In this Library of Congress presentation, the children of author and civil rights activist M. Carl Holman—Kinshasha Holman-Conwill, Kwasi Holman, and Kwame Holman—reflect on the character of their father, who also served as the director of the National Urban Coalition.
Distinguished historian and lifelong civil rights activist Professor John Hope Franklin joins archivist Allen Weinstein and Dr. Lonnie Bunch, director of the new National Museum of African-American History and Culture, to discuss his careers as educator, scholar, and activist.
To watch this interview, scroll to "John Hope Franklin," and select "Watch the Video."
This student think-aloud shows a high school student reading a New York Times article about the Scopes Trial and working to make sense of its meaning. During this 74-second video, she identifies words she is unfamiliar with and draws on outside information in order to analyze the tone of the document. As a result of this close reading, she is able to better understand not only the meaning of the document, but also the viewpoint of its author—a big city reporter visiting a small town in Tennessee. A commentary on the think-aloud is also available and you can find the document the student reads here.
Four guided investigations designed to teach students how to read primary sources and construct historical narratives lie at the heart of this website. Topics are: the Spanish-American War, the Scopes Trial, Social Security, and Rosa Parks. Each topic includes a short introductory video, a timeline of events, a central question, and extension activities. For example, the Rosa Parks investigation poses the question: "Why did the boycott of Montgomery's buses succeed?"
After completing a simple login, students read annotated documents—including letters written by the boycott organizers, a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr. and an interview with a woman working in Montgomery—and answer guiding questions, and draw on their responses to answer the question. The website also includes a useful introduction to the idea of historical thinking.
According to the Library of Congress Webcasts summary, in this video, "Joseph Kip Kosek, assistant professor at George Washington University, discussed the impact of radical Christian pacifists on American democratic theory and practice, at the Library of Congress. Kosek, the author of Acts of Conscience: Christian Nonviolence and Modern American Democracy and a former fellow of the Library's John W. Kluge Center, talked about his book. According to Kosek, in response to the massive bloodshed that defined the 20th century, American religious radicals developed an effective new form of nonviolent protest, one that combined Christian principles with new uses of mass media. Greatly influenced by the ideas of Mohandas K. Gandhi, these 'acts of conscience' included sit-ins, boycotts, labor strikes and conscientious objection to war. Beginning with World War I and ending with the ascendance of Martin Luther King Jr., Kosek traces the impact of radical Christian pacifists on America."
The History Museum of Western Virginia presents artifacts and information relevant to the history of the western portion of Virginia. The site also operates the circa 1905 Crystal Spring Pumping Station, which provided water-based power for Roanoke, VA.
The museum offers exhibits, interactive curriculum-based outreach programs, interactive curriculum-based programs, and research library access. The pump station is open May through September. Student program topics include immigration, African Americans in the maritime industry, Native American life and leisure, pioneer art, Mali, Civil War soldier life, patriotic symbols, early international conflict, archaeology, rural life, steam locomotives in Southwest Virginia, the work and labor of sharecroppers' children, trade, exploration, and navigation. The website offers a virtual exhibit and a searchable collections database with images.
Provides informative entries on more than 4,000 works of art—more than 500 of which include images—in the collection of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. "Conceived of as the nation's museum of modern and contemporary art," the Hirshhorn concentrates on the post-World War II period, with special focus on the past 25 years, though it also owns works by influential modern artists from earlier periods. Searchable according to artist, title, date, nationality, and 30 schools of art. Entries provide short essays of up to 200 words on artists and works. Previous and current exhibits are on display. An "Art Interactive" component explains ways that recent sculptors have used various methods and materials, and invites visitors to design their own creations. Useful for those seeking an introduction to modern and contemporary art history.
This website offers an archive of nearly 2,000 pieces of sheet music printed during the First World War (1914-1918). The collection includes such diverse subjects as African-American soldiers, democracy, flags, marriage, and Woodrow Wilson, and it includes the work of such musicians as Irving Berlin, Eddie Cantor, and John Philip Sousa. The collection can be browsed by creator, publisher, subject, or titles; and both basic and advanced searches are available. A general introduction and a historical essay are forthcoming. This website is a useful resource for historians of early 20th-century American culture or those studying material or visual culture.
This collection presents video and audio oral histories and additional material from American veterans of 20th-century wars. Materials include memoirs (some lengthy), letters, diaries, photo albums, scrapbooks, poetry, artwork, and official documents. The website currently provides digital materials from 4,351 veterans from World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, Afghanistan and the Iraq War, and other similar events. The 226 video interviews range from 25 minutes to two hours in length.
The material presented is part of a rapidly growing archive, the Veterans History Project, created by Congress in 2000 to collect stories from the 19 million living veterans. Other sections highlight World War I; World War II's forgotten theaters in China, Burma, and India; and 37 other unique war experiences.
Recipe for Victory: Food and Cooking in Wartime literally encapsulates the flavor of an era. Between 1917 and 1919, it became clear that feeding U.S. and European troops was crucial. This required a sacrifice on the part of individuals in the English and U.S. homefronts. As a result, the period birthed a great quantity of literature on nutrition, replacing scare ingredients with those readily accessible, garden growth, and international food-related statistics.
This website collects 45 textual sources published between 1917 and 1919. Simply choose "browse," and enjoy everything from Preserve Eggs for Winter Use or Best War Time Recipes to Why Not Buckwheat?.