Design sketch for T-1 Locomotive Pennsylvania Railroad

Primary Source Spotlight: Transportation

Primary source sets Transportation primary source set with teacher’s guide Transportation image set Transportation maps Films & webcasts related to transportation Oral histories related to transportation Life history mentioning transportation Historical texts related to transportation Historical newspaper coverage: modes of transportation PSN curated primary source collections Air Balloons & Airships America’s Roadways B&O Railroad Bicycles Cable Cars C&O Canal…

For the sunny South. An airship with a "Jim Crow" trailer

Guided Primary Source Analysis: An Airship with a “Jim Crow” Trailer

Explain what you think this political cartoon is trying to say, using details from the illustration to support your conclusions. Jim Crow is the name often used to refer to segregation laws and customs following the U.S. Civil War. Do you think this cartoon is a good argument for or against African American rights? Why? Jump…

Air-balloons

Today in History: Air Balloons & Airships

Today in History–February 8–the Library of Congress celebrates the birth of writer Jules Verne, born on this date in 1828, by featuring air balloons and airships. Around the time Verne’s first book–Five Weeks in a Balloon–came out in 1863, the U.S. Army was using hydrogen gas balloons in Civil War reconnaissance missions. See what you can learn about air balloons and airships by visiting…

The way they go to California

Guided Primary Source Analysis: The Way They Go to California

What different types of transportation are these men trying to use to get to California? Cartoonists sometimes exaggerate, or overdo, physical characteristics of people and things. Zoom into a more detailed image of this cartoon and look for examples of exaggeration. Describe one example and explain why it is a form of exaggeration for this situation. Find out about…