OpenStax textbook, 2014, "U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender." Online, PDF, and ebook formats. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Boundless course content hosted on Lumen Learning. Modules range from "Ancient America Before 1492" to "America in the 21st Century." Online and EPUB formats. Instructor resources include quiz files and lecture slides. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - ShareAlike) license.
“Balancing academic rigor with popular readability, The American Yawp offers a multi-layered, democratic alternative to the American past.” and “Without losing sight of politics and power, it incorporates transnational perspectives, integrates diverse voices, recovers narratives of resistance, and explores the complex process of cultural creation.” Online, PDF, and print formats available. CC BY SA (Attribution - Share Alike) license.
Bay College textbook, organized into 11 chapters. Heavily incorporates The American Yawp text with additional text and resources. PDF format. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Bay College textbook, organized into 12 units. Heavily incorporates The American Yawp, with additional content. PDF format. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license
"This text comes almost entirely from OpenStax U.S. History, but is supplemented with primary source readings from The American Yawp Reader. There are other minor additions and enhancements made by Lumen Learning or other faculty." Online course with PDF download option, as well as PowerPoints and assignments. Course overall has CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution), but individual page content may have different or additional licenses.
"This text comes almost entirely from OpenStax U.S. History, but is supplemented with primary source readings from The American Yawp Reader. There are other minor additions and enhancements made by Lumen Learning or other faculty." Online course with PDF download option, as well as PowerPoints and assignments. Course overall has CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution), but individual page content may have different or additional licenses.
Developed by Gordon State College, 2019, this textbook "contains all modular text content used in the LMS implementation of their American History I (HIST 2111) courses. American History 1 covers topics ranging from the colonial period to the Civil War." Includes lecture slides and primary source documents. PDF and editable Word formats. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Version of Saylor's "A History of the United States Vol. 2 " OER text, hosted on the LibreTexts platform, which provides additional formats: PDF, print book files, LMS cartridge, and zip file formats (click the blue "Download" button in the top right). Organized into 13 main chapters. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Online textbook of American history organized into history eras from "The First Americans" to "The 21st Century." Also browsable by topic. Incorporates active learning. Not strictly open but educational use and linking encouraged. On Copyright page, states “Teachers are expressly given permission to reproduce print copies of Digital History materials for their courses as long as Digital History is credited and the Digital History copyright remains on each page that is printed.”
Course developed by SBCTC. Utilizes Digital History site, linked above, as main textbook, plus folder of assignments + activities, etc. Arranged in Google Docs folders. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Three online textbooks, including U.S. History, American Government, and Ancient Civilizations. Each page includes vocabulary words and links for more info on the side. Each textbook has a CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Georgia Galileo project, 2013. "This textbook examines U.S. History from before European Contact through Reconstruction, while focusing on the people and their history. Prior to its publication, History in the Making underwent a rigorous double blind peer review, a process that involved over thirty scholars who reviewed the materially carefully, objectively, and candidly in order to ensure not only its scholarly integrity but also its high standard of quality. This book provides a strong emphasis on critical thinking about US History." 17 chapters. PDF format. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Created by history professor, 2019. " This text surveys findings of the new field of Environmental History about how the environment of the Americas influenced the actions of people here and how people affected their environments, from prehistory to the present." Organized into 15 chapters. Online, digital PDF, print PDF, and editable OpenDocument formats. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Instructor resources freely available upon verified log-in. Includes PowerPoint slides, instructor answer guide, supplemental test items, and two Canvas course cartridge options.
A documentary companion to the American Yawp textbook, with primary source readings for both Volume I (before 1877) and Volume II (after 1877). CC BY SA (Attribution - Share Alike) license with public domain readings.
“Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) Primary Source Sets are designed to help students develop critical thinking skills by exploring topics in history, literature, and culture through primary sources. Drawing online materials from libraries, archives, and museums across the United States, the sets use letters, photographs, posters, oral histories, video clips, sheet music, and more. Each set includes a topic overview, ten to fifteen primary sources, links to related resources, and a teaching guide.” CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
"Information dedicated to preserving, educating, and sharing the story of World War II-era incarceration of Japanese Americans in order to deepen understandings of American history and inspire action for equity." CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike) license.
