Creator: University of Nevada Las Vegas | visit site
Grade Range: 8 - 11
Oral history has become an increasingly important tool in understanding recent history. This site chronicles the stories of those who have been personally affected by the testing of nuclear weapons in Nevada between 1951 and 1992. You can browse a very rich list of individual transcripts or search by category of interviewee. There is a fairly short list of video interviews. There is a nice timeline that puts the development of nuclear weapons in the US into perspective. Finally, there is a link to information about the test site as a place, both as a place for testing, a place for protesting, and a sacred place to native people.
In the Classroom
This site might serve as a useful supplement to a unit on the Cold War. Students doing research on nuclear testing will find the transcripts and video interviews very valuable as primary source material. The timeline would be helpful projected on an interactive whiteboard or projector as part of a discussion of recent American history. Use this site for research about the Cold War and World War II. Have students create a multimedia presentation using ThingLink, <a href="/single.cfm?id=13216">reviewed here,</a> to narrate a photo as if it is a news report.
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