"For the sunny South. An airship with a 'Jim Crow' trailer." Illus. in: Puck, 1913 Feb. 26. photomechanical print : halftone, color. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division

Teaching Resources

Timeline of African American history

A Century of Racial Segregation, 1849-1950 (online exhibition)

Historical Comprehension: Jim Crow Laws (primary source analysis activity)

Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision-Making: The Problem of Lynching (primary source analysis activity)

African American Identity in the Gilded Age: Two Unreconciled Strivings (primary source lesson plan)

Primary Sources

Jim Crow primary source set (17 items + teacher’s guide)

Jim Crow primary source set (144 items)

Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Discrimination

Colored image set

An airship with a “Jim Crow” trailer

Sample Articles from Chronicling America

• “The Jim Crow Car“ Crittenden Press (Marion, KY), October 13, 1892, Page 1, Image 1, Cols. 2-3.
• “Telegraphic Ticks” St. Paul Daily Globe (St. Paul, Minn.), December 21, 1892, Page 4, Image 4, Col. 7.
• “Wednesday” The Bee (Earlington, Ky.), December 22, 1892, Image 2, Col. 4.
• “Jim Crow Cars, The Supreme Court Says That They Are Constitutional” The Saint Paul Globe (St. Paul, Minnesota), May 19, 1896, Page 1, Col. 3.
• “Decisions By The Supreme Court” Omaha Daily Bee (Omaha, Neb.), May 19, 1896, Page 5, Image 5, Col. 2.
• “Another Decision” Richmond Planet (Richmond, Virginia), May 23, 1896, Image 2, Cols. 2-3.
• “Separate Coaches” Hopkinsville Kentuckian (Hopkinsville, Kentucky) May 26, 1896, Page 5, Image 5, Col. 2.
• “For Jim Crow Street Cars“ Marietta Daily Leader (Marietta, Ohio), June 28, 1900, Image 1, Col. 5.
• “The Separate Car Bill“ Alexandria Gazette (Alexandria, D.C.), July 3, 1900, Image 3, Col. 3.
• “Jim Crow Streetcar Law Set to Catch Negroes“ Richmond Planet (Richmond, Virginia), April 30, 1904, Page 1, Image 1, Cols.1-7.
• “The Jim Car Street Law In Other States“ The Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, Florida), August 6, 1905, Page 4 Image 4, Cols. 3-4.

Interested in other cities and states? Find resources for Washington, D.C., Kiska Island & Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, San Francisco & California, Connecticut, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Chicago & Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Cambridge & Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New York City & New York, North Carolina, North & South Dakota, Cleveland & Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Nashville & Tennessee, Washington (state), and West Virginia.

Kentucky Derby

Kentucky Derby image set from American Memory

More Kentucky Derby images

Newspaper article describing first Kentucky Derby Nashville Union and American, May 19, 1875

History of the Kentucky Derby, 1875-1921 (book, 1921)

Kentucky Derby legislation

State of Kentucky

Kentucky stories from America’s Library

Kentucky primary source set

Kentucky image set from American Memory

More Kentucky images

Kentucky maps

Kentucky books, articles & personal narratives

Kentucky oral histories

Kentucky historical newspapers

Kentucky historical periodicals

Kentucky sheet music

Kentucky songs (streaming audio)

Northern Kentucky Brotherhood Singers (streaming webcast)

Celebrating Kentucky Poets (streaming webcast)

Kentucky legislation

Kentucky Guide to Law Online

“Kindergarten messenger” monthly journal edited by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (May, 1873 through December, 1874)

Record of Mr. Alcott’s school, exemplifying the principles and methods of moral culture by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1874)

Guide to the kindergarten and intermediate class by Elizabeth P. Peabody (1877)

After kindergarten-what! by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1878)

First steps to the study of history by Elizabeth Palmer Peabody (1832)

Free kindergartens : Mr. Mitchell, of Wisconsin presented the following statement of Hon. William Harris, Commissioner of Education

Kindergarten books & articles

Kindergarten sheet music

Kindergarten ball game (film, 1904)

