Who is an “American”? How do you define an "American"? Does the definition matter? Why? How does the great cultural diversity of our population influence the life of our nation? What common characteristics do citizens of the United States have and how does this commonality shape the nation? What are YOUR questions?
African Americans
There are many collections and items available through the Library of Congress website that document the African American experience throughout history from slavery through the civil rights era. The collections listed below only represent a smattering of the items available.
American Memory Collections
African-American Odyssey
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aaohtml/aohome.html]
The exhibition tells the story of the African American experience through nine chronological periods, from Colonial settlement in 1492 to the post-war US in the early 1970s.
African-American Perspectives: Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection 1818-1907
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aap/aaphome.html]
This collection documents a wide range of events, topics, and issues in African-American history. It recreates the public dialogue among African Americans a century ago, and highlights political, cultural, and social issues still debated today.
The Church in the Southern Black Community
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/ncuhtml/csbchome.html]
Documents the growth of the "Black Church" in the American South and how evangelical Christianity was modified by the African-American community to encourage dreams of freedom, the importance of community, and the desire for personal survival. Included are materials that document the conflicts in the church caused by slavery.
Collections focusing on specific (famous) African Americans
Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/robinson/]
In 1947, Jackie Robinson signed a contract with the Brooklyn Dodgers to become the first African-American baseball player in the major leagues -- breaking the "color line," a segregation practice dating to the nineteenth century. Jackie Robinson was an extremely talented multi-sport athlete and a courageous man who played an active role in civil rights.
The Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/doughtml/doughome.html]
Included within this collection are copies of Douglass's writings, correspondence with noted abolitionists including Henry Ward Beecher, Ida B. Wells, Gerrit Smith, and Horace Greeley, and scrapbooks documenting his activities.
The Zora Neale Hurston Plays
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/hurston/]
Ten Hurston plays, most of which have not been performed and have not been published, document Hurston’s interest in African American folklore.
African Americans and Slavery
Born in Slavery: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project 1936-1938
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/snhtml/snhome.html]
This collection contains more than 2,300 first-person accounts of slavery and 500 black-and-white photographs of former slaves collected as part of the Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration.
From Slavery to Freedom: The African-American Pamphlet Collection, 1824-1909
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/aapchtml/aapchome.html]
Speeches, essays, letters, and other correspondence provide different perspectives on slavery, African colonization, Reconstruction, and the education of African Americans.
Voices From the Days of Slavery: Former Slaves Tell Their Story
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/voices/]
This collection presents audio recordings of former slaves discussing their lives and their experiences while slaves.
African-American Civil Rights
Exhibition: With an Even Hand
[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/]
"With an Even Hand" is divided into three sections. The exhibition examines precedent-setting court cases that laid the ground work for the Brown v. Board decision, explores the Supreme Court argument and the public's response to it, and closes with an overview of this profound decision's aftermath.
Exhibition: The African-American Mosaic: African-American Culture and History
[http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/african/intro.html]
Marks the publication of The African–American Mosaic: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of Black History and Culture. The exhibit explores four topics from the book: Colonization, Abolition, Migrations, and the Works Progress Administration.
Primary source Set - Jim Crow in America
[http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/civil-rights/]
Multi-media resources
[http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/civil-rights/exhibitions.html]
Multimedia resources from the Library of Congress that support instruction about civil rights. These resources include expert presentations, exhibitions, bibliographies, Webcasts, and other online materials.
Asian Pacific Americans
The Chinese in California
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award99/cubhtml/cichome.html]
Documents Chinese immigration to California between 1850-1925. Included within this presentation are stories of immigrants arriving in the United States, information on the impact of Chinese immigration on the United States and the growth and development of the Chinatown community in San Francisco. Also included is material documenting the sentiment against Chinese immigration and the response to it within the Chinese community.
Chinese Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900
[http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/timeline/riseind/chinimms/chinimms.html] This resource was developed to help teachers and students use the vast online collections of the Library of Congress. The links to the right will lead you to primary sources regarding Chinese Immigration to the United States, 1851-1900. The sources are arranged chronologically.
Ansel Adams’s Photographs of Japanese-American Internment at Manzanar
[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/anseladams/]
Adams documents the life of Japanese Americans interned at the Manzanar relocation camps during World War II. Photographs include portraits, views of daily life, agricultural scenes and sports and leisure activities.
Related primary source set: Japanese American Internment During World War II
[http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/primarysourcesets/internment/]
Related lesson plan for 5-8 grade: Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself
[http://memory.loc.gov/learn/lessons/99/fear/intro.html]
