Polar Explorer Matthew Henson and the Blizzard of Fame
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
What strategies do you use to bring attention to lesser known people in history?
Posted in: African American History, World History
Search results for: chronicling+america
From the LOC (or Wherever You May Be), All the Way to Mars!
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Ponder this: would you want to go to Mars? Would you want to live on Mars? What might you do there? Who would you want to go with you? We posed these questions to student visitors during a program called “Life and Community on Mars” held in the Library of Congress Young Readers Center.
Posted in: Science Technology and Math, Young Learners
Former Teacher Finds Songwriting Inspiration in Library’s Digital Newspapers
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Rob Williams first used the Library’s digital newspaper collections more than a decade ago as a high-school teacher of U.S. history in Powhatan County, Virginia, near Richmond. Today, he’s a recording artist—he released his third album, “An Hour Before Daylight,” in October. But he still draws inspiration from the same online resources that captivated his history students.
Posted in: Fine and Performing Arts, Interviews with Experts
Information Literacy: Why Does the Source Matter? Gilmore’s 1869 Peace Jubilee
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Two articles about Patrick Gilmore's June 1869 peace jubilee in Boston, an event many students and teachers may not be familiar with, might pique students' interest in learning about the event and lend themselves to structured evaluation and analysis of each source of information
Posted in: Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877), Fine and Performing Arts, Lesson Ideas
Learning Beyond the Original Purpose with Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
In the November/December 2017 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article features a 1910 map of South San Francisco, San Mateo County, California. The map was created for the unique purpose of documenting estimated fire hazards, and resides in the Sanborn Map Collection, part of an ongoing digitization project at the Library of Congress.
Posted in: Geography and Maps, Industrial United States, World Wars and the Great Depression (1914-1945), Lesson Ideas, Teaching Tools
Harry Houdini, Ghostbuster: Exploring an Illusionist’s Exposés through Primary Sources
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Harry Houdini, who died on Halloween in 1926, is probably best known as a magician and escape artist, but he also devoted considerable energy to investigating and debunking the claims of spiritualists. Who better to peel back that veil than a master illusionist?
Posted in: Teaching Strategies
Woodrow Wilson’s Fourteen Points: From Shorthand Notes to a Nobel Prize
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
At first glance, most students, and even many adults, might dismiss these shorthand notes as a page of scribbles, but they sketch out a plan for international peace.
Posted in: Government and Law, Industrial United States, World Wars and the Great Depression (1914-1945)
Reconstructing a Civil War Battle from a Poet’s Letter Home
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
In the May/June 2017 issue of Social Education, the journal of the National Council for the Social Studies, our “Sources and Strategies” article features a letter that Walt Whitman wrote to his mother on December 29, 1862. Whitman wrote the letter to let his mother know that he had found his brother George alive and healing from an injury sustained during the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Posted in: Civil War and Reconstruction (1861-1877), Poetry and Literature
Information Literacy: How Does the News Change Over Time? The Sinking of the Titanic
Posted by: Cheryl Lederle
Why is it important to evaluate and corroborate sources of information? These are not new questions, as a study of historical newspapers will confirm. Sometimes reports reflect an editorial bias, and sometimes they simply reflect what the reporter knows at the time, with updates being added as new information from more sources surfaces.
Posted in: Teaching Strategies