Kindergarten image set

Kindergarten legislation

Related PSN posts

The Alcotts

Rare Children’s Books

L. Frank Baum portraits (1908)

The Wizard of Oz: An American Fairytale (online exhibition)

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum; pictures by W.W. Denslow. Chicago; New York: G.M. Hill Co., 1900, c1899 Page Turner - PDF (113.66MB)

First edition cover of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Pages from the hand-written manuscript for Glinda of Oz, L. Frank Baum’s last book

“Ask the flowers to tell you” lyrics by L. Frank Baum (song recording)

“There Was a Goose”  lyrics by L. Frank Baum from The St. Louis Republic, July 01, 1900, Magazine Section

“Baby Pulled the Pussy’s Tail“ lyrics by L. Frank Baum from The St. Louis Republic, July 08, 1900, Magazine Section

“Can’t you hear the bell ring?“ lyrics by L. Frank Baum from The St. Louis Republic, August 05, 1900, Magazine Section

“The Girl Who Owned a Bear: An American Fairy Tale“ by L. Frank Baum from The St. Louis Republic, March 03, 1901, Comic Section

“The King of the Polar Bears” by L. Frank Baum from The St. Louis Republic, April 07, 1901, Comic Section

“The Wonderful Pump” by L. Frank Baum from The St. Louis Republic, May 12, 1901, Special Mail Edition, Comic Section

“How the Tinman Escaped the Magic Flood“ by L. Frank Baum from The Times Dispatch (Richmond, VA), September 11, 1904, Comic Section

“The Gingerbread Man“ by L. Frank Baum from The Salt Lake Herald, October 28, 1906, Magazine Section

“The Wonderful Stories of Oz: Tip Manufactures a Pumpkinhead“ by L. Frank Baum from The Ogden Standard, December 28, 1918, Last Edition – 3:30 P.M., Page 2, Image 2

Denslow’s Humpty Dumpty Adapted and Illustrated by W.W. Denslow New York: G.W. Dillingham Co., 1903
Page Turner - PDF (6.98MB)

Denslow’s Mother Goose: Being the Old Familiar Rhymes and Jingles of Mother Goose Edited and Illustrated by W.W. Denslow. New York: McClure, Phillips, 1901
Page Turner -PDF (34.03KB)

Denslow’s Three Bears Adapted and Illustrated By W.W. Denslow. New York: G.W. Dillingham Co., 1903
Page Turner - PDF (5.98KB)

*Find more stories by Baum by searching in the Chronicling America Historical Newspaper Collection (click the Advanced Search tab and type L. Frank Baum in the …with the phrase box). Please share any gems you uncover in the comments section or let us know by contacting us.

Chicago Bank Note Co. "Illustrated political chart, a cartoon of American politics and the Tapeworm Party." 1888 May 29. 1 print : chromolithograph. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division. Summary: Print shows James G. Blaine as the head of a tapeworm made up of various government scandals over a map of the United States.

The Library of Congress has a few political cartoon collections with many images available online (American Cartoon Prints, British Cartoon Prints, Swann Collection of Caricature and Cartoon as well as numerous online exhibitions devoted to cartoons (Hold control/command + F and type cartoon to find each instance). You will also find thousands of cartoons in the Prints & Photographs collection of Miscellaneous Items in High Demand, including this wonderful set from the political magazine Puck (1871-1918), and by searching the digitized historical newspapers in Chronicling America. And don’t miss these PSN-featured political cartoons featured.

To help students analyze political cartoons, you can have them use the Library’s primary source analysis tool and the list of guiding questions provided below, which were adapted from this list. You might also want to check out this political cartoon primary source set (includes a teacher guide).

