Travel back in time.

• Author: Zack, Ian

Dear Teachers,

Get ready for some serious time travel! This issue of Upfront comes with four compelling primary source documents that will have your students exploring historic events through the eyes of the people who lived through them.

Our in-depth article about the thawing Cuba-U.S. relationship is paired with President Dwight D. Eisenhower's 1961 announcement of the suspension of diplomatic ties with Cuba, as well as Fidel Castro's 1961 speech confirming that Cuba would be a socialist country (both available at upfrontmagazine.com).

And our Times Past look at the devastating 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in what is now Indonesia is paired with a riveting account of the eruption itself plus Thomas Jefferson's description of some of the weird weather the world experienced after Tambora (both available online and on page 12 of this Teacher's Guide).

Such primary source documents, dubbed the "raw materials of history" by the Library of Congress, are worthy of close analysis. Distribute...