The WWPL is developing 3 educational escape room kits for grades K-12 and tabletop board games for grades 6-12 that immerse students in historical problem-solving using digitized primary sources. The project will draw from materials available through the Library of Congress, as well as the WWPL’s collection, which includes rare materials such as Woodrow Wilson’s family letters, the papers of Dr. Cary Grayson (Wilson’s physician), and unpublished photographs and manuscripts from WWI soldiers, nurses, and civilians. We will use game-based learning to cultivate critical thinking, historical analysis, and civic reasoning aligned with state and national standards.

Each escape room will provide a classroom-ready setup in which students solve puzzles and decode clues using authentic historical documents and imagery. The companion board games will involve strategic, turn-based decision-making around key moments in early 20th-century American history. These kits will have options for age differentiation and will be offered to schools and libraries.

In each case, students will engage directly with primary sources to explore historical context, individual agency, and national identity. Themes include:
• The 1913 Suffrage Parade
• A Soldier’s Story from the Trenches
• Paris 1919 Peace Conference
• Wilson’s Western Tour and the League of Nations

All kits will include instructional guides, source analysis tools, and materials to support classroom facilitation. WWPL education staff will either lead these programs on our campus or deliver them in local schools, or alternatively, trained teachers will be able to implement the programs themselves using the check-out kits. The kits will include detailed training information, as well as pre- and post-program materials for teachers to use when implementing the games in their classrooms. The WWPL will offer multiple professional development opportunities for educators to learn how to conduct the activities accurately and meaningfully using the embedded primary sources.

By integrating inquiry-based learning with engaging formats, this project seeks to enhance students’ historical understanding, expand teacher capacity, and increase access to meaningful primary source experiences both within and beyond the classroom. This project offers a high-engagement approach to teaching with primary sources that will help students build civic reasoning skills and historical empathy through meaningful, inquiry-driven play.