Written materials in the Library's digital collections include books, government documents, manuscripts, and sheet music. Examples of written materials related to civil rights are provided for most of the collections listed below.
African American Perspectives: Materials Selected from the Rare Book Collection
"African American Perspectives" gives a panoramic and eclectic review of African American history and culture and is primarily comprised of two collections in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division: the African American Pamphlet Collection and the Daniel A.P. Murray Collection with a date range of 1822 through 1909. Most were written by African-American authors, though some were written by others on topics of particular importance in African-American history. Browse the collection by subject to locate more than thirty items pertaining to civil rights.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
Equality before the law protected by national statuteSummary: Speeches and debates by and involving Sumner in the Senate as he proposed to amend the 1866 Civil Rights Act to ensure equal rights to African Americans in the South. Sumner discusses race, the separate but equal doctrine, slavery, and citizenship in making his points with southern Senators.
The Alfred Whital Stern Collection of Lincolniana
The collection contains more than 11,100 items. This online release presents more than 1,300 items with more than 4,000 images and a date range of 1824-1931. It includes the complete collection of Stern's contemporary newspapers, Lincoln's law papers, sheet music, broadsides, prints, cartoons, maps, drawings, letters, campaign tickets, and other ephemeral items. The books and pamphlets in this collection are scheduled for digitization at a later date. The collection contains more than ten items on pertaining to civil rights.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875
The collection consists of a linked set of published congressional records of the United States of America from the Continental Congress through the 43rd Congress, 1774-1875. Search this collection, using the phrase "civil rights," to locate items related to civil rights.
Selected highlight from this collection:
The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
The collection presents the papers of the nineteenth-century African-American abolitionist who escaped from slavery and then risked his own freedom by becoming an outspoken antislavery lecturer, writer, and publisher. Browse the collection by subject to locate more than 1,000 items pertaining to civil rights.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Hannah Arendt Papers
The papers of author, educator, political philosopher, and public intellectual Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) constitute a large and diverse collection (25,000 items; 82,597 images) reflecting a complex career.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Leonard Bernstein
The Leonard Bernstein Collection at the Library of Congress is as exceptional as its name would suggest. Bernstein, arguably the most prominent figure in American classical music of the second half of the twentieth century, made his impact as a conductor, as a composer of classical and theater music, and as an educator through books, conducting students at Tanglewood, and especially through various televised lecture series that helped define the potentials of that medium.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
Mary Church Terrell Papers
The papers of educator, lecturer, suffragist, and civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954) consist of approximately 13,000 documents, comprising 25,323 images, all of which were digitized from 34 reels of previously produced microfilm. Spanning the years 1851 to 1962, with the bulk of the material concentrated in the period 1886-1954, the collection contains diaries, correspondence, printed matter, clippings, and speeches and writings, primarily focusing on Terrell's career as an advocate of women's rights and equal treatment of African Americans.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
Open Access Books
This is a growing collection of contemporary open access e-books. The books in this collection cover a wide range of subjects, including history, music, poetry, technology, and works of fiction. Most of the books in this collection were published in English, but there are some titles in other languages. All of the books in this collection were published under open access licenses and may be read online or downloaded as a PDF or as an EPUB.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Printed Ephemera: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The collection comprises 28,000 primary-source items dating from the seventeenth century to the present and encompasses key events and eras in American history. Rich in variety, the collection includes proclamations, advertisements, blank forms, programs, election tickets, catalogs, clippings, timetables, and menus.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Rosa Parks Papers
The papers of Rosa Parks (1913-2005) span the years 1866-2006, with the bulk of the material dating from 1955 to 2000. The collection, which contains approximately 7,500 items in the Manuscript Division, as well as 2,500 photographs in the Prints and Photographs Division, documents many aspects of Parks's private life and public activism on behalf of civil rights for African Americans. The collection is a gift made to the Library in 2016 through the generosity of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. The Library received the materials in late 2014, formally opened them to researchers in the Library's reading rooms in February 2015, and now has digitized them for optimal access by the public.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Selected Datasets
Datasets are increasingly a key digital resource used in a wide range of fields. The Library of Congress selects, preserves, and provides enduring access to datasets with the goal of cultivating a broad collection that encompasses all the areas covered by Library of Congress Collection Policy Statements. For more information on priorities for collecting datasets, see the Supplementary Guidelines for Datasets. Additional datasets acquired by the Library for the permanent collection will be made available here on a regular basis.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Selected Digitized Books
This is a growing collection of selected books and other materials from the Library of Congress General Collections that can be made openly available. Most of the materials in this collection were published in the United States and are in English. The collection features thousands of works of fiction, including books intended for children, young adults, and other audiences. There are also some materials in foreign languages that were published in other countries. The materials in this collection can be read online or downloaded.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
Slaves and the Courts, 1740 to 1860
The collection contains just over a hundred pamphlets and books (published between 1772 and 1889) concerning the difficult and troubling experiences of African and African-American slaves in the American colonies and the United States.
