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Unfolding History Homepage

Pioneering pharmacologist Frances Kelsey in 1962.

Made at the Library: Frances Oldham Kelsey and the Battle Against Thalidomide

Posted by: Josh Levy

Men and women seated and standing around a table, with one man standing and pointing at something unseen at left, frescoes and heavy curtains in background

Intern Spotlight: The Shifting Reputation of Christopher Columbus as Seen in the Christopher Columbus Collection at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Julie Miller

Detail of a cartoon illustration showing an unhappy couple in court, struggling with chains and a padlock that represent their marriage.

Of Note: Not THAT Kind of Husbandry

Posted by: Michelle Krowl

Black and white photograph of the east front of the house Morattico Rappahannock River, Simonson, Richmond County, VA

George Washington’s Uncle Writes Home: The Letterbook of Joseph Ball

Posted by: Julie Miller

Detail from a visual outline for “So Imagined Mercado” (“Blue Antiquity”), by Oscar Hijuelos, undated.

Hispanic Heritage: Oscar Hijuelos Papers Newly Available in the Manuscript Division

Posted by: Andrea J. Briggs

Monochrome photograph of Lincoln standing with hand on chair, uniformed Union soldiers standing at left and right, with military tents in background

Made at the Library: “Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War,” with George C. Rable

Posted by: Michelle Krowl

The capitol building at Williamsburg, Virginia, where the House of Burgesses met.

George Washington and the “Spirit of Association”

Posted by: Julie Miller

Monochrome image of Ford at table in committee hearing room, speaking into microphone

The Nixon Pardon

Posted by: Ryan Reft

Nautical Almanac Office director Charles Henry Davis offers Maria Mitchell a position as a “computer,” at a time when computers were people and opportunities for professional work in astronomy were vanishingly few, for both men and women. Davis to Mitchell, August 10, 1849.

Maria Mitchell’s Enduring Legacy: From Astronomical Poetry to Liberty Ships

Posted by: Josh Levy