Resource Library
Find compelling classroom resources, learn new teaching methods, meet standards, and make a difference in the lives of your students.
We are grateful to The Hammer Family Foundation for supporting the development of our on-demand learning and teaching resources.
Introducing Our US History Curriculum Collection
Draw from this flexible curriculum collection as you plan any middle or high school US history course. Featuring units, C3-style inquiries, and case studies, the collection will help you explore themes of democracy and freedom with your students throughout the year.
Confronting Denial of the Armenian Genocide through Art
Learn how Los Angeles-area artists marked the 100 year anniversary of the Armenian Genocide.
Navigating Multiple Identities
Armenian American writer Diana Der Hovanessian reflects on how her family history influences her identity in her poem "Two Voices."
Words Matter
Reflect on the power of the words that we attach to people through an Anishinaabe woman’s memory of being called an “Indian” while growing up in Canada (Spanish available).
The Artist and His Mother by Arshile Gorky
This image, which is on the cover of Facing History's publication Crimes Against Humanity and Civilization: The Genocide of the Armenians was painted by the artist Arshile Gorky. It is based on a photograph of Gorky and his mother, Sushan der Marderosian, taken in 1912. Although Gorky is generally identified as an American artist, he was born Vosdanig Adoian near the city of Van in what was then the Ottoman Empire. A few years after the photograph was taken, Gorky and his mother were victims of the Armenian Genocide. While he survived, Gorky remembers his mother dying in his arms. As an artist Gorky returned to the subject of the 1912 photograph many times throughout his career.
United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Crime of Genocide
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, or the Genocide Convention, is an international treaty that criminalizes genocide and obligates state parties to pursue the enforcement of its prohibition.
Negotiating the Convention on the Punishment and Prevention of the Crime of Genocide
Lemkin proved himself a relentless activist. He worked tirelessly as a lobbyist, a strategist, and an agitator, in order to establish the Genocide Convention with the help of the United Nations on December 9, 1948.
International Law in the Age of Genocide
While Lemkin was able to convince diplomats at the United Nations to pass the Genocide Convention, his work was not complete upon his death. The job of lobbying governments across the world to ratify the convention was left to ordinary people.
Rohingya Refugees Arriving by Boat, 2017
Refugees arrive on the Bangladesh side of the Naf River on October 1, 2017, after fleeing their village in Myanmar.
Humanity on Trial
This reading provides background on the the Ottoman massacres and the struggle of politicians in the United States to find an appropriate response.
Seeking Civil Rights
This reading describes the efforts of Armenian people to demand civil rights in 1895.
Humanitarian Intervention
This reading details ways that Americans intervened on behalf of Ottoman Armenians.