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Multi-Media Lesson Plans

Historians on Lincoln: Classroom Lessons from Those who Know Lincoln Best

In this series of interviews, renowned Lincoln historians will tell stories of Abraham Lincoln’s life and presidency that draw students of all ages deep into the conflicts and anxieties of the Civil War.

Accompanying each interview are lesson plans, ranging from one to three days in length, that will allow students to look closely at artifacts and primary documents, learn about the perspective of the historian, and develop their own opinions about people and events that powerfully shaped these United States.

David Herbert Donald, Lincoln

Lesson: Lincoln as Leader, The Unlikely President

Biography: The Charles Warren Professor of American History and Professor of American Civilization Emeritus at Harvard University, David Herbert Donald is best known for his conscientious writing about the Civil War era, especially the monumental text, Lincoln (1996), a classic in American history that is a strikingly original portrait of leadership and blazing political ambition. Probably the most challenging biographical subject in American history, this enthralling biography remained on the New York Times Bestseller List for 14 weeks. In 1961, Dr. Donald received his first Pulitzer Prize for Charles Sumner and the Coming of the Civil War. Over twenty years later, infused with an important writing career, the prolific writer would win this prestigious award again for Look Homeward: A Life of Thomas Wolfe in 1988.

Jay Winik, April 1865

Lesson: Lincoln, Lee and Appomattox

Biography: New York Times best selling author Jay Winik has written the internationally revered Lincoln biography, April 1865: The Month That Saved America. Though many historians utilize a broad gamut to retell the history of the American Civil War, Winik’s superb storytelling recounts specific details that lead to Lee’s surrender at Appomattox and to the final dissolution of the Confederate Army. He takes his reader through vivid pursuits, battles and retreats between Confederate and Union soldiers.