Dance Masters: Margaret Jenkins
SPARK follows Artistic Director Margaret Jenkins as she rehearses her company dancers in preparation for "Danger Orange," an outdoor site-specific performance in downtown San Francisco. This Educator Guide is about the history of modern dance and the contributions of some its most innovative choreographers, including Jenkins.
By Hand: Gary Stevens
SPARK follows sculptor Gary Stevens through his creative process, from harvesting unusual pieces of wood from ancient redwood forests through the painstaking work that produces his uniquely beautiful wood vessels. This Educator Guide is about the history and tradition of wood carving.
Artist in Search of a Medium: Jonathon Keats
SPARK trails writer, critic, and Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats as he works on his project, Divine Taxonomy, which attempts to find God's place on the phylogenetic tree. This Educator Guide explores the history of Conceptual art and the role of science in contemporary art.
Art Meets Pop Culture: Keith Knight
SPARK follows cartoon artist and rap musician Keith Knight as he peddles his strip the K Chronicles at a massive comic convention. This Educator Guide explores the history and form of the cartoon.
American Music: David Grisman
Musician David Grisman combines bluegrass with elements of swing, jazz and gypsy music as he prepares for a performance at Berkeley's Freight and Salvage. This Educator Guide is about the history of bluegrass music.
All Natural: Jim Denevan and Chris Drury
SPARK tails artists Jim Denevan and Cris Drury as they create large earth works. This Educator Guide is about the history and tradition of artists making work in and about the natural environment.
All in the Family: Gypsy Snider
Veteran circus artist Gypsy Snider launches a circus of her own, Les Sept Doigts de la Main, and brings her two-year-old daughter along with her. This Educator Guide traces the history of the circus and acrobatic performance.
Immigration/Migration: Today and During the Great Depression
This is a 4-week American history unit for high school. Students conduct oral history interviews, analyze photos, evaluate the relevance and accuracy of primary and secondary sources, discuss changes in immigration and migration over time, and more.
History of the American West, 1860-1920
This site features 30,000 photos of Colorado towns and landscapes that document the role of mining in the history of Colorado and the West. Photos of Native Americans from more than 40 tribes are included.
Her Story
offers photos, diaries, and timelines for learning about women pioneers, women during the Civil War, women's suffrage in the Progressive Era, eight women who served on the front during World War II, First Ladies, literature about women and discrimination, African-American women in the sciences, women in Muslim societies, Native American women writers, Zora Neale Hurston, Margaret Mead, research in women's history, and more.
Great Depression: Dust Bowl Migration
includes photos, a teachers guide, and other resources for learning about the largest migration in American history. This migration occurred in the 1930s when poor soil conservation practices and extreme weather in the Great Plains exacerbated the existing misery of the Great Depression.
George Washington Papers
This site includes letters, diaries, financial accounts, military records, and other writings from Washington's youth and service as a surveyor and colonel, as delegate to the Continental Congress, as commander during the Revolutionary War, and as president (1789-97). His many interests and correspondents make these papers are a rich source for almost every aspect of early American history.
From Slavery to Civil Rights
This is a timeline of African-American history. Photos, broadsides, maps, and other items are organized around time periods: slavery, abolition, antebellum, Civil War, reconstruction, progressive era, World War I, between the wars, World War II, and civil rights.
From Fantasy to Flight
This site provides photos, letters, articles, and resources for learning about the history of flight -- aircraft and balloons, Alexander Graham Bell's aerodynamic studies, the Wright brothers, Charles Lindbergh, Igor Sikorsky's helicopters, and Amelia Earhart.
Doing the Decades, 1890-1941: Group Investigations in Twentieth Century U.S. History
This is a two-month team research project for 9-10th graders that uses Library of Congress resources to focus on long-term change in U.S. history. Students gather, analyze, and evaluate primary and secondary sources; develop their own conclusions; and refine their writing.
Civil War Maps
This site features detailed battle maps made by Major Jedediah Hotchkiss for General Lee and General Sherman, and maps taken from diaries, scrapbooks, and manuscripts -- all available for the first time in one place. An essay, History of Mapping the Civil War, looks at Union maps, Confederate maps, battlefield maps, commercial maps, and others.
California As I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849-1900
This site consists of texts and illustrations of 190 works documenting California's history from the Gold Rush to the turn of the century. It captures the pioneer experience; encounters between Anglo-Americans and the diverse peoples who had preceded them; the transformation of the land by mining, ranching, agriculture, and urban development; the often-turbulent growth of communities and cities; and California's emergence as both a state and a place of uniquely American dreams.
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime: The Effects of the New Deal and the Great Depression
The New Deal programs and agencies, created under the leadership of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, had a powerful impact on the relationship of government to the people of the United States. Yet a study of New Deal programs often leaves the student with a disconnected list of 'alphabet soup' programs and no real grasp of the impact of the New Deal.
This lesson takes a student through a process of examining primary sources, both photographs and life histories, to develop a sense of the profound impa
An American Time Capsule: Three Centuries of Broadsides and Other Printed Ephemera
The Printed Ephemera collection at the Library of Congress is a rich repository of Americana. In total, 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. An American Time Capsule, the online presentation of the Printed Ephemera collection, comprises 17,000 of the 28,000 physical items. More are scheduled to be digitized in the future. While the broadside format represents the bulk of th
American Women: A Reference Guide
This is a first stop for using Library of Congress resources to do research in the field of American women's history. It presents some digital items; however, it serves primarily as a comprehensive guide to the entirety of the Library's holdings on women's history. It includes exhibits that feature women and how to find women within exhibits where they're not featured. Essays examine women as a symbol 1590-1800, the women's suffrage parade of 1913, and the equal rights amendment.
