Social Studies Programs
American Memory Collections and Special Features from the LOC
FROM Landscape and Architectural Design ~ Multiformat ~ 1850-1920
TO Quilts and Quiltmaking ~ Multiformat ~ 1978-1996
| Library of Congress Subject | Collection Title & Description | Special Feature |
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Landscape and Architectural Design ~ Multiformat ~ 1850-1920 American Landscape and Architectural Design, 1850-1920 Collection of approximately 2,800 lantern slides represents an historical view of American buildings and landscapes built during the period 1850-1920. The collection offers views of cities, specific buildings, parks, estates and gardens, including a complete history of Boston's Park System. In addition to photographs, views of locations around the country include plans, maps, and models. |
Description of Boston's Park System; Photographs Description of Glacier National Park; Photographs of landscape |
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Liberia ~ Maps ~ 1830-1870 American Colonization Society Collection: Maps of Liberia, 1830-1870 Collection of Liberian maps from the American Colonization Society (ACS). These maps show early settlements in Liberia, indigenous political subdivisions, and some of the building lots that were assigned to settlers. |
Timeline on Liberia; Maps; Daguerreotypes |
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Library of Congress ~ 1939-1953 Freedom’s Fortress: The Library of Congress, 1939-1953 Freedom’s Fortress: The Library of Congress, 1939-1953 tells the history of the Library of Congress during a particularly important period. From 1939 to 1953 the Library underwent a myriad of changes that established the institution as one of America’s foremost citadels of intellectual freedom. |
Biographical information on important individuals of LOC; Photographs; Documents Timeline of important events shaping LOC; Photographs; Documents |
Life Histories, Federal Writers' Project ~ Manuscripts ~ 1936-1940 American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, 1936-1940 Life histories written by the staff of the Folklore Project for the U. S. Works Progress Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940. Typically 2,000-15,000 words in length, the documents consist of drafts and revisions, varying in form from narrative to dialogue to report to case history. |
Voices from the Thirties: An Introduction to the WPA Life Histories Collection History of the Federal Writer's Project; Photographs; Interviews; Audio | |
Lincoln, Abraham ~ Multi-format ~ 1850-1909 Collection includes papers and correspondence accumulated during Lincoln's presidency as well as sheet music, books, pamphlets, broadsides, autograph letters, prints, cartoons, maps, drawings, and other memorabilia adding up to over 10,500 items that offer a unique view of Lincoln's life and times. |
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Lincoln, Abraham ~ Papers ~ ca. 1850-1865 The Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress Collection of over 20,000 documents is organized into three "General Correspondence" series which include incoming and outgoing correspondence and enclosures, drafts of speeches, and notes and printed material. Most of the 20,000 items are from the 1850s through Lincoln's presidential years, 1860-65. |
Explanation of Emancipation Proclamation; Timeline; Documents Essay on assassination of Abraham Lincoln; Timeline; Ephemera Gallery |
Lincoln, Abraham, and Civil War Sheet Music about Lincoln, Emancipation, and the Civil War Collection includes more than two hundred sheet-music compositions that represent Lincoln and the war as reflected in popular music. The collection spans the years from Lincoln's presidential campaign in 1859 through the centenary of Lincoln's birth in 1909. |
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Manuscript Division ~ Selected Highlights Words and Deeds in American History In honor of the Manuscript Division's centennial, its staff has selected for online display approximately ninety representative documents spanning from the fifteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. Included are the papers of presidents, cabinet ministers, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, military officers and diplomats, reformers and political activists, artists and writers, scientists and inventors, and other prominent Americans whose lives reflect our country's evolution. |
Description of Manuscript Division; Photographs; Documents |
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Maps ~ 1500-2004 Digitized maps of Americana and Cartographic Treasures of the Library of Congress. The images were created from maps and atlases. |
Meeting of Frontiers: Collections from the Library of Congress: Maps Maps of Siberia and Russian Far East and American West Maps reflecting current events Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Selected Cartographic Items Maps of Puerto Rico and Caribbean |
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Maritime Westward Expansion ~ Multiformat ~ 1820-1890 Westward by Sea: A Maritime Perspective on American Expansion, 1820-1890 Collection includes logbooks, diaries, letters, business papers, and published narratives of voyages and travels. The unique maritime perspective of these materials offers a rich look at the events, culture, beliefs, and personal experiences associated with the settlement of California, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, and the Pacific Northwest. |
