Collections Spotlight: Natural Disasters

Collections Spotlight: Natural Disasters

Natural disasters primary source set with teacher’s guide Natural Disasters primary source set Disasters, Devastation and Destruction from America’s Library Severe Weather In Custodia Legis Natural Disasters: A Resource Guide National Geographic Natural Disasters National Severe Storms Laboratory Natural Disasters: Nature’s Fury lesson plan Avalanches & snow storms Cyclones hurricanes, typhoons Earthquakes Fire! Floods &…

Collections Spotlight: Tornadoes

Collections Spotlight: Tornadoes

Tornado images Tornado scenes in St. Louis 1896 Insurance map illustrating scope of damage by tornado in Gainesville, Georgia Tornado sheet music U.S. historical newspaper coverage related to tornadoes Books America’s Greatest Flood and Tornado Calamity c. 1913 The Great Tornado of 1821 in New Hampshire A Modern Herculaneum: Story of the New Richmond Tornado…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Form & Function

Guided Primary Source Analysis: Form & Function

Take a close look at the collection of images above (.pdf). What common theme can you identify? Note similarities and differences between the images. Now take a look at the bibliographic records of each image by clicking the links below. What is the function of the main object in each image? Choose one of these and investigate…

Guided Primary Source Analysis: How the Sun Spots Control Our Weather

Guided Primary Source Analysis: How the Sun Spots Control Our Weather

Zoom into a more detailed image of this newspaper page from 1912. Look at the images carefully and only read the headline and image captions. Outline the assertions—facts or beliefs—that are suggested. Now read the first paragraph of the article. Describe your reaction to this text. Then relate how the descriptions of weather events compare to what…

Learning from the Source: Primary Source Trail of Western Migration

Learning from the Source: Primary Source Trail of Western Migration

Background The “Corps of Discovery” expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in the years 1804-1806 was instrumental in opening up western North America to settlement. After this defining exploration, fur companies further investigated  westward routes. Financed by John J. Astor’s Pacific Fur Company, an 1812 expedition led by Robert Stuart began on the west coast…

Today in History: The Galveston Storm

Today in History: The Galveston Storm

Today in History–September 8–the Library of Congress features the Galveston storm of 1900, which made landfall on this day and, according to the National Weather Service was the deadliest cyclone in U.S. history, responsible for the deaths of at least 8,000 people. Find out more by visiting the Today in History section, then click the links below to access…

Today in History: Hurricane Katrina

Today in History: Hurricane Katrina

Today in History–August 29–the Library of Congress features Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall on this date in 2005 near Buras, Louisiana, and headed north. Two hours later New Orleans’ Industrial Canal levee had been breached and within an hour, the neighborhood known as the Lower Ninth Ward was under six-to-eight feet of water. This devastating hurricane caused damage from Texas…