were designed to provide basic education and to turn immigrants into American citizens.

The 1837 Ioway Map - A Native Nation and the Importance of Story and Place
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Fourth Wall Films, United States
An excerpt from “Lost Nation: The Ioway 2” focused on the Ioway Nation’s use of a hand-drawn map, depicting 200 years of tribal history, in an 1837 U.S. land claim dispute.

No Playbook - School Integration During Massive Resistance
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Albemarle Charlottesville Historical Society, United States
The story of Virginia’s Massive Resistance to Brown v. Board has been told many times. Most of those treatments focus on the political, legal, and educational aspects of desegregation. Often lost in these histories are the personal experiences of those whose lives were most immediately affected—the young people who were the first to cross previously enforced boundaries and charted new social norms.
As recently as the 1960s, most schools in the American South were racially segregated. Resistance to school desegregation in Charlottesville and Albemarle County, Virginia, continued for at least a decade more. During that time, it was not just classrooms that were changing; it was sports teams, school hallways, and communities as a whole. The oral histories of dozens of former students, many of them athletes, offer first-hand reflections of what it was like during those years of unprecedented change. How did desegregation actually take place when “there was no playbook?” Find out from those who lived it.

"The Orange Story" - Online learning resource on Japanese American forced removal and incarceration
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Full Spectrum Features, United States
“The Orange Story” is an award-winning educational online tool (film + interactive site) to learn about the forced removal of Japanese Americans from the west coast as part of Japanese American WWII incarceration history. This project is a film in four parts [total run time: 15:10] explored through an interactive website that contains primary and secondary sources, specially curated by a team of top scholars. Watch the trailer for the short film here: https://youtu.be/mgsLmjkzhyw

Essential Pieces Exhibit Talk
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | York County History Center, PA, United States
Hear from former Community Historian, Ophelia Chambliss as she discusses elements of the Essential Pieces exhibit. The Essential Pieces exhibit is a timeline that provides a fuller narrative of our community’s rich and diverse history.

Essential Pieces
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | York County History Center, PA, United States
The York County History Center believes that we can not tell our story without your story. This exhibit is the first in a series of exhibits that highlights those who have been historically excluded. Former Community Historian Ophelia Chambliss worked within the Black community to collect stories through the Share Your Story project. Her work provided a fuller narrative of our community’s rich and diverse history in the format of a timeline.

Dive Into the Making of the Constitution
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | George Washington’s Mount Vernon, United States
Explore the United States Constitution by streaming “A More Perfect Union,” a 21-minute film that explores how the deficiencies of the Articles of Confederation led to the Constitutional Convention and ultimately to the ratification of a new constitution. After watching, test your knowledge of the Constitution with quizzes and explore the ratification process using an interactive map.

What Does Justice Mean to You?
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | York County History Center, United States
Created in connection with the anniversary of the 19th Amendment being ratified, the York County History Center dives into the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement. We invite you to virtually explore the role of the Justice Bell & York County in the Women’s Suffrage Movement and learn about suffragists like Anna Dill Gamble and Etha Cowels Armstrong.

Bridging the Gap: Films on Bridging Deep Divides
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Interfaith America, United States
These Bridging the Gap films offer a variety of insights and perspectives into the hard and important work of bridgebuilding across our deepest divides. Don’t miss “Differences: A Student’s Story,” which highlights Elizabeth Stewart, an evangelical Christian student and racial justice advocate, and her transformation as she goes through the process of Bridging the Gap. Whether you watch these films on your own or with a student group, we hope they serve as a catalyst for your own bridgebuilding work on your campus and in your community.

Get to know Utah women's advocates in history!
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Better Days, UT, United States
Did you know Utah women were the first in the U.S. to vote under equal suffrage laws? Discover the stories of frontier suffragists and changemakers from every era at utahwomenshistory.org. The women’s history nonprofit group Better Days has put together a growing library of bios and articles about Utah women who’ve made history by standing up and speaking out, illustrated by Brooke Smart.

