Primary Source Spotlight: Fire!

Primary Source Spotlight: Fire!

Wildfire image set Forest fires image set Southern California wildfire overview : 10/30/03 Preliminary survey of burned areas, Yellowstone National Park and adjoining national forests : October, 1988 Climate & Wildfires in the 21st Century 2014-10-09 Observing, Fighting and Mitigating Damage from Wildfires 2007-10-17 Forest fires and mountain topography personal narrative 1996 Firefighting on Dry…

Collections Spotlight: Disability Resources

Collections Spotlight: Disability Resources

U.S. legislation Disability Law in the United States: A Beginner’s Guide Global Legal Monitor articles: disability Historical newspaper coverage: disability Disability books, reports & other texts Disability awareness image set Disability image set World War I Era Disability Photos Blind persons image set How do those who are blind or who have low vision access…

Collections Spotlight: LGBTQ+ Resources

Collections Spotlight: LGBTQ+ Resources

LGBTQ Activism and Contributions primary source set with teacher’s guide LGBTQ+ primary source set Photographs Gay men creating a display labeled “Free: Gay Liberation, Minnesota” 1970 Male couples 1970 Gay rights demonstration at the Democratic National Convention 1976 AIDS quilt, Washington, D.C. 1987 Gary Pride Parade image set 2012 An LGBT Pride flag 2018 Posters…

Primary Source Spotlight: Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

Primary Source Spotlight: Covid-19 Coronavirus Pandemic

In the midst of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, the Library of Congress is collecting images, maps, web content and many more primary sources in order to, in the words of collection development officer Joe Puccio, “acquire and what a researcher in a hundred years will need to see from what is being produced today.” Learn…

Analyzing Primary Sources: Tools & Guides

Analyzing Primary Sources: Tools & Guides

Primary sources, as described by the Library of Congress, “are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects that were created at the time under study. They are different from secondary sources, accounts that retell, analyze, or interpret events, usually at a distance of time or place. Bringing young people into close contact with…

Primary Source Spotlight: Louise Glück

Primary Source Spotlight: Louise Glück

Louise Glück is an award-winning American poet—2020 Nobel Prize for Literature, the 2014 National Book Award, 1993 Pulitzer Prize, and 1992 Bobbitt Prize, among others—who also served as a Special Bicentennial Consultant from 1999-2000 and the U.S. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry from 2003-2004 at the Library of Congress. Event video recordings Louise Glück Reads…

Primary Source Spotlight: Shirley Chisholm

Primary Source Spotlight: Shirley Chisholm

U.S. legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Representative Shirley Chisholm 1969-1983 U.S. legislation related to Representative Shirley Chisholm 1984 to present Shirley Chisholm image set Audio & video recordings related to Shirley Chisholm American Archive of Public Broadcasting Shirley Chisholm speech at Howard University April 21, 1969 American RadioWorks Aaron Dixon civil rights oral history transcript discussing Shirley…

Today in History: NASA & the Space Age

Today in History: NASA & the Space Age

Today in History–June 24–the Library of Congress features the dawn of the space age. On this date in 1961, the public learned of President John F. Kennedy‘s letter assigning Vice President Lyndon Johnson to coordinate the U.S. satellite programs. Under Johnson, the National Space Council recommended that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) provide policy coordination with all government…

Today in History: Duke Ellington

Today in History: Duke Ellington

Today in History–April 29–the Library of Congress features jazz great Duke Ellington, born on this date in 1899. Ellington started to play piano at age 7 and wrote his first song–Soda Fountain Rag–at age 15. By his late teens, he was earning enough money to help his parents move into a better house. Ellington’s musical versatility was astounding and…

Today in History: The Star Spangled Banner

Today in History: The Star Spangled Banner

Today in History–September 13–the Library of Congress features our national anthem, the Star Spangled Banner. On September 13, 1814 a lawyer named Francis Scott Key witnessed the British bombing Fort McHenry from Baltimore harbor and decided to write a song to commemorate what he saw. Uncover more of the story by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to…