The Picture This blog from the Library of Congress shines a spotlight on landscape photographs. Micah Messenheimer, Curator of Photography, and a photographer himself, writes: When many people think of landscape photographs they think of wide-open spaces, empty of people. Yet, landscape photographs, by their nature, tell stories deeply tied to human interactions with the…
Today in History—December 3—the Library of Congress features Illinois, which entered the Union as the 21st state on this day in 1818. Illinois is an Algonquin word meaning “tribe of superior men”; today the state is referred to as the Land of Lincoln and is one of the most populous of all the United States. Learn…
What feeling do you get from looking at this painting? What details or techniques do you think are responsible for that feeling? What does the artwork seem to suggest about the C&O Canal? Use details from the painting to support your conclusion. Compare and contrast this painting with photographs of the C&O canal. What similarities…
Today in History–October 8–the Library of Congress features the great Chicago fire, which began on this day in 1871. The fire took at least 300 lives, left nearly a third of the city’s residents homeless, and leveled more than 18,000 structures (Encyclopedia of Chicago). Learn more about this fire and others that burnt on the same day in Michigan and…
Today in History–April 3–the Library of Congress features writer and naturalist John Burroughs, born on this day in 1837. Learn more about this contemporary of John Muir and Henry David Thoreau by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access images and some of his writings and photographs as well as more environment and conservation teaching resources and primary…