Street Law Expands Curricular Offerings Through LegalTimelines.org

We are thrilled to announce the launch of LegalTimelines.org, our exciting new curricular project supported by a Library of Congress Teaching With Primary Sources (TPS) grant. 

LegalTimelines.org is an interactive, educational site designed to teach middle and high school students about the historical evolution of U.S. laws on important contemporary legal issues. 

The site currently features three timelines that take students through the legal history of suffrage, federalism, and the legal rights of the accused. Each timeline is rich with engaging and educational visuals, resources, and inquiry-based learning activities that include many primary sources from the Library of Congress’ collection. 

In addition to building important civic and legal knowledge, the resources encourage students to reflect on multiple perspectives and build empathy for experiences different from their own. 

Each timeline and its resources were developed through an extensive process that included review by DEI consultants, content experts, and a group of teachers who field tested the materials in their classrooms and offered recommendations for improvement. 

Responding to Teacher Needs 

According to a 2018^* study, students are falling short of proficiency standards in both U.S. history and civics. To turn this tide, improve student knowledge and skills, and, ultimately, strengthen American democracy, teachers need high-quality instructional materials and support to teach the materials effectively. 

LegalTimelines.org supports this need by providing content and learning materials that encourage the use of student-centered, interactive methods to teach about legal history. It also builds teacher confidence to teach about legal history and its present-day implications, while integrating primary source materials into their instruction. 

“I really appreciate the collection of primary sources and how they’ve been culled to their essence so that students can get the critical information from each source without being weighed down by weeding through vast documents to try to find the core ideas,” said a teacher about LegalTimelines.org. 

In the long term, LegalTimelines.org will help improve the way young people learn about legal history and how it impacts the present day, so that they are better equipped with the content, skills, and attitudes to be civically engaged and uphold democratic society.

Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.  

*Ladd, Jonathan M., Joshua A. Tucker, and Sean Kates. “American institutional confidence poll.” Georgetown University Baker Center McCourt School of Public Policy (2018).