Today in History: Susie King Taylor

Today in History: Susie King Taylor

Today in History–August 6–the Library of Congress features Susie King Taylor, a teacher, nurse, and author who was born on a plantation in Georgia on this date in 1848. Learn more about Taylor and her Civil War service and remembrances by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access more primary sources related to this lifelong…

Primary Source Spotlight: Buffalo Soldiers

Primary Source Spotlight: Buffalo Soldiers

On June 28, 1866, the U.S. Congress passed An Act to Increase and Fix the Military Peace Establishment of the United States, which established four segregated African American infantry regiments and two cavalry regiments: the Ninth Cavalry, the Tenth Cavalry, the Thirty-eighth Infantry, the Thirty-ninth Infantry, the Fortieth Infantry, and the Forty-first Infantry. According to…

Primary Source Spotlight: Freedmen’s Bureau

Primary Source Spotlight: Freedmen’s Bureau

Freedmen’s Bureau image set Freedmen’s Bureau texts Freedmen’s Bureau correspondence and other texts Freedmen’s Bureau historical newspaper articles 1865-1872 Freedmen’s Bureau Records Preservation Act of 2000 Freedmen’s Bureau, 1865–1872 online exhibition items African American Odyssey: Reconstruction online exhibition Freedmen’s Bureau Records Smithsonian Freedmen’s Bureau Transcription Project Smithsonian “The Freedmen’s Bureau” by W.E.B. Du Bois The Atlantic Monthly Volume…

Primary Source Spotlight: Constance Baker Motley

Primary Source Spotlight: Constance Baker Motley

Constance Baker Motley image set James Meredith and NAACP lawyers Constance Baker Motley and Jack Greenberg photo Founding of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund memorandum from Thurgood Marshall Constance Baker Motley historical newspaper coverage NAACP lawyer Constance Baker Motley discusses her surprise at crowds at the March on Washington video Our Guest Speaker:…

Primary Source Spotlight: Ralph Ellison

Primary Source Spotlight: Ralph Ellison

Ralph Ellison historical newspaper coverage Harlem (as described by Leo Gurley) in interview by Ralph Ellison June 14, 1939 Ralph Ellison Invisible Man 1952 Book Cover with curator’s note Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man draft pages and portrait with curator’s note Ralph Ellison, Reading from a Novel in Progress Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature March 28,…

Primary Source Spotlight: Madam C.J. Walker

Primary Source Spotlight: Madam C.J. Walker

Madam C.J. Walker image set Madam C.J. Walker advertisements & historical newspaper coverage Modern-day legislation commemorating Madam C.J. Walker Blog posts & articles Madam C.J. Walker Headlines & Heroes May 29, 2020 The Beauty Entrepreneur Inside Adams March 6, 2020 From Rags to Riches: Author Reviews Life of Madam C.J. Walker Library of Congress Information…

Primary Source Spotlight: Three-Fifths Compromise & the Northwest Ordinance

Primary Source Spotlight: Three-Fifths Compromise & the Northwest Ordinance

Three-Fifths Compromise U.S. Constitution Article I Section 2 Clause 3 Fragment of an original letter on the slavery of the negroes; written in the year 1776, by Thomas Day, Esq James Madison correspondence related to slavery Madison Debates, Avalon Project June 11, 1787 July 11, 1787 July 12, 1787 August 8, 1787 August 25, 1787…

Collections Spotlight: African American Perspectives

Collections Spotlight: African American Perspectives

“African American Perspectives” gives a panoramic and eclectic review of African American history and culture and is primarily comprised of two collections in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division: the African American Pamphlet Collection and the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection with a date range of 1822 through 1909. Most were written by African-American authors,…

Primary Source Spotlight: Black American History & Heritage

Primary Source Spotlight: Black American History & Heritage

Primary source sets with teacher guides Story maps Curated resource sets – primary sources & secondary too Individuals Groups Topics African American Studies Research Guides Library collections Additional collections outside the Library Online exhibitions Veterans History Project Spotlights, features & special presentations Image Sets Historic African-American newspapers Music & Dance resources Congressional activity Library blog…

Finding Resources: Story Maps

Finding Resources: Story Maps

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…

Primary Source Learning: LOC.gov Teacher-Created Lesson Plans

Primary Source Learning: LOC.gov Teacher-Created Lesson Plans

The Teacher’s section on LOC.gov features close to 100 teacher-created lesson plans. As you can see from the image above, lesson plans are listed in alphabetical order and there is a handy search bar to help you easily conduct a keyword search. Use the links below to jump to select groupings of the LOC.gov lesson…