Selected highlight from this collection:
United States Reports (Official opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court)
United States Reports is a series of bound case reporters that are the official reports of decisions for the United States Supreme Court. A citation to a United States Supreme Court decisions includes three elements that are needed to retrieve a case.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
The visual material collections at the Library of Congress contains thousands of images documenting the history of civil rights in America. Selected images pertaining to civil rights are provided for each collection listed below.
Digital Collections: Photos, Prints, DrawingsThe collections of the Prints & Photographs Division include photographs, fine and popular prints and drawings, posters, and architectural and engineering drawings. While international in scope, the collections are particularly rich in materials produced in, or documenting the history of, the United States and the lives, interests and achievements of the American people. Find images using the terms civil rights, civil rights demonstration, civil rights movement, and civil rights workers.
African American Activists of the 20th Century: Selected PicturesThis resource guide includes images, primarily portraits, of Black American civil rights activists active in the twentieth century. All selected images are from the Prints & Photographs Division and have no known restrictions on publication.
African American Civil Rights Events of the 20th Century: Selected PicturesThis resource guide includes images of key activities and events in the movement for Black civil rights, 1950s-1970s. The selected images are from the Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division and have no known restrictions on publication.
African American Photographs Assembled for 1900 Paris Exposition
The Paris Exposition of 1900 (Exposition universelle internationale de 1900) devoted a building to matters of "social economy." The United States section of the building featured an exhibit that, according to W. E. B. Du Bois, attempted to show "(a) The history of the American Negro. (b) His present condition. (c) His education. (d) His literature."
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s
This online presentation introduces a multi faceted man and some features of complex issues and events related to his life. The collection features a timeline that includes “Breaking the Color Line: 1940-1946."
Cartoon Drawings
Offers more than 9,000 original drawings for editorial cartoons, caricatures, and comic strips spanning the late 1700s to the present, primarily from 1880 to 1980. The cartoons cover people and events throughout the world, but most of the images were intended for publication in American newspapers and magazines. Browse the collection by subject to locate more than ten cartoon drawings on civil rights for African Americans.
Cartoon Drawings: Herblock Collection
Herbert L. Block (1909-2001), known to the world as Herblock, was one of the most influential political commentators and editorial cartoonists in American history. His long chronicle of major social and political events began to appear in newspapers in 1929, and he continued to document domestic and international events for 72 years. The collection contains more than thirty cartoon drawings pertaining to civil rights for African Americans.
Cartoon Prints, American
This assemblage of more than 800 prints made in America during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries encompasses several forms of political art. The collection contains eight cartoon prints on the subject civil rights.
Detroit Publishing Company
Includes over 25,000 glass negatives and transparencies as well as about 300 color photolithograph prints, mostly of the eastern United States. Subjects strongly represented in the collection include city and town views, including streets and architecture; parks and gardens; recreation; and industrial and work scenes.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives
The photographs of the Farm Security Administration - Office of War Information Photograph Collection form an extensive pictorial record of American life between 1935 and 1944.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Washington, D.C. Portrait of A. Philip Randolph, labor leaderSummary: Photograph shows A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979) who was an American labor unionist, civil rights activist, and socialist politician. In 1925, he organized and led the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the first predominantly African American labor union. In 1963, Randolph co-organized the March on Washington. (Source: Flickr Commons project, 2021)
Fine Prints
This collection contains about 85,000 prints created as art works, ca. 1450-present (most dating between 1800 and the present). The collection contains eight prints pertaining to civil rights for African Americans.
Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs
The William A. Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs provides almost 350 images showing African Americans and related military and social history. The Civil War era is the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945. Most of the images are photographs, including 270 cartes de visite. Browse the collection by subject to locate nine items pertaining to civil rights.
