Last Updated on October 26, 2022
Story Maps are immersive web applications that tell the incredible stories of the Library’s collections through narrative, multimedia, and interactive maps. The story maps are created within a Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-based software platform created by Esri.
Story Maps are chock full of primary sources, including photographs, illustrations, texts, newspaper articles, and even maps.
“I find story maps to be a twenty-first-century tool for a twenty-first-century library,” said Stephanie Stillo of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division. “Story maps give us this fun and user-friendly way to mine deeper into our collections through mapping our data and through creative visualization.”
To learn more, read this blog post from Teaching with the Library of Congress. Using Primary Sources to Explore Historic Events: Library of Congress Story Maps
ARTS & CULTURE
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American Folklife Center: Field Surveys (1977-1998) explores large-scale ethnographic projects related to a series of field surveys that the American Folklife Center facilitated from 1977 to 1998 | CSV file |
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The Art of Correspondence features the artistic talents of men serving in World War II | related blog post |
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Chicago Blues and Jazz documents African American blues and jazz musicians, singers, and venues, as represented in the American Folklife Center’s online Chicago Ethnic Arts Project Collection | CSV file | related blog post |
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The Colorful World of Ukiyo-e explores the use of color in Japanese woodblock prints |
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Cultural Exchanges in Quechua Dictionaries details the cultural exchanges between Indigenous Andean populations and Christian missionaries |
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The Giant Bible of Mainz provides a visual journey through this lavish yet unfinished Middle-Rhenish manuscript written at the same time as Johannes Gutenberg was printing his famous bible |
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“A Handsome Box”: The Adams Building explores the construction, architecture, and history of library services |
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If These Walls Could Talk recreates the experience of walking into the Hispanic Reading Room where four richly colored and gigantic murals by the Brazilian artist Cândido Portinari document the Good Neighbor Policy at work in the Library of Congress | related blog post |
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Literary Translators of Latin American Culture celebrates the development of literary translations of Latin American literature in the United States |
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Living Nations, Living Words features 47 contemporary N target=”_blank”ative Nations poets and their work | CSV file | related blog post |
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Off the Bench presents a Library of Congress treasure of early baseball cards dating from 1887 to 1914 | CSV file |
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The Play That Electrified Harlem explores a 1936 production of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth by the Negro Unit of the Federal Theater Project, one of the most ambitious government-sponsored relief measures in American history | CSV file |
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Poesías e historias del Caribe explores five Caribbean women poets who delve into themes of cultural identity, gender and heritage | CSV file |
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Preserving Acadian Culture on Maine’s Northern Border documents Acadian French culture as part of the Maine Acadian Cultural Survey | CSV file |
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Raíces y Rutas: Roots & Routes of Hispanic Cultural Performances illustrates the depth and breadth of the expressive culture and artistry of the nation’s Hispanic communities | CSV file |
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Refranes celebrates the poetry of Mexican Nobel Laureate Octavio Paz (1914-1998), interspersing audio with the verses in written form in their original Spanish, together with their English translation |
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Roadside America documents commercial structures along main streets, byways, and highways throughout the United States in the 20th century | CSV file |
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Roots and Routes: Mapping African American Expressive Culture illustrates expressive culture and artistry of the nation’s African American communities | CSV file |
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Self-Publishing from Brazil’s Margins highlights and contextualizes the Library collections of literatura de cordel, a form of popular poetry from the Northeast of Brazil | CSV file |
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Theatrics of the Theatre explores the legacy, and lasting influence, of the Ballets Russes |
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Threads and Words: Reading Texts through Textiles at the Library of Congress delves into a variety of materials that are textile-based or textile-related | CSV file |
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Tonada del País: The American Folklife Center’s Juan B. Rael Collection explores the 1940 music recording trip of scholar Juan B. Rael across the Northern Rio Grande region of Northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado | CSV file | related blog post |
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Unraveling ‘Ishq investigates the multifaceted manifestations of passionate love (‘ishq) in the poetry, miniature painting, and calligraphy of the transregional Persianate world | CSV file |
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Work in Progress documents people’s work cultures (“occupational folklife”) across the U.S. | CSV file | related blog post |
HISTORY
