James Reese Europe biographyAfrican-American History Month: James Reese Europe In the Muse blog February 24, 2010James Reese Europe imagesRagtime Dance: Castle Walk filmRagtime Dance: One Step Variation filmJames Reese Europe song recordingsJames Reese Europe sheet musicJames Reese Europe: timeline & select newspaper articlesMore James Reese Europe historic newspaper coverageClef Club historic newspaper coverage369th Infantry historic newspaper … [Read more...]
World Spotlight: Brazil
August 17, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Brazil: Places in the NewsBrazil country studyCountry profile: Brazil BBCBrazil timeline BBCCapoeira: From Crime to Culture In Custodia Legis blog October 9, 2012Brazil primary source set from the World Digital LibraryBrazil imagesBrazil mapsBrazil literary recordingsBrazilian song recordingsBrazilian sheet musicBrazil books and documentsU.S. historical newspaper articles mentioning BrazilService in Brazil: U.S. veteran oral … [Read more...]
Primary Source Learning: Civil War
May 16, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Civil War photograph lessons & activitiesThe 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 WarThe Civil War Through a Child’s EyeCollection Connections teaching strategies & activitiesAbraham Lincoln Papers Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana Civil War Maps Civil War Soldier in the Wild Cat Regiment Poet at Work: … [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 recordingsJazz webcasts and performance videosJazz image setGottlieb jazz photos on Flickr"I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free" images & scoreJazz sheet musicJazz life historiesJazz Chicago 1 Jazz Chicago 2 Jazz Chicago styleJazz Singers online exhibitionJazz magazine clippings from the William P. Gottlieb collectionHistorical newspaper coverage: jazzMore jazz textsInfluence of Jazz on Modern Music (Aaron … [Read more...]
Primary Source Spotlight: John Philip Sousa
July 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
John Philip Sousa biographyJohn Philip Sousa timelineJohn Philip Sousa and the Culture of Reassurance articleThe Sousa March: A Personal View articleThe March King: John Philip Sousa collection itemsSousa’s Birthday NLS Music Notes blog November 13, 2014Stars and Stripes Forever … Literally Library of Congress blog July 3, 2012John Philip Sousa sheet musicJohn Philip Sousa song recordingsJohn 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 overviewWriter 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...]
Today in History: Stravinsky & Balanchine
December 1, 2014 by Leave a Comment
Today in History–December 1–the Library of Congress features the New York City Ballet premier of Agon, a collaboration between Igor Stravinsky and George Balanchine, on this date in 1957. Both Russian émigrés and colleagues from the Paris Ballet Russes, Stravinsky was a top composer of ballet music and Balanchine a leading ballet choreographer. Learn more by visiting the Today in History section and clicking the links to related resources below.A Ballet for Balanchine American Treasures of … [Read more...]
George Washington penned a letter about religious freedom to prominent Jewish leader Moses Seixas. Check out our 
