Go Back to School with the Library of Congress’ Collections

This post was written by Dianne Choie, Educational Programs Specialist at the Library of Congress.

The days are getting just a little bit cooler, and the summer sun is starting to set just a bit earlier. That must mean it’s time to go back to school! To celebrate students’ return to the classroom, take a look at some of the materials in the Library of Congress collection with your family (including many images from the Prints and Photographs Division) to help you bring back some school memories (and hopefully form some new ones this year).

The first step to going back to school is getting there. Do you take a school bus like the kids in the photo below, taken in Nevada in 1981? The bus isn’t the only way for kids to travel. Some people drive, take the subway, or walk to school. How were these kids from the 1901 photograph below getting to school?

These two photos were taken 80 years apart. What do you think might have been similar or different between the schools they were headed to?  What clues in the two photographs help you make your guesses?

Let’s compare two more photos, this time showing the inside of two classrooms. This first photo was taken in Puerto Rico in 1938. Does anything you see here look similar to classrooms you’ve seen or been in? Does anything look different?

Compare that photo to these photos of a middle school classroom in Florida in 2000. How can you tell that the images below are more modern than the one above?

One thing you might have noticed about the differences in all the photos above is the clothing the kids are wearing in each image. The start of a new school year is a time when you and other people in your family might get new clothes. Stores have featured back to school sales on clothing for a long time. Here’s an example from the Laurel Outlook newspaper in Laurel, Montana, which dedicated the entire issue to going back to school in August, 1950. You can see millions of scanned newspaper pages in the Library’s Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers collection. Let’s take a closer look at a couple of the pages of this special back to school paper.

You might notice right away that the prices for the clothing in these advertisements seem very inexpensive! The cost of things like clothes were very different in 1950 from costs today. It’s also interesting to see the styles of clothing featured. You can probably see students today wearing flannel shirts, dresses, and winter coats like the ones shown here. It might be harder to find saddle oxfords or sport coats for boys—though styles are always changing! Take another look: would a free yo-yo or comic book convince you to get different shoes?

Did you notice the sewing fabrics featured on the second page? Many people still make their own clothing today, but it’s less common now than it was in 1950.

Whatever clothes you wear and whether you learn at a school, at home, or online, we all learn from reading books. Have you read books at school that you’ve enjoyed? What kinds of books do you think the students in the images below might have been reading?

Don’t forget lunch and recess! What does it look like when you take a break during the school day? What do you have for lunch, and where do you eat it? Is there a playground or other space where you spend time with your friends? Look at these photos, both from the 1940s. What do you notice about the students you can see eating and playing in them? How do they compare to your own school experience?

Your school might also offer opportunities for creative expression. Are the activities in the following photos ones that you like to do at school?

These students are in art class. What do you think they might be painting?

Maybe acting is more your style! What do you think is happening in this play? Do you recognize any of the characters?

Writing is another way to be creative. We love this idea for a “shower song” from Jason Reynolds, the former National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. In the spring of 2020 when many people were attending school and working virtually from home, Jason made a series of videos with ideas for ways to be creative and flex your writing skills at home. In this video, he describes how you can capture rhythm and melody in a short piece of writing that’s just for you.

Will you try writing a shower song? What song would help you go into the new school year with confidence and excitement?

What will you do to make this school year the best one yet? If you’d like to see more photos of students and teachers in the Library of Congress collection, check out this free to use and reuse image set. To dig even deeper into our resources for students and teachers, you can start with the Library’s introduction to using primary resources here.

Wherever you go to school and whatever you do to learn and play, we hope you have a wonderful new school year!