Ninety years ago, a Texas grocer named Lorenzo D. Buchanan stepped forward with one of the great hoaxes of 20th-century American pop-culture life, a genealogical fabrication that continues to resonate today. The Great Buchanan Inheritance Hoax rocked American life from 1931-1936 with his false tale of an $85 million inheritance that was available to anyone who could prove a family connection.
The military order that led to the federal holiday of Juneteenth was not regarded as important national news when it was issued in Galveston, Texas, on June 19, 1865.
Wanda Whitney, the Library's Head of History and Genealogy, Researcher and Reference Services, tells how readers can use the Library's collections to research the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921.
Researching African American genealogical history is complicated by several factors, most notably slavery and subsequent Jim Crow policies. Use this handy resource guide to get started.
Reference Librarian Candice Buchanan offers advice to researchers and family members who are interested to searching for the names and activities of women involved in the suffrage movement.
The Library has many resources that document the 1918 to 1919 flu pandemic. Historian John Barry discuss his book, "The Great Influenza," with David Rubenstein.
Fugitive slave ads abounded in American newspapers until the end of the Civil War; the Library of Congress collections offer insight into this ugly segment of U.S. history.
This is a guest post by Adam Rothman, a professor of history at Georgetown University and an expert on the history of slavery and abolition in the Atlantic world. Last fall, he was a distinguished visiting scholar at the Library’s John W. Kluge Center. Here Rothman writes about the Omar Ibn Said Collection, which the …