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Posted by: Heather Thomas
Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, Sheng Dan Kuai Le, ¡Feliz Navidad! Christmas celebrations take place around the world and can vary greatly from country to country with traditions that reflect differing cultural history and national customs. Test your knowledge and learn more about how this holiday is celebrated around the globe!
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Holidays, Newspapers, Trivia
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Thanksgiving has long been celebrated at the White House, but in addition to giving thanks, the presidency has a long history with the holiday.
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Holidays, Newspapers, U.S. Presidents
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, and wearing scary costumes are some of the time-honored traditions of Halloween. Yet, the Halloween holiday has its roots in the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced "SAH-win"), a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer, when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor saints. Soon after, All Saints Day came to incorporate some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before All Saints Day was known as All Hallows Eve, and later, Halloween. Here is a look at the origins of some of the classic Halloween traditions we know today.
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Halloween, Holidays, Newspapers
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Dueling newspaper editors! Spring frocks of 1899! Baseball's Opening Day (in 1921)! Discover them all by following our newly launched Twitter account @ChronAmLOC highlighting news and articles from the Chronicling America online historic newspaper collection.
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Tape v. Hurley (1885) is one the most important civil rights decisions that you've likely never heard of. The parents of American-born Mamie Tape successfully challenged a principal's refusal to enroll their daughter and other children of Chinese heritage into the Spring Valley Primary School in San Francisco, California, seven decades before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education.
Posted in: Asian American History, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Pharaoh, pirate, soldier, spy. Most have heard of Joan of Arc, but throughout history and across cultures, there have been a great number of women who have dressed in male attire in order to fulfill the roles that had traditionally been reserved for men. Many disguised their identities, sometimes taking their secret to the grave, while others were brazen, and even celebrated by their contemporaries. While their stories have largely been lost to time, there are some that made their mark on history.
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Women's History
Posted by: Heather Thomas
This month Chronicling America added newspapers from its 50th contributor – the University of the Virgin Islands! This first newspaper from the U.S. Virgin Islands, the St. Croix Avis, provides a deep dive into a particularly tumultuous time in the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1867, the islands were on the cusp of being sold to the United States when a hurricane, earthquake, and tsunami struck within a month. Covering the events of 1867 was the St. Croix Avis.
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Genealogy, Newspapers
Posted by: Heather Thomas
The amount of people who owe their lives to Dr. Charles R. Drew is beyond measure. The African American physician and surgeon pioneered the preservation of blood and plasma at the start of World War II and remained a leading authority on the subject for the rest of his career. He is responsible for America's first major blood banks and introduced the use of mobile blood donation and transport stations—later known as “bloodmobiles.”
Posted in: African American History, Biography, Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers
Posted by: Heather Thomas
Hail to the chief! In light of the recent U.S. presidential inauguration, it’s the perfect time to test your knowledge on the American presidents. Try your hand at the twenty trivia questions below and scroll to the bottom to see the answers. From the interesting to the amusing to the somewhat bizarre, you may be …
Posted in: Digitized Newspapers, Newspapers, Trivia, U.S. Presidents