Highsmith (Carol M.) Archive
Photographs of landmark buildings and architectural renovation projects in Washington, D.C., and throughout the United States. The first 23 groups of photographs contain more than 2,500 images and date from 1980 to 2005, with many views in color as well as black-and-white
A selection of subject headings from this collection includes:
Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey
This online presentation of the HABS/HAER/HALS collections includes digitized images of measured drawings, black-and-white photographs, color transparencies, photo captions, written history pages, and supplemental materials. Browse the collection by subject to locate more than twenty items pertaining to civil rights for African Americans.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
Look Magazine
The Look Magazine Photograph Collection is a vast photographic archive created to illustrate Look Magazine and related publications produced by companies founded by Gardner Cowles. The cataloged portion of the collection totals some four million published and unpublished images made by photographers working for Look, most dating 1952-1971. With its coverage of U.S. and international lifestyles, celebrities, and events, the collection offers insight into the magazine's photojournalistic documentation of aspects of society and culture--particularly American society and culture--in the middle decades of the twentieth century. The collection contains images on the subject of civil rights, civil rights demonstrations, and civil rights leaders.
Panoramic Photographs
The collection contains approximately four thousand images featuring American cityscapes, landscapes, and group portraits. There are more than ten photographs in the collection on the subject of civil rights.
Posters: Yanker Poster Collection
The Yanker Poster Collection includes more than 3,000 political, propaganda, and social issue posters and handbills, dating 1927-1980. Most posters are from the United States, but over 55 other countries and the United Nations are also represented. The collection contains more than ten posters on the subject of African American Civil Rights.
The Library oversees one of the largest collections of motion pictures in the world. Acquired primarily through copyright deposit, exchange, gift and purchase, the collection spans the entire history of the cinema. The following moving image collections contain materials related to civil rights in America.
Digital Collections: Film and VideoThe moving image collections at the Library of Congress include a wide variety of films ranging from historic silent films to webcasts of recent Library events and performances. Browse the collections below by subject using the terms civil rights, civil rights demonstration, civil rights movement, and civil rights workers.
Civil Rights History Project
On May 12, 2009, the U. S. Congress authorized a national initiative by passing The Civil Rights History Project Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-19). The law directed the Library of Congress (LOC) and the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to conduct a national survey of existing oral history collections with relevance to the Civil Rights movement to obtain justice, freedom and equality for African Americans and to record and make widely accessible new interviews with people who participated in the struggle. The project was initiated in 2010 with the survey and with interviews beginning in 2011.
This site guides researchers to collections in several Library divisions that specifically focus on the movement as well as the broader topic of African American history and culture. The Civil Rights History Project Collection (AFC 2010/039) contains more than 1200 items consisting of born-digital video files, digitized videocassettes, digital photographs and full-text transcripts for all interviews. The interviews are also accessible through the Library's YouTube site and the NMAAHC website.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
The March on WashingtonFor many Americans, the calls for racial equality and a more just society emanating from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, deeply affected their views of racial segregation and intolerance in the nation. Since the occasion of March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 50 years ago, much has been written and discussed about the moment, its impact on society, politics and culture and particularly the profound effects of Martin Luther King's iconic speech on the hearts and minds of America and the world. Several interviewees from the Civil Rights History Project discuss their memories of this momentous event in American history.
Music in the Civil Rights MovementAfrican American spirituals, gospel, and folk music all played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. Singers and musicians collaborated with ethnomusicologists and song collectors to disseminate songs to activists, both at large meetings and through publications. They sang these songs for multiple purposes: to motivate them through long marches, for psychological strength against harassment and brutality, and sometimes to simply pass the time when waiting for something to happen.
School Segregation and IntegrationThe massive effort to desegregate public schools across the United States was a major goal of the Civil Rights Movement. Since the 1930s, lawyers from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) had strategized to bring local lawsuits to court, arguing that separate was not equal and that every child, regardless of race, deserved a first-class education. These lawsuits were combined into the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case that outlawed segregation in schools in 1954. But the vast majority of segregated schools were not integrated until many years later. Many interviewees of the Civil Rights History Project recount a long, painful struggle that scarred many students, teachers, and parents.