Extensive educational resources about American history and memory, including primary source sets, lesson plans, themed resources, and presentations & activities. Public domain.
Google Doc created by Saylor Academy that icludes open texts, audio-video lectures, and supplementary sites for both World and American history. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Online textbook about American history, with several sections devoted to Film and history through film. Not strictly open but educational use and linking encouraged.
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2010
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. "A survey of the narrative feature film from the 1920s to the present. The book focuses on 170 of the most highly regarded and recognized feature films selected by the Hollywood establishment: each Oscar winner for Best Picture, as well as those voted the greatest by members of the American Film Institute."
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2018
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. "[D]ocuments the diversity and longevity of local film production and examines how itinerant filmmakers responded to industry changes to keep sponsors and audiences satisfied. From town pride films in the 1910s to Hollywood knockoffs in the 1930s, local films captured not just images of local people and places but also ideas about the function and meaning of cinema that continue to resonate today."
Call Number: Online
Publication Date: 2018
Tip: You may need to log in with your portal credentials to view this e-book. "[A] collection of practical, classroom-ready lesson ideas that might bridge gaps between theory and practice and assist teachers endeavoring to make effective use of film in their classrooms."
"Classic Cinema Online provides film students with an excellent collection of movie serials to watch and study. Here you will find classic movie serials like Flash Gordon, Dick Tracy, Captain America, and more. In addition, several of the classic movies in their collection feature the promotional advertising billboards shown at movie theaters." Silent films, serials, and films in the public domain.
"Folkstreams provides a venue for independent film-makers to showcase their documentaries about American traditional folklore and cultural roots. Their film archival collection focuses on the cultural, historical, and artistic significance of unnoticed Americans from many different regions and communities." Film pages also include related links and introductory guides. All rights reserved copyright, but films are available to link to.
Open SUNY, 2013. “[A]n introductory text about the Native peoples of North America (primarily the United States and Canada) presented from an anthropological perspective. As such, the text is organized around anthropological concepts such as language, kinship, marriage and family life, political and economic organization, food getting, spiritual and religious practices, and the arts. Prehistoric, historic and contemporary information is presented. Each chapter begins with an example from the oral tradition that reflects the theme of the chapter.” Textbook edition available in PDF and EPUB versions. CC BY NC SA (Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike) license.
University of New Mexico Press, 1997. Organized into 2 parts, with 7 chapters. Ech chapter has online or PDF download formats. Not openly licensed but freely available to view or link to.
“Balancing academic rigor with popular readability, The American Yawp offers a multi-layered, democratic alternative to the American past.” and “Without losing sight of politics and power, it incorporates transnational perspectives, integrates diverse voices, recovers narratives of resistance, and explores the complex process of cultural creation.” Includes several Native American entries and readings. Online, PDF, and print formats available. CC BY SA (Attribution - Share Alike) license.
Call Number: Not in library (low-cost book)
Publication Date: 2019
This is a link to the Amazon.com profile for this text which could be used as a low-cost textbook (less than $50). Part of the ReVisioning History for Young People series.
Evergreen State College. "The Enduring Legacies Native Cases Initiative develops culturally relevant curriculum and teaching resources in the form of case studies on key issues in Indian Country. Culturally relevant curriculum is a key factor in student success and essential to prepare students for leadership roles. Key topics of our cases have been identified by Native leaders."
A documentary companion to the American Yawp textbook, with primary source readings for both Volume I (before 1877) and Volume II (after 1877). CC BY SA (Attribution - Share Alike) license with public domain readings, including several Native American primary sources.
