English Companion Ning Group

The History of England is an early work of Jane Austen. She completed the composition in November 1791 when she was just 15 years old. Jane Austen's History is a lively parody which makes fun of the standard schoolroom books of the time. Declaring herself to be a 'partial, prejudiced and ignorant Historian' she cites works of fiction, such as Shakespeare's plays, as historial authority and includes references to her own family and friends. Jane's older sister Cassandra illustrated the text with imaginative portraits of the English monarchs

The original version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll. The manuscript is the handwritten version of the stories presented to 10-year-old Alice Liddell.

This digital facsimile presents every page of a small, delicate maquette that Jean de Brunhoff created in 1930 or 1931 as he drafted the first book in the Babar series. The maquette, an extraordinary handmade booklet complete with cover and endpapers, text and illustrations, is the prototype for Histoire de Babar, le petit éléphant.

Over 1,000 items, including manuscripts, printed works, and portraits of Walt Whitman (1819-1892), the leading American poet of the 19th century.

This exhibition traces the different occupations and preparations that led Whitman to become the author of Leaves of Grass, as well as his subsequent evolution as a poet. Over almost forty years Whitman produced multiple editions of Leaves of Grass.

Blake wrote and sketched in this notebook, which came into his possession after his brother's death in 1787, for 30 years. The closely-filled pages give a fascinating insight into Blake's compositional process, allowing us to follow the genesis of some of his best-known work, including: A Poison Tree, Infant Sorrow, London, The Tyger, The Sick Rose, and The Chimney Sweeper.

Letters and fragments by Emily Dickinson from the collection of Col Thomas Wentworth Higginson, who gave the materials to the Boston Public Library.

The Langston Hughes Papers contain letters, manuscripts, personal items, photographs, clippings, artworks, and objects that document the life of the well-known African-American poet.

more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves. These narratives were collected in the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and assembled and microfilmed in 1941 as the seventeen-volume Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States from Interviews with Former Slaves.

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.

This exhibition consists of original materials and oral histories drawn from the Veterans History Project collections at the Library of Congress. With an emphasis on World War I (1914-1918), World War II (1939-1945), the Korean War (1950-1953), the Vietnam War (1965-1975), and the Persian Gulf War (1991), the Veterans History Project, by act of Congress, collects and preserves the experiences of America's war veterans and those who supported them.

Across decades, and regardless of neighborhood or background, we treasure photographs because they preserve our memories of the events and relationships they document. Our best friends, our trips to the park or beach, the times our families gather together to celebrate-the photos in this exhibition speak of these things which we all hold dear. Use the photos as story starters and background for research and readings

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

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.

Photographs (gelatin silver prints) relating to Ellis Island and immigration into the United States in the early 20th century, ranging from portraits of individual immigrants by Augustus Francis Sherman to views of the Ellis Island facility and its grounds by Edwin Levick and others. Use for story starters, historical background, and research projects.

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