Voting RightsWhen Reconstruction ended in 1877, states across the South implemented new laws to restrict the voting rights of African Americans. These included onerous requirements of owning property, paying poll taxes, and passing literacy or civics exams. Many African Americans who attempted to vote were also threatened physically or feared losing their jobs. One of the major goals of the Civil Rights Movement was to register voters across the South in order for African Americans to gain political power. Most of the interviewees in the Civil Rights History Project were involved in voter registration drives, driving voters to the polls, teaching literacy classes for the purposes of voter registration, or encouraging local African Americans to run as candidates.
Event Videos
The Library of Congress hosts public events featuring authors, world leaders, entertainers, scholars and sports legends. We have been recording Library events for decades and are making those recordings available in this collection.
A selection of highlights from this collection includes:
50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights ActSummary: Rep. Donna Edwards visits the Library to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
50th Anniversary of the Voting Rights ActSummary: A commemorative look at one of the most important pieces of legislation of the civil rights movement: the Voting Rights Act of 1965, with Congresswoman Alma Adams.
American Democracy & the Rule of Law: Why Every Vote MattersSummary: As part of Law Day 2014, Jeffrey Rosen discusses American democracy and the rule of law in commemoration of the impending 50th anniversaries of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Bayard Rustin PapersSummary: An examination of Bayard Rustin's involvement in the Civil Rights movement. Rustin (1912-1987) was an American leader in social movements for civil rights, socialism, pacifism and non-violence, and gay rights.
The Bill of the Century: A Literary Discussion with Clay RisenSummary: Clay Risen discusses his book "The Bill of the Century: The Epic Struggle for the Civil Rights Act" (2014).
Civil Rights Act Exhibition Opening ProgramSummary: The opening ceremony of the Library exhibition, "The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom," which explores the events that shaped the civil rights movement, as well as the far-reaching impact the act had on a changing society. The act is considered the most significant piece of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction. It prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in voting, public accommodations, public facilities, public education, federally funded programs, and employment. Audiovisual stations throughout the exhibition present archival footage of the era, as well as contemporary interviews with civil rights leaders and activists reflecting on the civil rights era. Speakers included Librarian of Congress James H. Billington, Rep. Marcia Fudge, Rep. John Larson, Robert Forrester, Libby O'Connell, Rep. Gregg Harper and Rep. John Lewis.
Congressman John Lewis: "March II"Summary: Congressman John Lewis discussed his life and work in the Civil Rights movement with 6th and 7th grade students from the School Without Walls at Francis Stevens in Washington, D.C. as part of a presentation about the second book in his graphic novel series co-written by Andrew Aydin, "March II". Lewis and Aydin described the genesis of this book series and Lewis gave a dramatic summary of the book and his life.
A Day Like No Other: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on WashingtonSummary: U.S. Rep. John Lewis, who was a young civil-rights leader in 1963, opened the photo exhibition "A Day Like No Other: Commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington" at the Library of Congress.
Documenting the Freedom Struggle in Southwest GeorgiaSummary: Glen Pearcy and David Cline discuss Pearcy's documentary work with the Southwest Georgia Project, which documented local people at work and in their homes during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
Ethel Payne, First Lady of the Black PressSummary: James McGrath Morris discussed his new book "Eye on the Struggle: Ethel Payne, the First Lady of the Black Press." Payne was a journalist as a reporter for the Chicago Defender. In those pages, she continually urged President Dwight D. Eisenhower to support desegregation. She continued throughout her career to report on the struggles of the civil rights era, and her work is credited with persuading many African Americans to take up the cause.
Freedom Now: Jazz & the Civil Rights MovementSummary: Library of Congress jazz scholar Dan Morgenstern discusses the role of jazz music throughout the Civil Rights movement in the 20th century.
Freedom Writer: Virginia Foster Durr, Letters from the Civil Rights YearsSummary: Patricia Sullivan discussed her book "Freedom Writer: Virginia Foster Durr, Letters from The Civil Rights Years" in a program sponsored by the Library's John W. Kluge Center. As a privileged white Southern woman, Durr (1903-1999) was an unlikely yet monumental champion of civil rights.
Giants of Racial Justice: Malcolm X & Martin Luther King Jr.Summary: In an event celebrating African American History Month, Peniel E. Joseph ("The Sword and the Shield") and Tamara Payne ("The Dead Are Arising") will discuss their books on Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. with NPR television critic Eric Deggans.