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¡a la huelga todos! gives a brief history of the 1942 Puerto Rico sugar industry strike, drawing connections between aspects of land use, food production and social movement |
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Antietam: The Most Terrible Battle of the Age details the bloody battle, also known as the Battle of Sharpsburg. | CSV file | related blog post |
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American Parable: John C. Frémont and the Growth of the United States traces the life of this surveyor and explorer, soldier, politician, and businessman whose ups and downs, heroic deeds and fraught decisions paralleled the rise of the United States |
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Behind Barbed Wire provides a glimpse into the daily lives of Japanese-Americans in internment camps during WWII | CSV file | related blog post |
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Belonging On and Off the Battlefield examines the legacy of Asians and Asian Americans in the U.S. military through the Civil War, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the “Secret War” as well as the social and political struggles of Asian American veterans to gain recognition, benefits, and equal treatment | CSV file |
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From Camp to Campus chronicles the higher education experiences of Japanese American students under WWII Incarceration | CSV file |
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D-Day Journeys traces the journeys of four veterans who lived through it | CSV file | related blog post |
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Documenting World War I informs about each country’s participation in World War I and leads to further legal resources from the Law Library of Congress | CSV file | related blog post |
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Educated and Enslaved: The Journey of Omar Ibn Said explores the unique journey of Omar Ibn Said, a 37-year-old Muslim scholar, who wrote the only known extant autobiography of a U.S. enslaved person written in Arabic | CSV file | related blog post |
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Freedom illuminates the modern period of the long black freedom struggle | CSV file | related blog post |
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Historical Monuments of the First Peoples provides a brief history of the First Peoples of the United States told through important historical landmarks | CSV file |
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Handbook of Latin American Studies invites you to discover the history behind it | CSV file |
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History of the Antarctic Treaty System explores Antarctica through the history of domestic and international legislature |
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The History of Pride an historical overview of annual LGBTQ+ Pride celebrations and the connections to Library of Congress collections |
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The History of the United States Farm Bill summarizes the legislation and relays its significance to the agricultural industry |
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Illustrating History: Art and Law in the Women’s Suffrage Movement highlights how scientific study supports long-term access to materials and provides enriched historical context for scholarly study | CSV file |
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Increasing Access and Opportunity relates the oral histories of activists who influenced the Freedom Struggle of African Americans, specifically higher education | CSV file provides the mapped data in this Story Map. |
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Memories of the Fields examines and contextualizes selected images of Mexican and Mexican American fieldworkers communities | CSV file |
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The Path Towards Desegregation chronicles desegregation laws throughout the twentieth century |
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A President’s Genealogical Quest presents a selective overview of the importance of genealogy and family history in the lives of U.S. President James A. Garfield, members of his extended family, and generations of descendants |
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Rampaging Invisible Killer Stalks the Entire Country! presents the story of the Influenza pandemic of 1918 |
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Reencuentros explora los triunfos, la caída y la historia de la civilización azteca (this is a Spanish-language version of the story map below) | CSV file |
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Stolen: An Indigenous Messenger’s Own Account of the Aztec Conquest explores the triumphs, downfall, and history of the Aztec civilization | CSV file |
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Susie King Taylor follows the life of Susie King Taylor, the first African-American Civil War nurse and author of the only Civil War narrative written by a Black woman | CSV file | related blog post |
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Through the Enemy’s Eyes explores a map created by Japanese aviator Mitsuo Fuchida after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor and related primary sources | CSV file |
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A Treasure Trove of Trials relates how various nations of the world handled piracy issues before the year 1900 | CSV file | related blog post |
PLACES
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Around the World in National Book Festival Books bring you on a journey across the globe through a selection of the 2012-2021 National Book Festival’s featured books | CSV file |
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Brazilian Independence: A Bicentennial Commemoration from Afar, Above, and Abroad invites you to see the country as José Silvestre Rebello saw it | CSV file |
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Buy the Route charts Black labor systems through experiences of enslaved Africans of the Dantzler plantation in Orangeburg County, South Carolina from the Civil War through WWII |
