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.
Presenting feel-good news stories to round out our posts for the year and say farewell to 2020 on a positive note! Hopefully, these uplifting, heartfelt, funny, and touching stories from yesterday’s news in Chronicling America* serve as a diversion from the darker news of this year… In 1947, after scouring newspaper stories around the country, …
This post was written by Rachel Gordon, Visitor Services Specialist in the Library’s Center for Learning, Literacy, and Engagement. It was originally published on Minerva’s Kaleidoscope: Resources for Kids & Families Blog and is the latest in her series “Cooking Up History,” which explore historic recipes in the Library’s collections. “It just wouldn’t be the …
How do you get what you want for Christmas? Write a letter to Santa, of course! Combing through "Dear Santa" letters published in historical newspapers, you can glean tips and tricks on how to write a letter of your own.
When was the last time you curled up with the Sunday comics section of your local newspaper? Below are some good ol’ jokes presented to you through comic strips available on the Library’s website through Chronicling America* and the Prints and Photographs Division. You might recognize some of these characters, but others might be new …
Though our holiday seasons will look different this year, some traditions can still be preserved. Read more about the history of Thanksgiving Day parades and see pictures from our historic newspapers!
Tales of hauntings around Washington, D.C., are a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. From presidents and soldiers to local residents, the ghosts are said to haunt both official buildings and houses. Read more about where to find these ghosts and spooks.
This post was written by Rachel Gordon, Visitor Services Specialist in the Library’s Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement. It was originally published on Minerva’s Kaleidoscope: Resources for Kids & Families Blog. For Halloween 2020, we’re all going to be staying much closer to home than is the norm. That made me wonder what we …