James Meredith & the Ole Miss RiotSummary: In September 1962, James Meredith became the first African American admitted to the University of Mississippi. A milestone in the civil rights movement, his admission triggered a riot spurred by a mob of 3,000 whites from across the South and all-but- officially stoked by the state's segregationist authorities. The escalating conflict prompted President John F. Kennedy to send in 20,000 regular Army troops, in addition to federalized Mississippi National Guard soldiers, to restore law and order. "James Meredith and the Ole Miss Riot" is the memoir of one of the participants, a young Army second lieutenant named Henry T. Gallagher, born and raised in Minnesota.
John Hope Franklin: Where Do We Go from Here?Summary: Distinguished historian John Hope Franklin, recipient of the 2006 John W. Kluge Prize for the Study of Humanity, discussed the history of the African-American experience and poses the question, "Where Do We Go from Here?" In a frank and honest discussion, he used his personal experiences to examine the successes and failures of race relations in America.
Law Day 2013: The Movement in America for Civil and Human RightsSummary: Carrie Johnson moderated a panel discussion on the movement in America for civil and human rights and the impact it has had in promoting the ideal of equality under the law. This year's national Law Day theme, "Realizing the Dream: Equality for All" marked the 150th anniversary of the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation and the 50th anniversary of the Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. Speakers included Carrie Johnson, National Public Radio; Theodore M. Shaw, Columbia University School of Law; Jeffrey Rosen, George Washington University; Risa L. Goluboff, University of Virginia; and Kirk Rascoe of the Library of Congress.
Locality & Nation: Civil Rights & Voting Rights in the Deep South, 1963-1966Summary: Thomas Jackson and Hasan Kwame Jeffries discuss the hard work of grass roots organizing of the civil rights movement that is often overlooked in histories. How well did national civil rights and voting legislation support their drive for authentic democracy and economic empowerment? Scholars uncover the lessons local organizers learned in the struggle against white violence and entrenched power in the Deep South.
Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and JournalistSummary: Amina Hassan discussed her new book, "Loren Miller: Civil Rights Attorney and Journalist." Loren Miller was one of the nation's most prominent civil-rights attorneys from the 1940s through the early 1960s. He successfully fought discrimination in housing and education. Alongside Thurgood Marshall, Miller argued two landmark civil-rights cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to decisions that effectively abolished racially restrictive housing covenants. The two men played key roles in Brown v. Board of Education, which ended legal segregation in public schools.
A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal RightsSummary: Judge Robert L. Carter, an intellectual architect for the civil rights movement and the man who argued the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case before the Supreme Court, discussed his recently published memoir, "A Matter of Law: A Memoir of Struggle in the Cause of Equal Rights." "A Matter of Law" is the story of Carter's struggle for equal rights for all Americans.
North of Dixie: Civil Rights Photography Beyond the SouthSummary: Iconic images of the civil rights movement were largely photographed in the South. In a new volume of extraordinary photographs, historian Mark Speltz focuses on compelling civil rights images from north of the Mason-Dixon line, in places such as Philadelphia, Cleveland and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Observance of the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964: Voter Rights ActSummary: A special program commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act, specifically the Voter Rights Act of 1965 with Rep. Terri Sewell.
Our Auntie Rosa: The Family of Rosa Parks Remembers Her Life & LessonsSummary: Sheila McCauley Keys discussed her memoir, "Our Auntie Rosa: The Family of Rosa Parks Remembers Her Life and Lessons," covering both the public and private lives of the Civil Rights icon.
Reflections on Memory & History: Collecting New Oral Histories of the Civil Rights MovementSummary: A half-century on, what remains to be learned of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement? Plenty, it turns out. Last year historian Joe Mosnier, together with videographer John Bishop, journeyed to twenty states to interview fifty individuals who, most as teenagers or young adults, gave themselves over to the civil rights struggle. This testimony -- urgent and immediate, but also refracted by memory and time -- compels a fresh look at "the movement," confirming, upending, and reaching entirely beyond the considerations that define the received civil rights narrative. Mosnier shares video excerpts, discusses emerging insights in relation to civil rights historiography, and offers brief personal reflections on the complex emotions engendered by the oral history experience for both interviewee and interviewer.
