Currently this website presents full-text, searchable facsimiles of 1,850 monographs and 288 journal volumes related to agriculture in the U.S. All were published between 1806 and 1989. Evaluations and 4,500 core titles are detailed in the seven volume series The Literature of the Agricultural Sciences. Fields of study covered include agricultural economics, agricultural engineering, animal science, forestry, nutrition, rural sociology, and soil science.
Types of materials include memoirs and transactions of early agricultural societies, newspapers, almanacs, agricultural periodicals, governmental publications, and archives of families, communities, and corporations. Users can search by author, title, subject, or keyword, then access the title page, table of contents, index, or pages of the text. These resources are valuable for studying the profound social, cultural, and economic effects of shifts in the history of American farming.
This short video by the Library of Congress examines a rather curious Civil War newspaper: Vicksburg Daily Citizen. Curator Mark Dimunation discusses how the newspaper was printed during the war when resources became scarce and presents an interesting issue of the paper from July 4, 1863.
Dr. Tom Costa, of the University of Virginia-Wise, discusses The Geography of Slavery, an online database compiling advertisements for the capture of runaway slaves from 1736 to 1803.
To listen to this lecture, select "Part 2" under the October 12th listing.
Dr. Tom Costa, of the University of Virginia-Wise, discusses The Geography of Slavery, an online database compiling advertisements for the capture of runaway slaves from 1736 to 1803.
To listen to this lecture, select "Podcast Part 1" under the October 12th listing.
Author Danny Cassidy describes the origins of the word "dude," which he claims first came into use in late 19th-century New York among the Irish immigrant community.
Edward L. Ayers of the University of Virginia looks at Northern and Southern responses to John Brown's Raid and John Brown's execution, focusing on the regional differences the responses brought to the fore and media manipulation of these responses.
To view this clip, select "John Brown's Raid and the American Sectional Crisis" under "Political Development Video."
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park presents the opportunity to experience the history of early San Diego by providing a connection to the past. Visitors can learn about life in the Mexican and early American periods of 1821 to 1872, as converging cultures transformed San Diego from a Mexican pueblo to an American settlement. The core of restored original historic buildings from the interpretive period are complemented by reconstructed sites, along with early 20th-century buildings designed in the same mode. The Historic Plaza remains a gathering place for community events and historic activity. Five original adobe buildings are part of the historic park, which includes museums, unique retail shops, and several restaurants. La Casa de Estudillo is a mansion built around a garden courtyard. La Casa de Machado y Stewart is full of artifacts that reflect ordinary life of the period. Some of the other historic buildings include the Mason Street School (California's first public schoolhouse), La Casa de Machado y Silvas, the San Diego Union Printing Office (site of the city's oldest surviving newspaper office), and the first brick courthouse. The Seeley Stables Museum, with newly rehabilitated exhibits on overland transportation, houses one of the finest wagon and carriage collections. Visitors can experience a working blacksmith shop, enjoy music, see or touch the park's burros, and engage in activities that represent early San Diego.
The park offers exhibits, tours, living history events and programs, and other recreational and educational events.
Attorney Floyd Abrams navigates the legal minefield of the First Amendment in his book, Speaking Freely: Trials of the First Amendment. He discusses the Pentagon Papers case with NBC's Ann Curry.
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This iCue Mini-Documentary describes the original division of public opinion over the Mexican-American War. Many accused President Polk of provoking a war.
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This iCue Mini-Documentary introduces newspaper printer John Peter Zenger, who tested the freedom of the press long before the first amendment was written. He commited sedition against the governor, but he was acquitted by a jury which favored free speech.
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