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Historical Style

Choose one of the exercises below.

1. Compare clothing styles worn by different presidents and first ladies. Create a visual presentation. Then be in ... Vogue, Vogue, Vogue for the time period!


Abigail Adams
Courtesy of The Library of Congress


Feather Fan circa 1805 - 1810

Fashion Web Sites

First Lady Sites

By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present
First Ladies - Whitehouse
National Museum of American History: First Ladies
National First Ladies Library

2. How have writing styles or words changed since the birth of our nation? Select two presidents to compare. Create a visual presentation. And rock on!

3. Have speeches changed from president to president or do they continue to say the same thing, but in different words? Select two presidents to compare. Create a visual presentation such as a chart to show the similarities and differences.

Look through the resources below to find interesting changes. Inaugural speeches will have good examples of writing styles as well as what president's wanted the public to hear. Some of the sound recordings of speeches will also be useful in comparisons. The Portrait Gallery will give you a start on men's clothing while the display of inaugural gowns by first ladies will help with women. Did any adornments such as feathers create raise any issues? See the exhibit The Feather Trade at the National Museum of American History. Check other sites as well. It's all a matter of style.


Harding, Warren G. (Warren Gamaliel), 1865-1923
Courtesy of The Library of Congress

Presidential Sites

American Memory Library of Congress - search the entire collection using the keyword presidents
Prosperity and Thrift: The Coolidge Era
The Last Days of a President: Films of McKinley and the Pan-American Exposition, 1901
The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden
Monticello, Home of Thomas Jefferson
National Archives - Links to Presidential Libraries
National Portrait Gallery Hall of Presidents
Theodore Roosevelt: His Life and Times on Film
Presidents of the United States - Whitehouse

Speeches

Abraham Lincoln Online - Speeches, This Week in Lincoln History
American Leaders Speak: Recordings from Worl War I and the 1920 Election
Grolier Online: Presidential Sound Bytes
The History Channel - Great Speeches
Inaugural Addresses - Project Bartleby
Inaugural Addresses, State of the Union, and Farewell Speeches
Sound Samples from U.S. Presidents - Grover Cleveland (1892) - Bill Clinton