Linda B. Osborne discusses her book for young people, Traveling the Freedom Road: From Slavery and the Civil War Through Reconstruction, which draws on the Library of Congress collections of former slave interviews to convey the aspirations, sorrows, courage, and hopes of ordinary people living through this period. Osborne mined the Federal Writers' Project slave narratives and materials in the Library's Manuscript, Prints and Photographs, Rare Book and Special Collections, and Geography and Map divisions for this work that focuses on the experiences of African American children. More than 80 archival images complement the text. Major events covered include the rise of the domestic slave trade, the Emancipation Proclamation, and the Republican Congress' Reconstruction policies. From Charles Cowley, an enslaved child who had no shoes with which to walk through the snow, to Richard Slaughter, who enlisted in the Union Army at 17, this book reveals the personal hardships and courageous endurance of black youth in 19th-century America.

Alexis de Tocqueville's Democracy in America is the best study of America to be written by a foreigner. It examines government, religion, the races, private associations, literature, the family, and much else, all the while contrasting democratic America with old aristocratic Europe. This course will examine as much of the book as possible, focusing especially on Tocqueville's account of the love of equality (and its dangers) and his prescriptions for the preservation of liberty.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in cooperation with the Teton County School District and the Jackson Hole Art Association, presents this one-day workshop, free of charge. This workshop will feature sessions on guidelines for teaching about the Holocaust and genocide, new classroom-ready lessons from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, and a Holocaust survivor speaking to participants. The workshop will also include a tour and hands-on learning in the USHMM traveling exhibit: "Fighting the Fires of Hate: America and the Nazi Book Burnings."

This final session in the series features a talk from University of California, Davis historian Clarence Walker and lessons presented by three teachers.

University of Pittsburgh professor Marcus Rediker will discuss his book "The Slave Ship: A Human History," which explores life and relationships, for and between both crew and slaves, on slave ships traveling between Africa and the Americas.

This seminar will examine the creation of identity and a sense of place by inhabitants and visitors to the Great Plains throughout the history of the U.S. Discussions and lectures will focus on four books: author and historian Walter P. Webb's 1931 "The Great Plains"; author Willa Cather's 1918 "My Antonia"; author N. Scott Momaday's 1969 "The Way to Rainy Mountain"; and author, historian, and environmentalist Wallace Stegner's 1955 autobiography "Wolf Willow: A History, a Story, and a Memory of the Last Plains Frontier."

"Howard Fineman, Newsweek’s chief political correspondent, visits the National Constitution Center in the thick of the election season to discuss politics, candidates and his new book, 'The Thirteen American Arguments,'" looking at the historical origins and evolution of the arguments that he believes define American politics.

This workshop "will bring together a distinguished team of humanities scholars who will provide an interdisciplinary exploration of Hurston’s life and work. They include a literary scholar who has written extensively on Hurston; a folklorist who wrote the application that placed Eatonville on the Historic Register; a Hurston biographer; the director of the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress, where most of Hurston’s folklife collection resides; and a colleague of Hurston’s in the WPA. Participants will examine Hurston’s accomplishments within the context of the historical and cultural development of the Eatonville community. They will grapple with compelling questions about how this unique black enclave fueled Hurston’s appreciation of folk culture, inspired her literary works, created her racial identity, and formed her sometimes controversial views on race." It will include readings, lectures, discussions, visits to historic sites, and curriculum development projects. Specific topics will include "Hurston’s Eatonville Roots," "Inspiration for Hurston’s Racial and Gender Identity, Folkloric Research, and Literary Work," "The Harlem Renaissance and the WPA," "Humor and Religion," and "Fort Pierce: From Halcyon Days to Obscurity."