The Bob & Marion Wilson Educator Resource Library features lesson materials developed by historians and educators to address educators’ needs for engaging, inclusive, relevant American history and civics resources. The Educator Resource library includes primary sources, multimedia content, lesson plans, and additional materials for use by teachers, students, and scholars of all ages.

Daily Life

Whether gentry, trades, enslaved, free, indigenous, middling, farmers, women, children, or adult. Use resources to learn about the diverse family lives in 18th-century Virginia.

Family Life

This collection includes resources on the various trades, including the people and the science, that helped build Williamsburg and a nation.

Historic Trades

What was “education” in colonial Virginia? Use resources about the education systems that existed - from the Bray School for enslaved children, religion, indentured, enslaved, apprenticeship, the College of William & Mary, and other forms of education.

Education

How did 18th-century people spend their down time? Resources on practices and activities that colonists brought from their cultures to colonial leisure activities and games you can try with your students to better understand life in colonial Williamsburg.

Leisure

People

Use resources about the interconnections of cultures in colonial Williamsburg and how these cultures built a nation.

Cultures

Who do you think was a nation builder in colonial Williamsburg? Use the resources to test your knowledge and teach about the diverse populations and what defines a nation builder and what they did to be a nation builder.

Nation Builders

What was life like for children in colonial Williamsburg? These resources help us to understand that the life of children was just as complex as those of adults.

Children

What was life like for girls and women in colonial Williamsburg? Use resources to understand the opportunities and challenges of diverse populations of girls and women in their daily lives.

Women

Places

The diverse population of colonial Williamsburg can be seen by the homes people lived and worked in. What could you learn by walking into someone’s home? These resources can help you learn not only about the person who lived there but also about society at large.

Family Homes

From the Capitol to churches to the Governor’s Palace to the Court House to the taverns. Use the resources to learn more about the various buildings that were used for and by the colonial government.

Government Buildings

This collection includes resources on the various trades, including the people and the science, that helped build Williamsburg and a nation.

Historic Trades

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Taverns

American Revolution

Learn about events leading up to and during the American Revolution.

Events

Read, write, review! Understanding our nation’s founding documents, from those who created them, to today’s students critically reflecting on the past, present, and future from these documents.

Founding Documents

I spy a Revolution! Men and women from all walks of life in and around Williamsburg were instrumental to the military. From primary sources to videos and lessons on spies, wars, and the daily life of a soldier.

Military

A city that is more than the deciding battle and site of the 1781 surrender for the American Revolution. A major trade city for the economy of colonial America, use resources to explore why Yorktown was important to the British as much of the colonies before and during the Revolution.

Yorktown

History in Practice

Go behind the scenes and under the ground to learn how archaeology helps us learn about the buildings, people, and events of colonial Williamsburg. Learn how to incorporate archaeology practices into your lessons.

Archaeology

What can a structure tell us about the past and how people lived? Delve into resources on architecture, engineering, and history to understand the importance of architecture in learning about 18th-century societies.

Architecture

From how to use portraits, maps, newspapers, original buildings, and much more; access our primary sources and lessons from across Colonial Williamsburg to connect our past, present, and future.

Primary Sources

Be a detective! Studying and researching history is like being a detective, or putting together a jigsaw puzzle without the picture, or even a treasure seeker. Use resources on how history is researched in Colonial Williamsburg. Meet historical interpreters and how they study to portray a person from the past.

Research Methods

Teacher Institute & Conference Resources

Whether you have participated in one of our Teacher Institute sessions, plan on participating in the future, or are just looking for education materials; these materials are from many of our programs that are for you to use in your lesson plans as well as enhance your understanding of our education offerings. For more information on the Teacher Institute and its programs, visit <a href="https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/teach" target="_blank">https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/teach</a>

Teacher Institute Program Materials

Presentations and learning materials from staff across Colonial Williamsburg. Use these resources to deepen your knowledge of colonial Williamsburg and the interconnections from our Teacher Institute programs to your own resources.

Conference Resources

More Resources

Explore additional resources to expand teaching, learning, and interests of colonial Williamsburg and other historical sites and events.

More Resources

Explore the community of Williamsburg through this animated series of videos entitled “What the Huzzah is That?” Designed for early grade-schoolers, each video & corresponding lesson plan highlight a different facet of 18th-century community life, encouraging children to think about and find relevance in their communities today.

What the Huzzah is That?