Eastern Kentucky University, 2019. "[A] comprehensive and up-to-date account of African Americans’ cultural and political history, economic development, artistic expressiveness, and religious and philosophical worldviews in a critical framework. It offers sound interdisciplinary analysis of selected historical and contemporary issues surrounding the origins and manifestations of White supremacy in the United States. By placing race at the center of the work, the book offers significant lessons for understanding the institutional marginalization of Blacks in contemporary America and their historical resistance and perseverance." Organized into 14 chapters. PDF format. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Open course developed by Florida State College at Jacksonville through an Achieving the Dream grant, hosted via Lumen Learning. Organized into 10 modules, ranging from "African Origins - History and Culture" to "Reconstruction." Integrates primary sources throughout. Faculty resources, including discussions and exams, available upon verified request. Course overall has CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license, but some pages may have different or additional licenses.
Version of Lumen Learning's "African American History and Culture" course hosted on the LibreTexts platform, which provides additional formats: PDF, print book files, LMS cartridge, and zip file formats (click the blue "Download" button in the top right).
26 modules developed by smARThistory, 2019. The "the long history of African-American struggle — through art and artifacts." Each module, which goes from the slave trade to current events, has videos, readings, and a short quiz. Online format. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons
Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
"A self-paced learning resource or course jointly sponsored by the Park Ethnography Program and the Cultural Resources Stewardship Careers Program." Organized into five sections: Key Concepts, Ethnographic Research Center, Content Modules, Heritage Preservation Notes and the Learning Resources Center. Online format. Public domain.
Online Canvas course shared by Rita Kiki Edozie, CanvasNet, 2016. "eSankofa is a 'massive open online community course conversation' that leverages African American history and heritage to engage with new digital disciplinary studies. This course is designed to challenge your thoughts and perceptions about the Black Race and give rise to a “call of action” within yourself as a learner." Organized into thematic modules, with badges, readings, discussions, and assignments. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Emory University, 2019. "This digital memorial raises questions about the largest slave trades in history and offers access to the documentation available to answer them. European colonizers turned to Africa for enslaved laborers to build the cities and extract the resources of the Americas. They forced millions of mostly unnamed Africans across the Atlantic to the Americas, and from one part of the Americas to another. Analyze these slave trades and view interactive maps, timelines, and animations to see the dispersal in action." Includes Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database, Intra-American Slave Trade Database, African Names Database, and Image Galleries. CC BY-NC (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial) license.
Compilation of historical and primary source writings by a variety of African American writers and historians. Online, EPUB, and full text formats. Public domain.
Open Yale course, Spring 2010. "The purpose of this course is to examine the African American experience in the United States from 1863 to the present. Prominent themes include the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Reconstruction; African Americans’ urbanization experiences; the development of the modern civil rights movement and its aftermath; and the thought and leadership of Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, W.E.B. Du Bois, Marcus Garvey, Martin Luther King Jr., and Malcolm X." Course uses traditional copyrighted texts, but lectures are openly licensed. Audio and video download formats, plus transcript files. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Noncommercial - Share Alike) license.
University of North Georgia Press, 2016. "offers a comprehensive introduction to the history of humankind from prehistory to 1500. Authored by six USG faculty members with advance degrees in History, this textbook offers up-to-date original scholarship. It covers such cultures, states, and societies as Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Israel, Dynastic Egypt, India's Classical Age, the Dynasties of China, Archaic Greece, the Roman Empire, Islam, Medieval Africa, the Americas, and the Khanates of Central Asia.It includes 350 high-quality images and maps, chronologies, and learning questions to help guide student learning. Its digital nature allows students to follow links to applicable sources and videos, expanding their educational experience beyond the textbook." 12 chapters. PDF format. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - ShareAlike) license.
Remixed, updated, and expanded version of the "World History: Cultures, States, and Societies to 1500" text. Updated by a Michigan Community College instructor, 2018. Purpose was "to provide a more globally integrated narrative."
OER course by Saylor Academy. "This course will present a comparative overview of world history from the 17th century to the present era. You will examine the origins of major economic, political, social, cultural, and technological trends of the past 400 years and explore the impact of these trends on world societies. This course will be structured chronologically and thematically, with each unit focusing on a significant historical subject. The units will include representative primary-source documents and images that illustrate important overarching themes, such as the emergence of modern nation-states, the economic and technological interactions between Western and non-Western peoples, the changing social and cultural perceptions about religion and the state, and the development of physical and virtual networks of information exchange." Organized into 10 main units. TIP: The Resources link in the course menu is a shortcut to the sources and files used in the course. Online format. Overall, course has CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license, but sources used may have different or additional licenses.
