Today in History–November 11–the Library of Congress features Washington, which was declared a state on this day in 1889. Find out more about the history and culture of the Evergreen state by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the links below to access a plethora primary sources. Washington primary source set with Teacher’s Guide Washington maps Pictorial Americana: Selected images of Washington…
Today in History–November 7–the Library of Congress features Hawaii, which ratified a state constitution on this day in 1950 (it officially became the 50th state on August 21, 1959). Find out more about the history and culture of the Crossroads of the Pacific by visiting the Today in History section, then follow the links below to access more fabulous primary sources. Oahu Railway…
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…
Today in History–October 27–the Library of Congress features the Federalist Papers, the first of which was published on this day in 1787. This series of essays, 85 in all, were published in newspapers under the name of Publius but were actually written by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay. Their purpose, in essence, was to argue for the…
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…
Today in History–June 28–the Library of Congress features World War I. Two events bracketing this global conflict happened on June 28. The assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, set off a chain of events leading to the first world war. Five years later, on June 28, 1919, Germany and…
Have students collaborate to compare U.S. newspaper coverage of the Battle of Little Bighorn with eyewitness accounts from Native Americans who were there. Ask them to compare descriptions of the battle as well as characterizations of opposing forces. Remind students to look for and note differences in tone, particularly as defined by word choice. You…