Get Ready to Vote with the History of Voting Rights
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | ActiVote, United States
Through the generations many have fought for the right to vote, whether it was the Revolutionary War to free the colonies from the British or the push for Women’s Suffrage. That fight was long. That fight was hard. And that fight is ongoing. Check out this history of voting and your role in it’s future!

Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation Podcast
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Heritage Conservation Programs, University of Southern California, United States
Why do we save places? For whom? Who decides? Heritage conservation graduate students at the University of Southern California explore these and other issues through groundbreaking research rooted in their passions and identities. Hear their stories on the award-winning podcast, Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation. You’ll learn about legacy businesses in immigrant neighborhoods, sites of racial violence and havens of substance use recovery, fictional history and acoustic heritage, and so much more. You’ll also hear how alums are transforming what we know as “historic preservation” into a people-centered practice that works for everyone. Listen at saveas.place or wherever you get your podcasts, and connect with us @saveasnextgen on Instagram.

The Round Table Podcast Playlists
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Next Generation Politics / YVote, United States
The Round Table is a weekly youth-run podcast from Next Generation Politics/YVote, a youth civic engagement nonprofit. The podcast provides a platform for conversation and engagement of civically-minded young people from different parts of the country and strives to model civil dialogue across various divides—socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, political, and regional. We aim to challenge norms and represent all kinds of diversity—especially of perspective and ideas—enabling listeners to “hear” our thinking. These curated playlists offer listeners a selection of episodes around civic learning, bridging divides, and youth voting. The Round Table is 100% created and edited by young people committed to building a more just and joyous world.

Interactive exhibit "The Four Freedoms: Real and Imagined"
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | America’s National Churchill Museum, 501 Westminster Ave., Fulton, MO, 65251, United States
In the January 1941 State of the Union Address, President Franklin D. Roosevelt identified “Four Freedoms,” essential human rights that should be universally protected: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. American artist Norman Rockwell later illustrated these rights as aspects of daily American life. Rockwell’s paintings were mass-produced on magazine covers and propaganda posters to promote the war effort, becoming the face of the Four Freedoms.
“The Four Freedoms: Real and Imagined” explores and contextualizes the Four Freedoms by comparing the ideals depicted by Rockwell with people’s actual experiences in the United States during World War II.
You’re invited to step inside a recreation of the dining room of Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” image and re-imagine the scene.
This exhibition was conceived, curated, and installed by Westminster College Museum Studies students.

Greater Than: A Personal Finance Self-Discovery Guide for Immigrant Daughters
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | Greater Than, United States
Greater Than, a personal finance self-discovery zine that takes a trauma-informed, value-driven approach to money management, is for immigrant daughters, created by an immigrant daughter. The first issue of the zine offers value exercises, an exploration of financial trauma, and an introduction to the concept of collective care. This zine may be particularly helpful for women who are first-generation college students and recent graduates.

Revolutionary York Walking Tour
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | York County History Center, 250 East Market St, York, PA, 17401, United States
Travel back to the 18th Century as you walk through Downtown York to locations connected to our Founding Fathers. This walking tour expands upon the beginning of the United States as the government we know today. Highlights of the tour include the site of the original Colonial Courthouse where the 2nd Continental Congress resided for 9 months, site of the temporary treasury, and more.

A guide: Speaking Out to Strengthen the Guardrails of Democracy
2026-05-09 16:02 (America/New_York) | The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law Divided Community Project and Ohio State University Mershon Center for International Security Studies, United States
This guide provides background and offers promising ideas for those willing to speak out the strengthen the guardrails of democracy. It identifies the societal forces that have made the nation’s democracy vulnerable, the markers of a slide from a democracy to an autocracy, suggestions for countering these markers, and promising avenues for communicating in the midst of the information fog. It includes a four-page checklist for speaking out and illustrations of people speaking out constructively.