The Log of Mystic Seaport: Four Essays Essays from quarterly publication of Mystic Seaport Museum and Library; Images |
McKinley, William, and Pan-American Exposition The Last Days of a President: Films of McKinley and the Pan-American Exposition, 1901 Collection of 28 films President William McKinley at his second inauguration; of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York; of President McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition; and of President McKinley's funeral. |
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Morse, Samuel F. B. ~ Papers ~ 1793-1919 The Samuel F. B. Morse Papers at the Library of Congress Collection documenting Morse's invention of the electromagnetic telegraph, his participation in the development of telegraph systems in the United States and abroad, his career as a painter, his family life, his travels, and his interest in early photography, religion, and the nativist movement. |
Documents highlighting the invention of the telegraph; Correspondence Morse Family Tree Timeline of the life of Samuel Morse; Documents |
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National Parks ~ Maps The Mapping the National Parks collection documents the history, cultural aspects and geological formations of areas that eventually became National Parks. The collection consists of approximately 200 maps dating from the 17th century to the present, reflecting early mapping of the areas that would become four National Parks, as well as the parks themselves. |
Description of Acadia National Park; Maps Description of Grand Canyon National Park; Maps; Photograph Description of Great Smoky Mountains National Park; Maps; Photograph Description of Yellowstone National Park; Maps |
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Native American Culture, Pacific Northwest ~ Multiformat American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Collection integrates over 2,300 photographs and 7,700 pages of text relating to the American Indians in two cultural areas of the Pacific Northwest, the Northwest Coast and Plateau. These resources illustrate many aspects of life and work, including housing, clothing, crafts, transportation, education, and employment. |
Essays on tribal groups and cross-cultural topics; Images |
New York City The Life of a City: Early Films of New York, 1898-1906 Collection contains forty-five films of New York dating from 1898 to 1906 from the Paper Print Collection of the Library of Congress. Of these, twenty-five were made by the American Mutoscope and Biography Company, while the remaining twenty are Edison Company productions. |
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Nineteenth-Century Books ~ 1850-1877 The Nineteenth Century in Print: Books Collection of books bearing nineteenth century American imprints, dating from between 1850 and 1880. The collection is particularly strong in poetry and in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. |
A Sampler of Collection Themes Selection of books and periodicals from collection; Books; Periodicals |
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Nineteenth-Century Periodicals ~ 1850-1877 The Nineteenth Century in Print: Periodicals Collection presents twenty-three popular periodicals digitized by Cornell University Library and the Preservation Reformatting Division of the Library of Congress. They include literary and political magazines, as well as Scientific American, Manufacturer and Builder, and Garden and Forest: A Journal of Horticulture, Landscape Art, and Forestry. |
Historical Background and Essays on the Periodical Garden and Forest Essays on history and impact of Garden and Forest |
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Occupational Folklore, Paterson, N. J. ~ Multimedia ~ 1994 Working in Paterson: Occupational Heritage in an Urban Setting Collection presents 470 interview excerpts and 3882 photographs from the Working in Paterson Folklife Project of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Paterson is considered to be the cradle of the Industrial Revolution in America. |
Working in Paterson: Five Fieldworkers' Impressions Five fieldworkers perspectives of life in Paterson; Photographs |
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Ohio River Valley ~ Multiformat ~ 1750-1820 First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 Collection contains 15,000 pages of original historical material documenting the land, peoples, exploration, and transformation of the trans-Appalachian West from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth century. Among the sources included are books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, scientific publications, broadsides, letters, journals, legal documents, ledgers and other financial records, maps, physical artifacts, and pictorial images. |
Encountering the First American West Exploration of the trans-Appalachian West; Photographs; Documents; Maps |
