Today in History–July 25–the Library of Congress features Macbeth, “The Play That Electrified Harlem“. The closing night performance of Macbeth, produced by John Houseman and directed by Orson Welles for the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), was staged on July 25, 1936 and featured an all African-American cast. Find out more about this production by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the…
Today in History–July 22–the Library of Congress features Cleveland, Ohio. When General Moses Cleaveland and a party of surveyors arrived at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River on July 22, 1796, they thought it would make an ideal location for a new town. The city became officially known as Cleveland when the Cleveland Advertiser dropped the first “a” in the city’s name to reduce…
The Collection Connections section of America Singing: Nineteenth-Century Song Sheets, provides some great ideas for comparing perspectives of the Civil War based on the lyrics from popular song sheets published during the time period. The popularity of song sheets reached its peak during the second half of the nineteenth century and a large portion of this…
Today in History–July 21–the Library of Congress features the first Battle of Bull Run, which began on this date in 1861. Find out more in the Today in History section, then access numerous primary sources and other teaching and learning resources related to Bull Run and the Civil War through the links below. Bull Run images Bull Run maps Bull Run…
Today in History–July 20–the Library of Congress features day two of the Seneca Falls Convention, the first women’s rights convention, which was held July 19-20 in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York. Find out more about the fascinating women who convened there and their long struggle for equality visiting the Today (July 19) in History and Today (July 20) in…
Today in History–July 18–the Library of Congress features baseball great Ty Cobb, who connected with his 4,000th career hit on this day in 1927. Find out more about this “Georgia peach” by visiting the Today in History section, then access more primary sources related to Ty Cobb and baseball. Ty Cobb image set Ty Cobb historical newspaper coverage Primary Source Spotlight: Baseball…
The Library of Congress has compiled individual primary source sets for every state in the country (as well as a set related to U.S. territories) and this week the Teaching with the Library of Congress blog provides teaching ideas for using this rich set of resources. Be sure to check out the primary source collections below as well….
Today in History–July 16–the Library of Congress features Washington D.C. It’s designation as the United States capital city was assured on this date in 1790 with the signing of the Residence Act. Learn more about the planning of this singular city by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the links below to access more primary source treasures. Primary source…
The Teaching with the Library of Congress blog gives some great tips on selecting the most effective primary sources to use with your students. The TPS-Barat program offers some more tips, suggesting teachers ask themselves the following questions when choosing primary sources for use in the classroom. Goal – What is the overall activity or project goal?…
Home on the Range (.mp3) Today in History–July 14–the Library of Congress features novelist Owen Wister, born on this day in 1860, whose 1902 novel The Virginian helped create the myth of the American cowboy. Click on the image above to zoom into key scenes from the novel highlighted on this literary map, then visit the Today in History section to learn…
Activity Guidelines Gather minutemen-related primary sources and print them out or make them available to your primary students digitally. As a class or in groups, have students review different primary sources and note what they see, think, and wonder. Next, you may choose to have students review source bibliographic information or secondary source materials and…
Today in History–July 11–the Library of Congress features the duel between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr that took place on this date in 1804 and resulted in the death of Hamilton. Learn more by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to learn more about these two men and the once-legal…