Social Studies Story Briefs

How do we make a "sound judgment" in a culturally diverse society? How do we know the best path to follow in an interdependent world? These stories, based on social-studies, help us to understand that personal and environmental relationships impact our lives and our world.

Richmond, Virginia was an important town for Edgar Allan Poe.

Known for the musical word rhythms which he created, Poe is often-called one of America's greatest poets.

Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph on the 21st of November, 1877 - and - we can hear it. The clip is the first "listenable" piece...

Edward Coke, a leading 17th-century jurist and expert on Common Law, wrote a series of works about the topic between 1628 and 1644.

An effigy on the tomb of Edward of Woodstock, the first Prince of Wales who was also known as The Black Prince, gives us a glimpse of how he appeared ...

Although he was a pacifist, who despised war, Albert Einstein also realized that if Hitler and his scientists were the first to discover how to build ...

This image depicts the second page of a letter - from Albert Einstein to President Roosevelt - which changed the world.

After South Carolina rejoined the Union, African-American males could vote. More blacks were involved in government in South Carolina than in any othe...

A voice for the voiceless, Elie Wiesel died July 2, 2016. "The opposite of love is not hate, but indifference," is one of his memorable lines.

When Princess Elizabeth (played in this scene from Elizabeth R by Glenda Jackson) was imprisoned at the Tower of London - implicated in Wyatt's rebell...

In the fall of 1562, Elizabeth I (played by Glenda Jackson in this clip from Elizabeth R) became desperately ill with smallpox.

Ellis Island, located in New York Harbor, served as a port of entry - between 1892-1954 - for millions of European immigrants hoping for a new life in...

Show tooltips