Civil rights primary source collections Collection Spotlight: Civil Rights History Project Presidential Spotlight: Lyndon B. Johnson Primary Source Spotlight: NAACP Primary Source Spotlight: Voting Rights Act of 1965 Selma Marches March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Freedom story map Civil rights books, reports & other texts Select civil rights primary sources Civil Rights: Before,…
Today in History–July 28–the Library of Congress features the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. On this date in 1868, Secretary of State William Seward issued a proclamation certifying the ratification of the amendment. The 14th amendment granted citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States”, including former slaves freed…
The Civil Rights History Project collection is a direct result of the 2009 Civil Rights History Project Act. This law mandated the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to conduct a survey of existing civil rights oral-history collections and enhance these collections by recording new interviews with…
Today in History–March 14–the Library of Congress features the official opening of the Sutro Baths on this date in 1896. The Sutro Baths was an extravagant public bathhouse just north of Cliff House, another popular San Francisco attraction also owned by a former city mayor, Adolph Sutro. Learn more about these baths by the sea by visiting the Today in History section, then following the…
Have students use the primary sources in this set to tell a story about protest and reform in the United States. (For background information, check the bibliographic records for dates then review the relevant sections of the American Memory timeline.) Related primary source collections highlighted on the Primary Source Nexus are linked to below. The…
The last word in the sign next to Martin Luther King, Jr. is mostly covered by a microphone. List the word that you think is on the sign and why you think that. The words on the sign were the title of a book King published the year before the photograph was taken. Investigate the sources…
Have students use the primary sources in this set to tell a story about the period 1945-1968. The wartime economy led to new economic prosperity for the United States and expanded opportunities for many, but certainly not all its citizens. As a result, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and American women took up the fight for civil…
Today in History–January 15–the Library of Congress features civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., born on this date in 1929. King entered Morehouse College at 15, received a bachelor of divinity from Crozer Theological Seminary in 1951, and a Ph.D from Boston University in 1955. Armed with his doctorate and belief in the use of non-violent action to…
Martin Luther King Jr.: I Have a Dream Image Sequencing Activity
Today in History–October 11–the Library of Congress features baseball great Jackie Robinson, who threw out the ceremonial first pitch of the second game of the 1972 World Series game on this day. The game also featured a commemoration of the 25th anniversary of breaking the color line, which Jackson did in 1947 when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He finished…
Today in History–October 2–the Library of Congress features Thurgood Marshall, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice on this day in 1967; he was the first African American to serve. President Lyndon B. Johnson said of Marshall’s appointment, “the right thing to do, the right time to do it, the right man and the right place.” Prior to becoming a…
The September 25, 2012 Today in History post featured William Faulkner, creator of the fictional Yoknapatawpha County which was based upon and inspired by Lafayette County, Mississippi. Find out all about the real state of Mississippi through a review of thousands of primary sources available online from the Library of Congress. Mississippi primary source set with Teacher’s Guide Mississippi…