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Category: African American History

Map of the District of Columbia outlined in black.

Home Rule and Go-Go “Live! at the Library,” November 30, 2023

Posted by: Ryan Reft

Join us on November 30 for a “Live! at the Library” commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of home rule in Washington, D.C., with a panel discussion on the legacy of home rule moderated by Kojo Nnamdi and featuring journalist Tom Sherwood; The Drum and Spear Bookstore co-founder, Eyes on the Prize documentarian and civil rights activist Judy Richardson; and historians G. Derek Musgrove and Kyla Sommers. A performance by the D.C. Go-Go band Mambo Sauce will follow the panel discussion.

Reflections on Our First Twenty-First-Century U.S. Presidential Collection: Barack Obama Correspondence and Photographs, 1981-2012

Posted by: Josh Levy

The Manuscript Division recently acquired more than twenty Barack Obama letters, postcards, notes, photographs, and campaign ephemera, most dating from the 1980s. The letters confirm historian Meg McAleer’s fascination with materials emanating from a person’s early professional life.

Group of women wearing hats and coats standing outside of the White House.

New American Federation of Labor By the People Crowdsourced Transcription Campaign Launched

Posted by: Ryan Reft

A new By the People crowdsourced transcription campaign, “American Federation of Labor Records: Letters in the Progressive Era,” launched in late April. By taking part in the campaign, volunteers will discover how the labor union engaged with issues of race, class, and gender during the early twentieth century.