Themed Resources
- Library of Congress Online Resources for Educators (pdf)
- Abraham Lincoln
- Art of War:
WWI and WWII Posters - Cartoon Analysis
- Childhood Lost:Child Labor During Industrial Revolution
- Coles County: Taught with Primary Sources
- Corp of Discovery:
Revealing the American West - Teaching the Holocaust with Primary Sources
- Illinois: Taught with Primary Sources
- Presidential Campaigns: Packaging the Presidents
- Underground Railroad:
A Path to Freedom - Verse and Chorus
- WWII
- Top Topics
Special Projects
- Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Tools
- Classroom Activities
- Constant Motion:
The Job of Railway Post Office Clerks - Constitution Day
- Library of Congress Site Update "Cheat Sheet" (pdf)
- Lincoln Assassination CSI Activity
- Patriotic Songs
Professional Development
- Update-Summer Institute
- TPS EIU Jump-Start
- TPS in Action
(onsite workshop series) - Customized Teaching with Primary Sources Institutes
Additional LInks
- EIUTPS Google Search Tool
- National TPS Site
- Library of Congress
- loc.gov Teacher PageAbraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
EIU Teaching with Primary Sources
Timeline
A look at some events that took place during the run of the Railway Post Office. Images and links take you to information and resources on EIU TPS, Library of Congress, National Postal Museum Railway Mail Service and other sites.
1832 |
1838 |
1862 |
1864 |
1868 |
1869 |
1875 |
1889 |
| Stage coach contractors awarded $400 per year to carry mail on railroads. | Act of Congress declares all railroads postal routes. | Postmaster General Blair establishes the first Railway Post Office cars. First mail sorted in converted baggage cars on Hannibal to St. Joseph, Missouri line. |
First permanent U.S. Railway Post Office route established between Chicago and Clinton, Iowa. | First recorded schemes show maps of states to help clerks learn mail distribution routes. | The Ward mail bag catcher is first used creating mail on the fly. |
The first five car train is introduced and carries more than 33 tons of mail. | The Railway Post Office becomes part of classified civil service requiring a competitive entrance exam. |
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1912 |
1920 |
1941 |
1948 |
1956 |
1967 |
1974 |
1977 |
| Steel RPO cars begin replacing dangerous wooden cars. | 20.407 Railway Postal Clerks earn an average salary of $2,067 per year. Newton bros. steal 3 million in cash and goods from Chicago, Milwaukee, St Paul train. |
U.S. Post Office introduces the first Highway Post Office bus. | Railway Mail Service is renamed the Postal Transportation Service. | President Eisenhower signs the Federal Highway Act creating the interstate road system. | U.S. Post Office terminates or reduces many railroad mail carrying contracts. | Final run of Highway Post Office bus. | The Railway Post Office makes its final run. The last RPO delivers the mail between Washington DC and New York. |
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1838
Act of Congress declares all railroads postal routes.
Primary Sources
At this time...
- American Memory Timeline -National Expansion and Reform (1818-1880)
- America's Library Jump Back in Time - Western Expansion and Reform (1829-1859)
- President Martin Van Burn (photo from By Popular Demand: Portraits of Presidents and First Ladies, American Memory)
Illinois Historical Events:
- Cherokee Indians enter southern Illinois on the Trail of Tears.
- Illinois funds the Northern Cross Railroad to cross the Illinois River.
- Abraham Lincoln is reelected to the Illinois General Assembly.
U.S. Historical Events:
- 15,000 Cherokees were forced out of their ancestral home starting the Trail of Tears.
- Samuel Morse demonstrates his telegraph to President Van Buren and his cabinet.
- Samuel Morse developed an application of his telegraph for railroad signaling.
U.S. Cultural Events:
World Events:
