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Archive: February 2016 (4 Posts)

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Know Your Candidate: Analyzing Sheet Music to Explore Presidential Nominee Identity

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

It is difficult to miss talk of the upcoming presidential election. Speeches, debates, and soundbites fill television screens, newspapers, and websites. But unless you attend a live event for a presidential nominee, you may not hear his or her campaign song, typically a familiar, popular song selected to shape how voters perceive the candidate. Campaign songs from long ago, original scores or popular songs with rewritten lyrics, did the same.

One woman watches as another examines with a magnifying glass an ornate, decorative image on a printed page

Civil War Regimental Flags for African American Troops

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

What can a flag tell us about the people who marched behind it? We recently rediscovered these regimental flags from the Library's online collections and were struck by the vivid imagery and mottoes. We did a little research on the flags – and the artist behind them – and decided to highlight them during African American History Month in February.