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…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Poor Richard Illustrated – Lessons for the Young and Old

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Poor Richard Illustrated – Lessons for the Young and Old

Benjamin Franklin was a man of many talents and one of the key figures in the founding of the United States. Franklin was also a printer and a writer. One of his most well known publications was an almanac, or yearly handbook, published under the pseudonym (a made-up name) of Richard Saunders. The source above, Poor…

Primary Source Spotlight: George Westinghouse

Primary Source Spotlight: George Westinghouse

George Westinghouse & his companies George Westinghouse; his life and achievements 1918 The Inventor of the Air-Brake: George Westinghouse 1921 from Conquests of Invention Inside an American Factory: Films of the Westinghouse Works, 1904 George Westinghouse image set George Westinghouse historical newspaper coverage American Dynamo: The Life of George Westinghouse Inside Adams July 1, 2021 Meet…

Today in History: American Federation of Labor & Quarry Workers

Today in History: American Federation of Labor & Quarry Workers

Today in History–September 08–the Library of Congress features the Quarry Workers’ International Union of North America, which was granted a charter by the American Federation of Labor (AFL) on this date in 1903. While granite had been mined around the area of Barre, Vermont for years, new waves of immigrants with a strong tradition of unionism arrived in the late 19th…

Primary Source Spotlight: Labor

Primary Source Spotlight: Labor

Primary source sets The Industrial Revolution in the United States American Federation of Labor & Quarry Workers Anarchist Emma Goldman Anthracite Coal Strike The “Bonus” Army The cause of industrial panics in the United States 1903 by Chicago Federation of Labor and Industrial Union Council Chicago Federation of Labor: historic newspaper coverage Civilian Conservation Corps With…

Today in History: Henry Ford

Today in History: Henry Ford

Today in History–July 30–the Library of Congress features automobile magnate Henry Ford, born on this date in 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan. When incorporating his company in 1903, Ford proclaimed, “I will build a car for the great multitude.” Ford made good on that proclamation, selling more than 15 million Model T cars in the United States alone.  Learn more about the…

Primary Source Learning: Industrial America Primary Source Set

Primary Source Learning: Industrial America Primary Source Set

Have students use the primary sources in this set to tell a story about the period 1876-1900 when industrial growth helped transform the United States, producing a new class of wealthy industrialists, a prosperous middle class, and a vastly expanded working class comprised of millions of migrants from rural areas and new immigrants from overseas. The…

Today in History: First American Cotton Mill

Today in History: First American Cotton Mill

Today in History–December 20–the Library of Congress features the first American cotton mill, opened on this day in 1790. Learn more about the history of cotton mills in America by reviewing the Today in History section, then click the links below for related primary sources. The First American Cotton Mill Began Operation from America’s Library Cotton mill image set…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Tree of Liberty

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Tree of Liberty

Click here to save and download this primary source in .pdf format. Open up the document and use the magnification dropdown to look carefully at the political cartoon; if you are having trouble reading the text, use the transcription provided in the summary above. The illustration shows both northern and southern points of view. What…

Primary Source Learning: Gilded Age Teaching Resources & Strategies

Primary Source Learning: Gilded Age Teaching Resources & Strategies

This morning I saw a tweet mentioning primary sources related to immigration in the Gilded Age and I began to wonder . . . What learning activities related to the Gilded Age could we imagine using Library of Congress primary sources? What other teaching resources and strategies are available on LOC.gov and elsewhere? See the results…

Finding Resources: Chronicling America Historic Newspaper Topic Guides

Finding Resources: Chronicling America Historic Newspaper Topic Guides

The Teaching with Library of Congress blog provides some great tips for finding articles in the Chronicling America Historic Newspaper Collections and provides some teaching ideas as well. Be sure to check out, too, the following learning activity: Comparing Reports: Battle of Little Bighorn. Below is a list of topic guides by subject, each of which…