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Category: Veterans and Military History

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

Five Questions with Arlene Balkansky, Reference Specialist, Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room

Posted by: Danna Bell

Arlene Balkansky loves working with the full range of people visiting Newspaper and Current Periodical reading room, whether on-site or remotely: the teenager working on a National History Day project, the family interested in comic books, the university student, the teacher participating in the Library’s Summer Teacher Institute, the genealogist, the professor, the filmmaker, the author, and more.

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

Sergeants Robert A. Pinn and William H. Thomas: African American Entrants in William O. Bourne’s Left-Handed Penmanship Contests, 1865-1867

Posted by: Cheryl Lederle

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.

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

Native Americans in the First World War and the Fight for Citizenship

Posted by: Danna Bell

While searching through our collections for maps to use for display in the exhibition Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I, I found one among our uncatalogued holdings that caught my attention. As the title states, it is a map presenting the role of North American Indians in the World War.

Picture of Ann Caracristi

Mathematics and Primary Sources: Historic Codes, Ciphers, and Computational Thinking, Part II – the Women Codebreakers of WWII

Posted by: Danna Bell

Sending and cracking secret messages dates back to the foundation and exploration of the country. But did you know that much of the cryptographic work that helped the United States win World War II was accomplished by female codebreakers?