Educators & Students
The National Archives is an invaluable resource for learners of all ages and interests.
DocsTeach
DocsTeach provides students and teachers with access to thousands of primary sources covering a wide variety of civic and historical topics. Teachers can discover and create online activities that help illustrate abstract civic concepts through real-life examples from the holdings of the National Archives. With hands-on access to primary sources and analysis techniques, students will form a connection to historical evidence, and deepen their understanding of the past and our nation’s founding principles.
Individual Visits
All of the exhibits and research rooms at National Archives locations and Presidential libraries are open to the public during posted hours. Researchers age 14 and under must receive permission from the Research Center Branch Chief and be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
The National Archives in Washington, DC, and New York City have learning centers that are available to anyone who stops by, in addition to scheduled school visits.
Group Visits
The National Archives offers a variety of hands-on, document-based activities for students of all ages in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Boston, and New York City. In addition, each of the Presidential libraries offers a range of opportunities for school visits.
Not located in one of these cities? The Archives’ education staff also offers free distance learning/videoconferencing programs that feature historical documents, images, maps, posters, and other federal records for grades K-12, as well as professional development opportunities for teachers.
National History Day
The National Archives and the National Archives Foundation support National History Day by providing resources for student research, workshops, and other assistance to help teachers introduce NHD topics to their students. The Archives also helps administer the Washington, DC, program, in part by hosting the regional finals at the Archives facility in College Park, MD. The Foundation also funds the national contest registration fees for qualifying DC students to ensure full local participation at the NHD finals.
Throughout the school year, the National Archives offers several National History Day workshops for teachers and students around the country. In the Boeing Learning Center in Washington, DC, student workshops are dedicated to one of the five contest categories: exhibits, performance, website, research paper, and documentary. During these workshops, students receive personalized attention and assistance from Archives professionals, including curators, researchers, archivists, and online content creators.
National History Day is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation.
Professional Development for Teachers
Regular workshops are held at the National Archives at Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, MO, and New York City, as well as at Presidential libraries.