Boundless course content hosted by Lumen Learning. Multiple modules, ranging from "Ancient Mesopotamian Civilizations" to "The 21st Century." Online and EPUB download formats. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - ShareAlike) license.
Textbook series created by Portland Community College instructor, 2019. Volume I has 15 chapters, from "The Origins of Civilization" and "Mesopotamia" to "Early Medieval Europe." PDF format. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Textbook series created by Portland Community College instructor, 2019. Volume 2 has 15 chapters, from "The Crusades and the High Middle Ages" and "The French Revolution." PDF format. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Textbook series created by Portland Community College instructor, 2019. Volume 3 has 15 chapters, from "Napoleon" and "Toward the Present." PDF format. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Three online textbooks, including U.S. History, American Government, and Ancient Civilizations. Each page includes vocabulary words and links for more info on the side. Each textbook has a CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
Alam Payind and Melinda McClimans, Ohio State. "This book is intended for readers who have never studied the Middle East, or experts who may wish to fill gaps in their knowledge of the region from other disciplines." Organized into 3 main chapters: Languages, Faith and Religious Identity, and The Middle East and the Impact of Imperialism. CC BY SA (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike) license.
CrashCourse video series, 2014. 42 videos in total, from Agricultural Revolution and the Indus Valley Civilization to modern day. Each video 9 to 13 minutes long, combining lecture and innovative graphics. Each video has captions. Not openly licensed but freely available to embed or link to within Canvas.
Online encyclopedia with lots of resources, including a timeline, videos, images, atlas, and more. Entries are quite extensive. Browsable encyclopedia and tools, as well as searchable by a search box for specific articles or topics. CC BY SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - Share-Alike) license.
Excerpts from world history and literature textbooks from retired WSU faculty member. "This anthology prints short selections sharply focussed on major topics of interest to beginning students of World Civilizations. It combines traditional historical sources with literary and philosophical selections." Book is out-of-print, but the available excerpts have a CC BY NC SA (Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike) license listed at the bottom of each page.
Excerpts from world history and literature textbooks from retired WSU faculty member. "This anthology prints short selections sharply focussed on major topics of interest to beginning students of World Civilizations. It combines traditional historical sources with literary and philosophical selections." Book is out-of-print, but the available excerpts have a CC BY NC SA (Attribution - NonCommercial - Share Alike) license listed at the bottom of each page.
Sourcebook provides and organizes ancient history texts for use in classroom situations. Topics covered are along the left navigation bar. Most texts are in the public domain and/or allowed for educational use. Compiled by Fordham University.
Google Doc created by Saylor Academy that icludes open texts, audio-video lectures, and supplementary sites for both World and American history. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
East Georgia State College, 2018. "This hybrid textbook and open course is a comprehensive set of teaching materials for Western Civilization I (until 1648) [...] Topics covered include prehistory and ancient history by region, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Reformation." Full text, accessible PDF, and zip file downloads. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike) license.
Textbook series created by Portland Community College instructor, 2019. The final chapter of Volume I is "Early Medieval Europe." PDF format. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Textbook series created by Portland Community College instructor, 2019. Volume 2 has 15 chapters, from "The Crusades and the High Middle Ages" and "The French Revolution." PDF format. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Textbook series created by Portland Community College instructor, 2019. Volume 3 has 15 chapters, from "Napoleon" and "Toward the Present." PDF format. Peer reviews of the text available on this site. CC BY NC SA (Creative Commons - Attribution - NonCommercial - ShareAlike) license.
Contains the complete content of three undergraduate courses in European history: Ancient and Medieval European History, Early Modern European History, and Modern European Intellectual History. Not technically OER but freely available to view and link to. Last update 2014.
Google Doc created by Saylor Academy that icludes open texts, audio-video lectures, and supplementary sites for both World and American history. CC BY (Creative Commons - Attribution) license.
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