Teaching difficult topics using carefully selected primary sources can help students connect the past to the present. Looking at events through the lens of history can often make approaching a difficult topic easier.
When I learned that Smokey Robinson would be the next recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, I was thrilled.
The Gershwin Prize honors a living musical artist’s lifetime achievement in promoting the genre of song as a vehicle of cultural understanding; entertaining and informing audiences; and inspiring new generations.
I first stumbled across an image of Tom Wiggins when looking for images of African Americans during the Civil War, but I didn’t pay much attention to him until two days later when I saw the same piece of sheet music displayed at the National Portrait Gallery.
This summer, Educational Outreach staff and panels of colleagues, from in and outside of the Library, reviewed 81 proposals submitted in response to a nationwide search for organizations interested in joining the TPS Consortium with new and exciting ways to reach teachers across the county.
Do you need additional resources to celebrate the second half of Hispanic Heritage month? The Library of Congress has some wonderful materials for you and your students.
Currently I am working on the Library's rare American children's books. This is particularly rewarding work for me because children's literature is such an excellent window into the priorities and values of a time and place.
The West African country of Liberia shares special historical ties to the United States, dating back to its founding in 1822 by former slaves and free-born blacks from the United States under the sponsorship of the American Colonization Society (ACS).
This Tuesday, teachers and school librarians will have an opportunity to ask Library of Congress experts about the Rosa Parks papers. A Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session from 9 to 12 a.m. (ET) in the AskHistorians subreddit will include education specialists from the Library, as well as staff who organized and described the papers of this civil rights legend.
Starting today, the Library has made the Rosa Parks Papers available on its Web site. This collection contains thousands of unique artifacts that shed light on this courageous fighter for social justice. The letters, diaries, notes, photographs, and other documents in this collection, which is on loan to the Library for ten years from the Howard G. Buffet Foundation, provide invaluable insights into her life and thoughts.