TEACH
Today's educators need more than lesson plans. They need resources they can trust. The Pink Triangle Legacies Project creates original educational materials that are historically rigorous, classroom-ready, and designed specifically for high school and college educators. Every resource is created by experienced educators, vetted by leading scholars, and tested by classroom teachers before publication. Explore free classroom activities, professional development opportunities, educator updates, and digital resources to support both you and your students.
Classroom-Ready Activities
Reconstructing LGBTQ+ Lives under Nazism: A Primary Source Investigation
In this inquiry-based activity, students take on the role of historians, working with primary source documents to reconstruct the lives of LGBTQ+ people in Nazi Germany. After engaging with a short preparatory lecture that provides historical context, students are assigned “Historical Analysis Packets,” each centered on a different individual and composed of carefully selected archival materials, guiding questions, and structured prompts.
Working individually or in small groups, students analyze the documents to draw conclusions about each person’s experiences, while also considering the limitations of the historical record. The activity culminates in a “report out,” where students present their findings to their peers. This encourages collaborative learning and reinforces both historical thinking and communication skills.
Designed with flexibility in mind, this activity can be adapted to fit a range of classroom settings, time constraints, and instructional goals. Educators can assign one or multiple packets, structure the activity as in-class work or homework, and adjust the depth of analysis based on student level.
The activity is accompanied by a comprehensive Educator Packet that includes historical context, facilitation guidance, discussion prompts, and suggested responses. It also provides strategies for helping students navigate the challenges of interpreting LGBTQ+ histories, including working with incomplete archives and reading sources that often reflect the perspective of the perpetrators.
Pins of Protest: Interpreting Symbols and Messaging in LGBTQ+ Activism
In this interactive activity, students explore LGBTQ+ activism in the late twentieth century by analyzing a curated set of pinback buttons created by activists in the 1970s–1990s. Through these artifacts, students examine how symbols, imagery, and short-form messaging were used to communicate ideas, build community, and mobilize action in a pre-digital world.
After engaging with a short preparatory lecture that provides historical context on the reclamation of the pink triangle and its role in LGBTQ+ movements, students work individually or in small groups to analyze each button using guided prompts. These questions support close reading of visual and textual elements while encouraging students to consider how meaning shifts across audiences and historical contexts.
Students then translate their analysis into concise, audience-facing writing by composing social media-style captions for each artifact. This component invites them to think carefully about tone, clarity, and audience, while reinforcing their ability to communicate historical insights in accessible and engaging ways.
The activity culminates in a collaborative discussion in which students compare interpretations and consider how these artifacts might be grouped to tell larger stories about LGBTQ+ activism, memory, and identity.
Designed with flexibility in mind, this activity can be adapted to fit a range of classroom settings, time constraints, and instructional goals. Educators may adjust the number of artifacts, structure group work in different ways, or extend the activity through research-based adaptations.
The activity is accompanied by a comprehensive Educator Packet that includes historical context, facilitation guidance, discussion prompts, and suggested responses. It also offers strategies for helping students interpret symbolism, navigate multiple perspectives, and connect historical activism to contemporary forms of communication.
Educator Trainings
Bring the Pink Triangle Legacies Project's educator training to your school, university, museum, or organization. Our two professional development workshops provide educators with historically rigorous content, classroom-ready strategies, and practical tools for teaching LGBTQ+ history. Trainings can be facilitated virtually or in person, and participants receive professional development (PD) credit hours. PTLP has been invited to facilitate trainings for organizations including the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center, the Cohen Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College, and the New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education. Interested in hosting a training? Email us at jake@pinktrianglelegacies.org.
Training Descriptions
Teaching about the Nazis’ LGBTQ+ Victims: Tools for the Classroom
(3-4 hours)
How can educators effectively teach a history that has so often been overlooked, misunderstood, or
erased? In this interactive workshop, participants will explore the Nazi persecution of LGBTQ+ people and gain the tools needed to bring this essential topic into their classrooms with confidence and care.
Led by experts from the Pink Triangle Legacies Project, this session combines historical scholarship with practical pedagogy. Educators will engage with individual stories and primary sources that illuminate the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people under Nazi rule, deepening their understanding of how and why the regime targeted these communities.
The workshop also creates space to reflect on the challenges and opportunities of teaching this topic in contemporary classrooms. Through guided discussion, participants will share strategies for fostering meaningful, inclusive conversations with students.
Attendees will be introduced to classroom-ready materials, including a hands-on primary source activity that centers LGBTQ+ voices and encourages critical thinking. All participants will receive exclusive access to a curated digital Educator Resource Packet with ready-to-use tools.
From Persecution to Pride: Teaching LGBTQ+ History through the Pink Triangle
(4.5 hours)
Explore how one of history’s most powerful symbols transformed from a Nazi badge of shame into a
symbol of resistance, remembrance, and LGBTQ+ pride. In this interactive training, educators will learn how to bring LGBTQ+ history into the classroom through the lens of the pink triangle, tracing its evolution across time.
Led by experts from the Pink Triangle Legacies Project, this workshop combines historical scholarship with practical pedagogy. Participants will engage with individual stories and primary sources that illuminate the experiences of LGBTQ+ people during the Holocaust, while also examining how these histories shaped postwar movements for LGBTQ+ rights.
Educators will engage in two hands-on, classroom-ready activities that center personal narratives and support meaningful student discussion. The workshop also creates space for reflection and conversation, helping participants develop strategies for teaching this history in ways that are engaging, inclusive, and historically grounded. All attendees will receive an exclusive Educators Packet filled with curated digital resources and ready-to-use materials designed to bring this history to life in theclassroom.
Email to request information on hosting an educator training:
Newsletter for Educators
Stay up to date on the Pink Triangle Legacies Project's newest resources for educators. Our twice-yearly educator newsletter highlights new classroom activities, professional development opportunities, teaching resources, and other updates designed specifically for high school and college educators.
Resources for Your Students
Looking for resources to share directly with your students? Explore PTLP's growing collection of free digital resources—including biographies, historical essays, videos, timelines, and other original content—that help students learn about the Nazi persecution of LGBTQ+ people and its legacy today.