Comparing the narratives in secondary sources to primary sources from the Rosa Parks Papers can foster student inquiry to develop a more complex understanding of her role in the Civil Rights Movement as a life-long activist.
The Rosa Parks Papers at the Library of Congress can promote student inquiry into the complexities of Parks’ life and activism and engage students in analysis about her life and civil rights activism to support or refute popular depictions of Parks in civil rights narratives.
While a primary source may be only one resource within a larger lesson, deliberating during the selection process over where in the lesson the primary source will be used can lead to greater engagement, inquiry, and learning from the students.
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.
Now there's one especially for working with newspapers. Pair this guide with the printable or online primary source analysis tool to guide students into deeper analysis and reflection of primary sources from the online collections of rich historical primary sources from the Library of Congress.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964, the conditions that led to it and its legacy are the subjects of a four-part webinar series. Co-facilitated by education experts from Teaching Tolerance and the Library of Congress, the series will invite participants to examine unique primary sources from the Library's collections that illuminate the laws and practices that preceded the act as well as discuss teaching strategies to use in the classroom.
On March 25, 1911, a fire swept through the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City, killing 146 men and women, many of them recent immigrants. It was later discovered that the workers faced many obstacles as they tried to flee the fire: Doors were locked by the factory's management and the fire escapes were inadequate. This catastrophe, which led to a public outcry, prompted updates to labor laws and reforms to fire and safety regulations.