Music has long had a powerful connection to social and political movements. The Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music collection spans the years 1838-1923 and includes over 200 pieces of sheet music written by notable composers and everyday citizens and representing the views of both suffragists and anti-suffragists. Collection items Essays Music in the Women's Suffrage Movement Highlighted Sheet Music Selections Learning integration resources Singing for Women's … [Read more...]
Primary Source Spotlight: James Reese Europe
February 23, 2017 by Leave a Comment
James Reese Europe biography African-American History Month: James Reese Europe In the Muse blog February 24, 2010 James Reese Europe images Ragtime Dance: Castle Walk film Ragtime Dance: One Step Variation film James Reese Europe song recordings James Reese Europe sheet music James Reese Europe: timeline & select newspaper articles More James Reese Europe historic newspaper coverage Clef Club historic newspaper coverage 369th Infantry historic newspaper … [Read more...]
World Spotlight: Brazil
August 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Brazil: Places in the News Brazil country study Country profile: Brazil BBC Brazil timeline BBC Capoeira: From Crime to Culture In Custodia Legis blog October 9, 2012 Brazil primary source set from the World Digital Library Brazil images Brazil maps Brazil literary recordings Brazilian song recordings Brazilian sheet music Brazil books and documents U.S. historical newspaper articles mentioning Brazil Service in Brazil: U.S. veteran oral … [Read more...]
Primary Source Learning: Civil War
May 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Civil War photograph lessons & activities The Mathew Brady Bunch New Technologies and New Uses Using Sources: Civil War Photography Technology & Tricks What Do You See? Civil War Photojournalism: A Record of War The Civil War Through a Child’s Eye Teaching Now: Integrating Literacy, History & Geography Teaching Now: Using Primary Sources with 21st-Century Learners Collection Connections teaching strategies & activities Abraham Lincoln Papers … [Read more...]
Featured Source: The Banks of the Yellow Sea
April 26, 2016 by Leave a Comment
This Emily Dickinson poem was set to music by composer Ernst Bacon. Take a closer look at this sheet music and read the lyrics. What feeling does this poem give you? What specific word choices influence how you feel? What kind of music do you think would go with these words (happy, upbeat, sad, mournful, lively, slow, etc.)? Even if you can't read music, what clues to the music do you get about how Bacon wanted the song to sound from the sheet music? Now listen to a song recording of "The Banks … [Read more...]
Tech Tool: Sheet Music Scanner
April 18, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Music is such a powerful primary source and can really help us connect to and engage with a person or an event. The Library of Congress is full of digital music resources, including numerous sheet music collections and items. But what to do if you would like to hear the music but cannot play an instrument yourself? Well, finally, there's an app for that! Thanks to Library of Congress Teacher in Residence Tom Bober for uncovering this wonderful tool! Currently the Sheet Music Scanner app is only … [Read more...]
Primary Source Spotlight: Jazz Music
February 24, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Jazz audio recordings Jazz webcasts and performance videos Jazz image set Gottlieb jazz photos on Flickr "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free" images & score Jazz sheet music Jazz life histories Jazz Chicago 1 Jazz Chicago 2 Jazz Chicago style Jazz Singers online exhibition Jazz magazine clippings from the William P. Gottlieb collection Historical newspaper coverage: jazz More jazz texts Influence of Jazz on Modern Music … [Read more...]
Primary Source Spotlight: John Philip Sousa
July 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
John Philip Sousa biography John Philip Sousa timeline John Philip Sousa and the Culture of Reassurance article The Sousa March: A Personal View article The March King: John Philip Sousa collection items Sousa’s Birthday NLS Music Notes blog November 13, 2014 Stars and Stripes Forever … Literally Library of Congress blog July 3, 2012 John Philip Sousa sheet music John Philip Sousa song recordings John Philip Sousa historical newspaper coverage … [Read more...]
Finding Resources: TPS Journal
May 6, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Dig deep into a variety of teaching with primary sources topics. The TPS Journal, formerly titled the TPS Quarterly, is an online, peer-reviewed publication focused on pedagogical approaches to teaching with Library of Congress digitized primary sources in K-12 classrooms. Each issue provides sections related to the issue's thematic focus: a feature article, an elementary primary source activity, a secondary primary source activity, a teacher spotlight highlighting primary source learning in the … [Read more...]
Learning from the Source: The Negro Speaks of Rivers
April 23, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Lesson overview Writer and poet Langston Hughes was a prominent figure in the Harlem Renaissance movement, famous for his illuminating and moving depictions of African American life. "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" was Hughes's first published poem, appearing in the June 1921 issue of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) magazine The Crisis. Since that time, the poem has been set to music repeatedly, as shown by the sheet music illustrating this post. Lesson … [Read more...]
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