SIRS Spotlights + Challenge Quests
The pioneers of the American West were a culturally and ethnically diverse group. How many Western frontier cowboys were African American? Find out with our Challenge Quest.

African-American author and teacher Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson, who is considered to be the "Father of Black History," established the first Negro History Week in 1926. Let SIRS shine a Spotlight on this topic in February.

World Conflicts Today
Discrimination Without Borders
After the Thirteenth Amendment, abolishing slavery was passed in 1865, white people who opposed racial equality had to resort to increasingly subtle ways of asserting their power. What can we learn about discrimination against Blacks in the United States from similarly subtle discrimination against Catholics in Northern Ireland and against Indians and Blacks in Colombia?

Explore additional history-releated themes inside History Happenings, our hands-on social sciences newsletter.

Historical Newspapers
The Spanish-American War: Origins
One hundred years ago, on February 15, 1898, the USS Maine blew up in Havana (Cuba) harbor, touching off the Spanish-American War. Why was the USS Maine sent to Havana Harbor? What would motivate the U.S. to pursue a policy of Imperialism? How did the U.S benefit from the possessions it acquired through the war?

CultureGrams
Ethnic Separation in Africa
February is Black History Month. Learn how European Colonialism in the 19th century was responsible for defining borders to separate African ethnic groups, and how that has lead to many of the current conflicts in these countries.