The Internet Archive and Primary Sources

This spring, many students at CVCC will be reading the non-fiction book, Enrique's Journey. About a young man from Honduras who travels to the United States for a better life, Enrique's Journey puts a face on immigration. The topic of immigration, which has been highlighted recently in the political sphere, is one that is divisive and very heavily tied to our modern notions of the American Dream.

Our assignment for ENGL 518 this week was to explore the Internet Archives to learn what they contain, and suggest possible ways to use them in the classroom. Knowing that we will be reading Enrique's Journey and talking about immigration, I decided to find out what kinds of resources could be found using the archives.

What I discovered is overwhelming, to say the least, but also highly accessible. Through the Library of Congress on the Archive, teachers can access lesson plans and thousands of primary sources.

Just a basic search with the term "American Dream" produced thousands of hits. There are viewpoints like this one, and this one, and this one.

It is my thought that I can use the archive in multiple ways. First, I can have the students take a look at what the American Dream means in modern times. Then, I can use the primary resources about the immigration experience over the last century to provide some context for students.


Often, the messages that students get from watching and listening to current news are oversimplified. By using some primary resources to look at immigration from another perspective, students can develop their own opinions about the current immigration situation in the United States.