We thank Ava Thorpe, Fall 2024 Archives, History, and Heritage Advanced intern in the Library’s Professional Learning and Outreach Office, for this post. My project goal was to highlight the complicated relationship between African Americans and the U.S. criminal justice and law enforcement systems through the history of chain gangs, a term commonly used for …
Explore the charts W.E.B. DuBois created for the Paris Exposition and compare them to those created from 1870's census information. What do they tell us about the African American community during this time?
The Rosa Parks Papers at the Library of Congress testify to her courage, humility, and depth. They also reflect how she inspired others. Evaluating those documents based on their historical context, word choice, and revisions can deepen students’ understanding of her life and impact on the civil rights movement.
Reading labels as historical objects and applying historical thinking strategies can help students discover what these sometimes-overlooked objects can communicate with us in the present day.
In the January-February 2019 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article discusses the Life of Omar ibn Said, the only known extant narrative written in Arabic by an enslaved person in the United States. Analyzing this unique manuscript provides students with an opportunity to expand their understanding of some of the people who were brought to the United States from Africa to be enslaved. How educated were they? What did they believe?
In 1866, William O. Bourne organized a unique left-handed penmanship contest for Union veterans who had lost the use of their right hand. Veterans were encouraged to submit a letter they had written using their left hand and a total prize money of $1000.00 was offered. The Library of Congress holds the many of the entrants’ letters and other information on Bourne and the contest.