Remembering Our Father: The Story of M. Carl HolmanSummary: The 2009 theme for African American History Month was Quest for Black Citizenship in the Americas. This year's celebration coincides with the centenary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The Library holds more than 5 million records of the NAACP, which is the largest single collection ever acquired by the institution. Kinshasha Holman-Conwill, Kwasi Holman and Kwame Holman shared remembrances of their father's quest for black citizenship as an American civil rights leader and as the president of the National Urban Coalition.
Representing the Race: The Creation of the Civil Rights LawyerSummary: Through the stories of such figures as Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, author Kenneth W. Mack brings to life African-American legal practice across the nation during the civil rights movement. According to Mack, Marshall rose to prominence by convincing local blacks and prominent whites that he was -- as nearly as possible -- one of them. In addition to Marshall, Mack introduces readers to a little-known cast of other characters important to this narrative.
ReverbSubject heading: Civil rights movements--Songs and music
Rosa Parks Collection: Telling Her Story at the Library of CongressSummary: Highlights of the collection of Rosa Parks, a seminal figure of the Civil Rights Movement, on loan to the Library from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation for 10 years. The collection is now available online.
Selma, the Voting Rights Act & Reel HistorySummary: Gary May finds himself among several scholars who think the film Selma is seriously flawed. He explores the significance and continuing importance of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, includes a critique of how the stories behind the Act are framed in the Hollywood lens and raises questions as to what such re-presentations mean for teaching and learning about history.
Teaching the Civil Rights Act of 1964Summary: Join the Library of Congress education and newspaper experts to learn about the digitized historic newspapers available through the Chronicling America program. Explore teaching strategies for using the materials with students.
Teaching the Civil Rights Movement from the Bottom-Up 50 Years After the Voting Rights ActSummary: This presentation will highlight bottom-up movement history and the ways it introduces students to a wider range of tactics and to a history that begins before the big marches and extends after the passage of landmark legislation.
This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou HamerSummary: Michelle Martin interviews Robin Hamilton about her film "This Little Light of Mine: The Legacy of Fannie Lou Hamer" (2015), a documentary short that explores the life of an impoverished sharecropper who became a powerhouse in the battle for the right to vote in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement.
This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement PossibleSummary: Writer and journalist Charles Cobb discusses his new book, "This Nonviolent Stuff'll Get You Killed: How Guns Made the Civil Rights Movement Possible."
A Time to Act: John F. Kennedy's Big SpeechSummary: Author Shana Corey honors the 54th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy's historic civil rights speech with her book, "A Time To Act: John F. Kennedy's Big Speech."
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights MarchSummary: Lynda Blackmon Lowery described her role as the youngest member of the Selma, Alabama Civil Rights March in 1965. Along with her co-authors, Susan Buckley and Elspeth Leacock, Lowery recounted her childhood during this period, and discussed the background of events that led to his landmark action. The authors showed illustrations and photographs from their book as well as primary sources, including original film footage, from the period.
The Library of Congress holds the nation's largest public collection of sound recordings (music and spoken word) and radio broadcasts, some 3 million recordings in all.
September 11, 2001, Documentary Project
The September 11, 2001 Documentary Project captures the reactions, eyewitness accounts, and diverse opinions of Americans and others in the months that followed the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. Patriotism and unity mixed with sadness, anger, and insecurity are common themes expressed in this online presentation of almost 200 audio and video interviews, 45 graphic items, and 21 written narratives.
Selected highlight from this collection:
Interview with Douglas Thompson, Logan, Utah, November 14, 2001Summary: Douglas Thompson was at home preparing for work when he heard a radio report about the terrorist attacks. While watching television he saw the south tower struck. He discusses the loss of neighbors in the attack and his personal actions, including organizing a memorial. He supports the president and the War on Terror. He speaks about the Kennedy assassination, firemen, police officers, and how President Johnson successfully pushed the 1964 Civil Rights Act through Congress by evoking the memory of President Kennedy. He believes that Americans will need to adapt to a new reality as a result of the attacks.
Southern Mosaic: The John and Ruby Lomax 1939 Southern States Recording Trip
This multiformat ethnographic field collection includes nearly 700 sound recordings, as well as field notes, dust jackets, and other manuscripts documenting a three-month, 6,502-mile trip through the southern United States. The collection includes religious songs such as This Little Light o’ Mine.
