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Posted by: Arlene Balkansky
While most children read about Helen Keller's childhood triumph over the difficulties of her deaf-blindness, many are unaware of her life as an activist and orator.
Posted in: Biography, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Women's History
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Dead outlaw, will travel. In life, Elmer McCurdy was a hard-drinking drifter. In death, he crisscrossed the country touring the carnival circuit, hit the Hollywood scene, and even made it to TV! The bizarre tale of Elmer’s journey from varmint to traveling corpse started in Oklahoma when he and his gang of bandits robbed the …
Posted in: Comic Books, Crime, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Arlene Balkansky
How could my thoughts not turn to baseball on the day of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game? Plus it’s being played right here in Washington, DC. Plus it’s only a couple weeks after the opening of Baseball Americana, the major exhibit at the Library of Congress. My thoughts often turn to comics and newspapers …
Posted in: Baseball, Comic Books, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Sports
Posted by: Amber Paranick
Elsie de Wolfe was an interior decorator before there was such a thing. And if she wasn’t making headlines for covering 18th century footstools in leopard print, she was in the newspapers for her eccentric blue hair, her affinity for small dogs (see here, here, and here), and unique preferences for physical fitness. Born in New …
Posted in: Biography, Digitized Newspapers, Women's History
Posted by: Malea Walker
Lost limbs and fingers, burns, blinding explosions, lockjaw and death. In the early 1900s, fireworks had not yet been perfected. Dangerous concoctions of explosives were used as an exciting way to celebrate our country’s independence, but the price was steep. Giant firecrackers, cannon fire, firearms, and rockets were just some of the loud and bright, …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Holidays