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Resources for National History Day Projects

Posted by: Stephen Wesson

Whether students are interested in examining a historic revolution, exploring social reactions to a particular event or idea, research the origins of a reform movement, or identify a topic that includes elements of all three Rs, the Library of Congress has online resources to support their 2025 National History Day project.

Color photograph of people conducting research in the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress

Closer Look: Research Guides

Posted by: Colleen Smith

The Library's vast digital resources offer enormous possibilities— so many that it can feel overwhelming and it can be hard to know where to start. Experienced reference staff and subject specialists at the Library create research guides that address a variety of topics to help patrons find what they are looking for.

Closer Look: Today in History

Posted by: Colleen Smith

Today in History, a resource from the Library, offers teachers essays about historic events in combination with related digitized primary sources from the Library’s online collections. Entries also include additional resources and search strategies for discovering more in the collections.

Detail of the Clara Barton Collection homepage

Closer Look: Library Collections Pages

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

Many of the online collections at the Library of Congress include expert guidance about what researchers, including student researchers, might find in the collection, including a summary, collection scope, highlights, and rights and access. Taking a moment to explore those expert resources can help students decide whether or not to further examine the collection, reducing frustration and improving search results.

Illustration shows a fat businessman reclining on a large coin, basking in the bright light of "Special Privilege" while dreaming of castles in the air; on the other side of the coin is factory life in dark and polluted Pittsburgh, and where factory workers struggle to flip the coin blocking the light from their city and their lives.

The Price of Pollution: Helping Students Visualize Relationships Between Economic Concepts and Environmental Issues with a 1909 Political Cartoon

Posted by: Colleen Smith

In the March/April 2025 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article highlighted a political cartoon that appeared in the September 22, 1909, issue of Puck Magazine. The image, “Lights and Shadows”, contains a wealth of opportunities for students to explore connections between the environment, politics, economics, and public health.