Omaha Indian Music Collection features traditional Omaha music from the 1890s and 1980s. The collection contains wax cylinder recordings and songs and speeches from the 1983 Omaha Harvest pow-wow and 1985 Hethu'shka Society concert. |
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Panoramic Maps ~ 1847-1929 Collection of panoramic maps of the United States and Canada. |
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Panoramic Photographs ~ 1851-1991 Panoramic Photographs:Taking the Long View, 1851-1991 |
Selected Panoramic Photographs Panoramic photographs of Duluth, Minnesota; Boston, Massachusetts; Nome City, Alaska; Fires; Floods; Wrecks and Crashes; Cyclones and Earthquakes |
Pearl Harbor and Public Reactions ~ Audio Interviews ~ 1941-1942 After the Day of Infamy: Man-on-the-Street Interviews Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor Collection includes approximately 12 hours of opinions recorded in the days and months following the attack on Pearl Harbor from more than 200 cities and towns across the United States. The recordings feature a wide diversity of opinion concerning the war and other social and political issues of the day, such as racial prejudice and labor disputes. |
Interview with WPA Silkscreen Artist Tony Velonis Interview with WPA artist; Audio; Photographs 1938 WPA Calendar Making and Maintaining the Original Recordings Description of preservation of recordings; Photographs | |
Portraits of Creative Americans Creative Americans Portraits by Carl Van Vechten ~ Photographs ~ 1932-1964 Collection consists of 1,395 photographs taken by American photographer Carl Van Vechten (1880-1964) between 1932 and 1964. The bulk of the collection consists of portrait photographs of celebrities, including many figures from the Harlem Renaissance. |
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Posters, WPA ~ 1936-1943 By the People, For the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943 Collection consists of 908 boldly colored and graphically diverse original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. These striking silkscreen, lithograph, and woodcut posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia. |
WPA posters selected by Library of Congress staff | |
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Prairie Settlement, Nebraska ~ Photographs and Letters ~ 1862-1912 Prairie Settlement: Nebraska Photographs and Family Letters, 1862-1912 Collection comprised of glass plate negatives taken by Solomon D. Butcher and family correspondence between the Uriah W. Oblinger family that together illustrate the story of settlement on the Great Plains. |
The Oblinger Family and their Letters Description of Oblinger Family letters; Family Tree; Photographs; Documents |
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Presidential Inaugurations ~ Multiformat ~ 1789-2001 "I Do Solemnly Swear ...": Presidential Inaugurations Collection of approximately 400 items or 2,000 digital files relating to inaugurations from George Washington's in 1789 to George W. Bush's inauguration of 2001. This presentation includes diaries and letters of presidents and of those who witnessed inaugurations, handwritten drafts of inaugural addresses, broadsides, inaugural tickets and programs, prints, photographs, and sheet music. |
Table of precedents and notable events of inaugurations Presidential Inaugurations: Historical Insights--A Video Presentation Historian describes nine inaugurations; Video presentations Table of location and administrator of Presidential oaths |
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Presidents and First Ladies ~ Portraits By Popular Demand: Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies, 1789-Present Collection includes at least one likeness of each of the 41 presidents and most of the first ladies. |
Time Line of Presidents and First Ladies Timeline of Presidents and first ladies; Portraits; Photographs |
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Puerto Rico Books and Pamphlets ~ 1831-1929 Puerto Rico at the Dawn of the Modern Age: Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Perspectives Collection portrays the early history of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico through first-person accounts, political writings, and histories drawn from the Library of Congress's General Collections. |
Nineteenth- and Early-Twentieth-Century Puerto Rico, By Marisabel Brás Description of Puerto Rican national identity and history; Photographs; Drawings; Maps Maps of Puerto Rico |
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Quilts and Quiltmaking ~ Multiformat ~ 1978-1996 Quilts and Quiltmaking in America: 1978 - 1996 Collection showcases materials from two American Folklife Center collections, the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project Collection (1978) and the "All-American Quilt Contest" sponsored by Coming Home, a division of Lands' End, and Good Housekeeping. Together these collections provide a glimpse into America's diverse quilting traditions. |
History and perspective of six quilt makers; Photographs; Diagrams; Maps The Lands' End All-American Quilt Contest Description of quilting contest; Photographs; Quotations Speaking of Quilts: Voices from the Late 20th Century Description of quilts and quilt making; Photographs; Quilts |