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Category: International History

Full body shot of Cannon standing on deck of ship

An American Tourist in Nazi Germany

Posted by: Josh Levy

Wendell Cannon, a high school teacher from Illinois, toured Europe during his summer break in 1936. His journal, photographs, and other souvenirs capture familiar tourist activities such as a visit to Paris’s Arc de Triomphe as well as the unique experience of visiting Nazi Germany and witnessing Jesse Owens win gold in the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympics.

Desert landscape with road at left, gray storm clouds above with blue sky. showing between them. In foreground two men in red shirts with donkeys and carts.

New “By the People” Crowdsourcing Transcription Campaign: A Journey Across Mexico in 1849: The Journals and Sketchbooks of Benajah Jay Antrim

Posted by: Julie Miller

Benajah Jay Antrim’s journals and sketchbooks document an American artist’s journey across Mexico in 1849. As of January 29, 2025, you can volunteer to transcribe them as part of the “By the People” crowdsourcing project from the Library of Congress.

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

The Christopher Columbus collection at the Library of Congress includes a rare and valuable copy from 1502 of a group of documents known collectively as the “Book of Privileges,” purchased by the Library in 1901. The larger collection also contains additional copies in various formats the Library acquired from the 1890s through the 1940s. Junior Fellow Molly Williams explores the history of these documents.