Group items tagged

The Library of Congress shares an exhibition of "Books that Shaped America." Librarian of Congress James H. Billington says that the list is "intended to spark a national conversation on books written by Americans that have influenced our lives, whether they appear on this initial list or not."

"At its foundation, To Kill A Mockingbird is not the most morally complex of works, it is true. But then again, it is a novel written for children, and when it was composed, in the late 1950s, and published, in July, 1960, the proposition that black people ought to be treated as equal citizens was still a radical one in America. If Lee makes it clear to her audience where she believes our sympathies ought to lie - with Tom Robinson, the man falsely accused of rape, whose conviction is assured by a racist judicial system, and with Mayella Ewell, the impoverished incest victim who is forced to falsely accuse him by her abusive alcoholic father - then it is perhaps because at the dawn of the 1960s, the civil rights movement had yet to realize many of its most important victories, and the second-wave women's movement was barely even beginning."

For the high-schoolers reading To Kill a Mockingbird today, America is a very different place than it was when Lee wrote her novel 50 years ago. Lee's story of Scout Finch and her father, Atticus - a small-town Southern lawyer who defends a black man unjustly accused of rape - came out just as the nation was fighting over school desegregation. To Kill a Mockingbird didn't change everyone's mind, but it did open some. And it made an impression on many young people who, like Scout, were trying to get a grip on right and wrong in a world that is not always fair.

Several thousand original and copy photographs; albumen, platinum and silver gelatin prints; 1860s-1920s. Use for story starters, historical background, and research projects

The images in the Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Collection are among the most famous documentary photographs ever produced. Created by a group of U.S. government photographers, the images show Americans in every part of the nation. In the early years, the project emphasized rural life and the negative impact of the Great Depression, farm mechanization, and the Dust Bowl. In later years, the photographers turned their attention to the mobilization effort for World War II.

I'm on page 199 of 349 of Let the Great World Spin: "there's a high that you get when you're writing code. It's cool. It's easy to do. You forget your mom, your dad, everything. You've got the whole country onboard. This is America. You hit the frontier. You can go anywhere, Its about begin connected, access, gateways, like a whispering games where if you get one thing wrong you've got to go all the way back to the beginning."   quote from a teen hacker in the novel--it captures adolescence, hacking, learning, delight, beauty, everything: I want to remember this when I meet my new students in September

Jon Stewart exposes the hypocrisy in America regarding teachers.

Get a short story every week in your email inbox, thanks to Library of America.

Being part of the alumna of the Gemological Institute of America has helped in my life long journey. Now I wish to share my knowledge with other potential gem lovers and buyers of beautiful jewellery.

Being part of the alumna of the Gemological Institute of America has helped in my life long journey. Now I wish to share my knowledge with other potential gem lovers and buyers of beautiful jewellery.

These life histories were compiled by the staff of the Folklore Project of the Federal Writers' Project for the U.S. Works Progress (later Work Projects) Administration (WPA) from 1936-1940. The histories describe the informant's family education, income, occupation, political views, religion and mores, medical needs, diet and miscellaneous observations. Pseudonyms are often substituted for individuals and places named in the narrative texts.

Out of the stacks and vaults of the National Archives comes this selection of eyewitness accounts. They are vivid and intensely personal, transporting us to a deeper understanding of the events described.

Ansel Adams documented the Manzanar War Relocation Center in California and the Japanese Americans interned there during World War II. Use the photos as story starters and background for historical readings or research

good story about Finnish educational system