Primary Source sets with teacher guides Baseball: Across a Divided Society Harlem Renaissance Jim Crow in America The NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom Guided primary source analysis activities Afro-American Monument An airship with a “Jim Crow” trailer The Brownies’ Book Condition of the descendants of former African slaves The constitutional amendment Jesse Owens President Obama’s 2016 State of the Union Address Tree of Liberty Woman … [Read more...]
Primary Source Spotlight: Harlem Renaissance
February 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Harlem Renaissance primary source set, includes teacher's guide Harlem Renaissance primary source iBook Harlem Renaissance recollections: oral history Harlem Renaissance online exhibition Harlem Renaissance artists The Harlem Community Art Center and the WPA The Whites Invade Harlem WPA life history captured 1938 Harlem rent parties WPA life history captured 1939 Related resources Learning from the Source: The Negro Speaks of Rivers Learning from the Source: … [Read more...]
Learning from the Source: The Negro Speaks of Rivers
April 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Lesson objective In this primary source lesson students will gain a better understanding of the meaning and tone of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" by completing a scaffolded close reading of the poem using multiple source types (written text, spoken word, music, photos, illustrations and maps) while developing personal, lasting connections to literature by creating their own related interpretive pieces. Background Writer and poet Langston Hughes was a prominent figure in the Harlem … [Read more...]
Today in History: Zora Neale Hurston
January 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Today in History–January 7–the Library of Congress features writer Zora Neale Hurston, born on this date in 1891. She grew up in Eatonville, Florida, the first incorporated black town in the United States. Trained as an anthropologist, Hurston documented life histories and folklore, later using what she learned to inform her novels and plays. Learn more about this Harlem renaissance woman by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below for related primary sources. The … [Read more...]
Today in History: Langston Hughes
February 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment
Today in History–February 1–the Library of Congress features writer and poet Langston Hughes, born on this date in 1902. Famous for his illuminating and moving depictions of African American life, Hughes was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement. Learn more about this treasured American author by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access more stories, primary sources, and teaching and learning resources. Background Langston Hughes stories … [Read more...]
Learning from the Source: Amateur Night at the Apollo & Race Relations
August 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Read an oral history excerpt or the full oral history account by an audience member who attended amateur night at the Apollo Theater in November, 1938. In this account from American Life Histories, 1936-1940, Federal Writer Dorothy West describes an event that happened [there]. What does this event suggest about race relations in the late 1930s? What is West's view of the actions of the audience and the emcee? What would you have done if you were the emcee? In the audience? What can … [Read more...]
Today in History: James Baldwin
August 2, 2011 by Leave a Comment
Today in History–August 2–the Library of Congress features novelist, essayist, and playwright James Baldwin, born on this day in 1924. Influenced by a teacher—poet and Harlem Renaissance leader Countee Cullen—Baldwin went on to earn his own place in literary history. Find out more by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access some of the Library's top literary treasures. Novelist, Essayist, and Playwright James Baldwin Was Born from America's Library James … [Read more...]
Nellie Bly completed her circumnavigation of the globe. Check out our 