Today in History–April 5–the Library of Congress features Robert Smalls, a Civil War hero, civil rights activist, and five-term U.S. Congressman who was born into slavery on this date in 1839. Conscripted to the Confederate Army, Smalls captained a small Black crew to hijack an ammunition transport and deliver it to the Union Army in 1862. Learn…
Victoria Woodhull was a woman suffrage and labor reform activist and the first female candidate for U.S. President. She ran on the Equal Right’s Party ticket in 1872 with Frederick Douglass as the Vice Presidential candidate, running against Republican president Ulysses S. Grant and Democratic candidate Horace Greeley. Victoria Woodhull historical newspaper coverage The Judiciary Committee of the…
Frances Perkins images Frances Perkins historical newspaper coverage Correspondence and other texts related to Frances Perkins Frances Perkins Columbia University Libraries Oral History Research Office Contemporary legislation related to Frances Perkins Frances Perkins: Architect of the New Deal JSTOR Daily Promoting the General Welfare: Frances Perkins In Custodia Legis Frances Perkins, the Woman Behind FDR…
Speaker of the House images Correspondence, memos & other texts related to the Speaker of the House Books and more texts related to the Speaker of the House U.S. legislation related to the Speaker of the House Historical newspaper articles mentioning the Speaker of the House At Valley Forge 1918 speech by Champ Clark, U.S….
The Draft Riots of 1863 : A Historical Study Read at the Meeting of the Ohio Commandery Civil War draft riots Civil War induction officer with lottery box photograph Civil War Conscription Laws In Custodia Legis November 15, 2012 Freemen! Avoid Conscription! 1862 broadside Abraham’s draft, 600,000 more 1862 sheet music Southern “volunteers” 1862 political…
Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegate, at the Democratic National Convention, Atlantic City, New Jersey August 1964 | curator’s note Jury Frees Five Law Officers in Miss. Beating The Detroit Tribune. (Detroit, Mich.), 21 Dec. 1963 Civil Rights oral histories mentioning Fannie Lou Hamer Euvester Simpson Charles McLaurin Maria Varela Jennifer Lawson Peggy Jean…
“African American Perspectives” gives a panoramic and eclectic review of African American history and culture and is primarily comprised of two collections in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division: the African American Pamphlet Collection and the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection with a date range of 1822 through 1909. Most were written by African-American authors,…
Poetry has a long history of addressing and illuminating public issues and events but a disjointed and relatively short history of inclusion in presidential inauguration ceremonies. These moments, however, provide additional nuance to the state of the country during these important transitional moments in our nation. Use the links below to read and listen to…
Amid calls for removal of the Emancipation Memorial, also called the Freedmen’s Monument, in Washington D.C. and a replica of it in Boston, Washington Post reporter DaNeen L. Brown considers the statue and takes a look back at a speech made by Frederick Douglass at the D.C. unveiling ceremony on April 14, 1876. In the speech, Douglass…
The Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) has put together a list of resources for educators to help students understand, analyze, and respond to the upcoming State of the Union. The resources are divided into sections that include the following: Youth Perspectives, the Speech and Its Media Coverage, and Background…
These digitized works were written by and about African American women who lived during the U.S. Civil War and include autobiographies, biographies, children’s books, novels, poetry, speeches and more. The authors and the works are listed below; click the section headers to access links to the online works. Some authors also have related resource links….
In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Eric Herschthal, a fellow at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture at the New York Public Library, suggests that we remember Frederick Douglass “as someone whose insights about scientific theories of race are every bit as relevant in our era as they were when he wrote…