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Linda Muller

Smithsonian Learning Lab Coordinator
Smithsonian Institution, Heinz History Center
Primary (5 to 8 years old), Elementary (9 to 12 years old), Middle School (13 to 15 years old), Adults, Post-Secondary
Language Arts And English, Science, Social Studies, Arts, Other
Hello, I am one of the Smithsonian Learning Lab Program Coordinators based in Pittsburgh, PA. My professional interests are focused on instructional technology and computer-based learning. I am also fascinated by history as it's presented in primary and secondary resources.

Linda Muller's collections

 

Sandwich Anyone?

The sandwich is arguably a mainstay of the American diet. This collection depicts a variety of sandwiches through drawings, photographs, sculpture, and advertisements. It is intended to be a fun exercise for students to experience by discussing the history and appeal of the sandwich using resources from the Smithsonian's collections.
Linda Muller
20
 

Frank Lloyd Wright

A collection of resources depicting some of the designs of famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright.
Linda Muller
19
 

Libyan Rock Art

This collection contains images of rock-art of the Wadi al-Ajal, in the Fezzan region of south-west Libya. Several hundred engravings have so far been identified here. This rich concentration of rock-art spans the phase from at least 7 000 years ago until the present - a critical period of time which encompasses major transitions in human economy, culture and ideology from hunting and gathering to raising livestock, then to agriculture and more recently to industrialization. Rock-art provides fascinating evidence of how human groups were living during this period, what their relationships with their environment were and what they considered of importance and value. Because rock-art is deliberately placed at specific locations in the landscape, a powerful relationship can often exist between rock-art sites and natural landscape features.
Linda Muller
13
 

Moments in History: Discovery

This is a topical collection of objects that represent significant moments in history. What event is behind each object? Who does the object belong to? Why is the object significant?
Linda Muller
14
 

Salem Witch Trials

The witchcraft trials in Salem, Massachusetts, during the 1690s have been a blot on the history of America, a country which has since come to pride itself on the concepts of free speech and justice as well as on its religious principles. Guilt by association, unconfirmed testimony, judges blinded by their biases, and individuals determined to use the system of justice when no evidence of a crime existed. These kinds of social or political problems did not go away with the completion of those trials. U.S. Senator Joseph R. McCarthy's relentless determination to find un-American citizens and communists in all areas of American life in the early 1950s prompted Arthur Miller to write The Crucible, a play about the Salem witch trials as an allegory to McCarthyism. The play no doubt prompted the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1956 to subpoena Miller for questioning, but Miller refused to cooperate when asked to identify writers who had once been communists. Richard H. Rovere calls Miller, "the leading symbol of the militant, risk-taking conscience" of that time. Learning Goals - student will: Understand that in 17th Century New England, people were persecuted for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Examine the allegations and offer alternatives to witchcraft that might explain people's behaviors. Read and comprehend Arthur Miller's, "The Crucible" to make connections to and comment on 20th Century examples of people being persecuted for allegedly being Communists during the McCarthy Era of the 1950s.
Linda Muller
24
 

Bloody Sunday: A March for Freedom

Sunday morning, March 7, 1965, several hundred protesters gathered in Selma Alabama planning to march to Montgomery in the hopes of obtaining federal protection for a voting rights statute. As the group, led by John Lewis and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, approached the Edmund Pettus Bridge they were blocked by Alabama State Troopers and local police. The confrontation turned violent after law enforcement ordered the protesters to turn around and when they didn't comply they were assaulted with tear gas and beaten with billy clubs resulting in more than 50 people being hospitalized. Key terms: Civil Rights Civil Rights Movement
Linda Muller
20
 

Little Rock Nine: the integration of Central High School

In a key event of the American Civil Rights Movement, nine black students enrolled at formerly all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, in September 1957, testing a landmark 1954 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation in public schools unconstitutional. The court had mandated that all public schools in the country be integrated “with all deliberate speed” in its decision related to the groundbreaking case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. On September 4, 1957, the first day of classes at Central High, Governor Orval Faubus of Arkansas called in the state National Guard to bar the black students’ entry into the school. Later in the month, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent in federal troops to escort the “Little Rock Nine” into the school, and they started their first full day of classes on September 25. Source: Staff, History.com. "Integration of Central High School." History.com. A&E Network. 2010. Web. 5 Aug 2016.
Linda Muller
13
 

Manifest Destiny

This collection is comprised of only two resources. It is designed to help students' deepen their analyses of these resources to understand the abstract concept of Manifest Destiny.
Linda Muller
3
 

Analysis of Resources in a Learning Lab Collection - Teacher Workshop on August 10, 2016

This collection contains two resources - a broadside and a screen print. Think about how you would use them to deepen your students' comprehension of a particular historical era and how you would use them within your instructional cycle.
Linda Muller
4