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The City of Washington: From the Serial Set provides a short introduction of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set and original resources of Washington D.C. | CSV file |
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City Sketches and the Census looks at city profiles documented in the United States 1880 Census | CSV file |
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How Geology Shapes History explores how the physical features of North America influenced the settlement of cities and development of industry and transportation infrastructure in the eastern United States | CSV file |
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The Great Game and Afghanistan describes the rivalry between England and Russia as their spheres of influence in Mughal India, Turkestan and Persia moved closer to each other in South-Central Asia until they met in the newly formed nation state of Afghanistan |
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Holy Land Photography follows the journey of English photographer Francis Frith across the 19th-century Middle East | CSV file | related blog post |
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Hidden Voices of Yucatán explores the land’s ancient culture, European influence, and its resilient residents |CSV file |
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Homegrown Pride an interactive map and multimedia exploration of community cultural centers in 1977 Chicago and today | CSV file | related blog post |
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On Language and Colony takes the viewer through the historical path of the island of Puerto Rico since its colonization in 1493 and consequent linguistic changes | related blog post |
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Vitality in Mexican Colonia depicts the vitality of this colonia in San Antonio at the face of oppressive removal processes led by local Immigration and Naturalization Service policies whose aim was to police and regulate the Southwest borderlands |
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Midcentury Manhattan traces Anthony Angel’s journey through Manhattan Island from 1949 to 1967 | CSV file |
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Prayer Traditions in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia offers an overview of religious prayer traditions in Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia | CSV file | related blog post |
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Surveying the South relates the systematic record of early American buildings and gardens, primarily in the 1930s called the Carnegie Survey of the Architecture of the South (CSAS) | CSV file | related blog post |
TECHNOLOGIES
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The 19th-Century Roots of Instagram highlights the similarities between the 19th-century Amateur Photographic Exchange Club (1861-1863) and contemporary social networking platforms such as Instagram and Facebook | CSV file of mapped data |
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Camera and Locomotive tells the story of the fascinating interconnections between the the parallel histories of photography and the transcontinental railroad | CSV file | related blog post |
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Incunabula explores major themes in fifteenth-century (incunabula) printing | CSV file | related blog post |
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Introducing the Telephone at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition celebrates this milestone that forever changed human communication |
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Maps That Changed Our World explores the changes in world maps throughout the centuries and how as a result, perceptions of the world have shifted | CSV file | related blog post |
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Marking the Hours explores thoughts about the nature of time, experience of time, and tools used for measuring time in the Late Middle Ages in Western Europe | CSV file |
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Piercing the Alps provides a history and tour of the Gotthard Railway in Switzerland | CSV file |
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Perilous Proceedings skyscrapers of New York City 1900-1905 |
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Portraits of Brotherly Love highlights the development of photographic portraiture and the growth of the daguerreotype studio in Philadelphia between 1840-1849| CSV file |
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Prickly Pear Blood explores the development of cochineal, the Mesoamerican red colorant that resembled the juice of red prickly pears |
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Traveling Words and Sounds a collection of audio recordings of writers representing 32 countries and includes readings in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Aymara, Náhuatl, Creole, among other languages | CSV file |
MORE
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2020 Literacy Award Winners & Best Practice Honorees highlights organizations’ unique stories, progress, and achievements and explores literacy programs and approaches to promote literacy throughout the world | CSV file |
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2021 Literacy Award Winners & Honorees highlights organizations’ unique stories, progress, and achievements and explores literacy programs and approaches to promote literacy throughout the world | related blog post |
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The American Folklife Center Online helps researchers and educators explore its online resources, inspiring ways that they can be integrated into teaching | CSV file | related blog post |
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Connecting Thought and Action presents the John W. Kluge Center and some of its scholars from around the world | CSV file |
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