Related Resources

This page includes additional resources on Michigan from the Library's website.

American Folklife Center State Resources

Finding Aids to Collections in the Archive of Folk Culture: Michigan Collections
The Archive of Folk Culture holds approximately 2700 collections consisting of more than 150,000 sound recordings and 3 million items. At this time only a portion of them have catalog records and finding aids. Contact the Folklife Reading Room for additional information about collections.
Folklife in Your State: Michigan
The collections of the American Folklife Center contain rich and varied materials from Michigan that document the diversity of the state's folk traditions. Michigan's Local Legacies Projects, an exploration of local traditions and celebrations, is available on the Center's Web page.

America's Library

America's Library is especially designed for elementary and middle school students. This site contains a wide variety of information related to United States history and culture. Search on Michigan to find examples such as these:

Explore the States

Michigan

Jump Back in Time

Exhibitions Featuring Michigan

American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Rare American Produced Planetarium
The Laing Planetarium Company of Detroit, Michigan, under the direction of Alexander Laing, developed its string-driven planetarium at the end of the nineteenth century.
Language of the Land: Journeys Into Literary America
The exhibit examines the iterary heritage though maps, photographs, and the works of American authors from a variety of periods. The Midwest section includes an image of Michigan.

Historic Newspapers

Chronicling America: Michigan
Historic American newspapers from 1789 to 1963 selected and contributed by state partners in the National Digital Newspaper Program. Search this collection to find selected newspaper articles that mention events in Michigan.

Law Library

The Guide to Law Online: Michigan
The Guide to Law Online, prepared by the Law Library of Congress Public Services Division, is an annotated guide to sources of information on government and law available online. It includes selected links to useful and reliable sites for legal information on U.S states and territories, including Michigan.

Resources for Teachers

The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching. Find Library of Congress lesson plans and more that meet Common Core standards, state content standards, and the standards of national organizations.

Features & Activities

Primary Sources by State: Michigan
The Library of Congress has rich documents and artifacts from every state, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Click on Michigan to view historic artifacts and cultural materials from the state.

Lesson Plans

Exploring Community Through Local History: Oral Stories, Landmarks and Traditions
Students explore the local history of the community in which they live through written and spoken stories; through landmarks such as buildings, parks, restaurants, or businesses; and through traditions such as food, festivals and other events of the community or of individual families.
Local History: Mapping My Spot
Students create their town’s history for coming generations and place themselves on the map in a literal as well as figurative sense, by producing portions of an updated version of an early twentieth century panoramic map from the Digital Collections.

Today in History

The following dates in history feature significant events in Michigan's history as highlighted in the Library of Congress' collections.

January 26
Michigan entered the Union as the twenty-sixth state on January 26, 1837.
October 8
On Sunday, October 8, 1871, fire leveled a broad swath of Michigan and Wisconsin, including the cities of Peshtigo, Holland, Manistee, and Port Huron.

Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project (VHP) collects and preserves the remembrances of American war veterans and civilian workers who supported them. Click on the link below to locate veterans from Michigan.

Veterans History Project: Michigan

Michigan: State Resource Guide

History, Humanities & Social Sciences: Ask a Librarian