Letter to President Gerald Ford from Anthony Ferreira
Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Analyzing a Letter About Ford Pardoning Nixon
Recommended Activity
Published By:
National Archives Foundation
Historical Era:
Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)
Thinking Skill:
Historical Analysis & Interpretation
Bloom’s Taxonomy:
Analyzing
Grade Level:
Upper Elementary, Middle School
Suggested Teaching Instructions
Begin the activity in a full-class setting and ask students to try to decipher information about the author, including age, location, and purpose for writing. Ask students to focus on the details to try to answer these questions to teach effective document analysis.
Ask students what they think is written behind the black spots. What kind of event do they think happened for Anthony to write this kind of letter?
Finally, students can use the clues they have found in their analysis to form a hypothesis about what specific event happened.
When students have shared their answers, share with them that a third-grade student named Anthony Ferreira wrote this letter to President Gerald Ford in 1974 regarding the pardon of Richard Nixon.
To the extent possible under law, National Archives Foundation has waived all copyright and related or neighboring rights to “Analyzing a Letter About Ford Pardoning Nixon”
Description
In this activity, students will analyze a document sent from a child to President Gerald Ford in 1974. Anthony Ferreira wrote to the president to express his opinion regarding the pardon of Richard Nixon.