Political Cartoon Analysis Guiding Questions

OBSERVE: Identify and note details

• What do you notice first? Describe what else you see.
• Describe what is happening in the cartoon. What people and objects are shown? How are they arranged? How do they relate to one another?
• What is the physical setting? Is place important?
• Is the cartoon realistic, exaggerated, or abstract? What do you see that looks different than it would in a different kind of illustration, photograph, or other work of art?
• Do you recognize any symbols? Describe any that you see
• Are any words used? Are there few words or a lot of words? Do any of the words help explain the symbols?
• Are there details that suggest the time period this cartoon relates to? Is the creation date listed in the bibliographic record? If the creation date is listed, was this cartoon created at or around the same time period the cartoon relates to?
• What other details can you see?

REFLECT: Generate and test hypotheses

• What tools might have been used to create this cartoon?
• Why do you think the creator chose to include the people and objects shown? What might have been left out of the frame?
• Are the words used literal or figurative? How do you know? Why do you think the creator chose these particular words? Do you think anything was purposefully left unsaid?
• How are symbols used and what do you think they mean?
• What perspective or bias does this cartoon show? What evidence supports your conclusion?
• Why do you think this cartoon was made? What might have been the creator’s purpose? What evidence supports your theory?
• Who do you think was the audience for this cartoon? What do you think the creator might have wanted the audience to think or feel? Does the arrangement or presentation of objects and text affect how the audience might think or feel? How?
• What do you feel when looking at this cartoon?
• What was happening during the time period this cartoon represents? If someone made this cartoon today, what would be different/the same?
• What did you learn from examining this cartoon? Does any new information you learned contradict or support your prior knowledge about the topic of this cartoon?

QUESTION: What didn’t you learn that you would like to know about? What questions does this map raise? What do you wonder about . . .

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How?

What sources might you consult to learn more?

Please feel free to download and distribute the Political Cartoon Analysis Guiding Questions document and the primary source analysis tool (but please keep the formats, including logos, intact).

Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Images

Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Maps

Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Oral Histories

Analyzing Primary Sources: Learning from Texts

Jamestown primary source set (with teacher’s guide)

Jamestown primary source set from American Memory

Jamestown books & other texts

Jamestown image set

Timeline of early Virginia history

The English Establish a Foothold at Jamestown, 1606-1610

Virginia Records, 1606-1737

John Smith’s Generall Historie of Virginia

Edward Maria Wingfield’s Discourse of Virginia

Ralph Hamor’s True Discourse of the Present Estate of Virginia

Early settlement of Virginia and Virginiola, as noticed by poets and players in the time of Shakspeare, with some letters on the English colonization of America

Minnesota stories from America’s Library

Minnesota primary source set

Minnesota maps

Minnesota books & other texts

Minnesota historical newspapers

Minnesota oral histories

Minnesota sheet music

Minnesota image set from American Memory

More Minnesota images

Minnesota legislation

Minnesota Guide to Law Online

Pacific Railway Act

The Senate passed the Pacific Railway Act June, 20, 1862

House of Representatives passed the Pacific Railway Act June 24, 1862

Transcontinental Railroad

The lead up to the transcontinental railroad (Library of Congress secondary source)

Building the transcontinental railroad (book excerpt, full book also available)

After Lewis & Clark section (online exhibition including documents and maps related to the transcontinental railroad)

Letter from the president of the Union Pacific, requesting that President Lincoln send a letter to be read at a ground-breaking ceremony

European and Asian laborers working on the last mile of the Pacific Railroad from Harper’s Weekly

Railroad Communication with the Pacific: Central Pacific Railroad [supplement] The Galaxy, Volume 4, Issue 8, Dec 1867

Historic Moments. V. Driving The Last Spike Of The Union Pacific Scribner’s magazine, Volume 12, Issue 2, August, 1892

Union Pacific primary sources

Union Pacific maps

Union Pacific image set from American Memory (advisory: first image in set is gruesome)

More Union Pacific images

Union Pacific manuscripts – mixed formats

Union Pacific books & articles

Union Pacific Grand March (sheet music)

Central Pacific primary sources

Central Pacific maps

Central Pacific image set from American Memory

More Central Pacific images

Central Pacific manuscripts – mixed formats

Central Pacific books & articles

PSN railroad posts

The B & O Railroad

Rails & Robbers