Intriguing Facts about Presidential Inaugurations Past
From drunk VPs to frozen canaries, anything can—and often does—happen on Inauguration Day! Here are some interesting tidbits about past presidential inaugurations.
Good News!
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, […]
Good Will Toward Men: The Great War’s Christmas Truce
In the first year of WWI an official truce for Christmas failed. But a sudden rise of the Christmas Spirit created a phenomenon—the soldiers decided not to fight on Christmas day. British and German soldiers left the trenches to celebrate together.
Let it Snow! A Look at Historic Blizzards
Winter is in full swing! The season’s shimmery first snow is always beautiful and exciting, but what about after the magic wears off? Icy temperatures, blustery winds, and inches upon inches of snow! This week, we look back on some of the nation’s biggest blizzards in history as reported by America’s newspapers.
Cooking Up History: Holiday Baking with a Retro Twist
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 […]
Tips and Tricks When Writing to St. Nick
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.
Fluffy Ruffles in the Popular Press
This post is a collaboration with Dr. Christina Burr, Associate Professor in History at the University of Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where she teaches courses in North American Popular Culture, Women’s History, and a Graduate Seminar on the Modern Girl. Dr. Burr and I met while she was conducting research on-site at the Library […]
A Feast of Funnies: Thanksgiving Comic Strips
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 […]
Nominations sought for the U.S. Government End of Term 2020 Web Archive
This is a guest blog post by Abbie Grotke, Assistant Head, Digital Content Management Section. It was originally posted to The Signal on October 29, 2020. You may have noticed that it is presidential election season in the United States, which means it’s also time for web archivists to gather once again to archive United […]
Holiday Parades: Thanksgiving Tradition that Signals Holiday Season
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!