The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship | Exhibitions The exhibition The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship, showcases the incomparable African American collections of the Library of Congress. Displaying more than 240 items, including books, government documents, manuscripts, maps, musical scores, plays, films, and recordings, this is the largest black history exhibit ever held at the Library, and the first exhibition of any kind to feature presentations in all three of the Library's buildings. The major presentation in the Jefferson Building, The African American Odyssey: A Quest for Full Citizenship, explored black America's quest for equality from the early national period through the twentieth century. The items in this exhibit attest to the drama and achievement of this remarkable story.
Direct Me NYC: 1940 Creating the Constitution "Nothing spoken or written can be revealed to anyone — not even your family — until we have adjourned permanently. Gossip or misunderstanding can easily ruin all the hard work we shall have to do this summer." -George Washington, presiding officer The Constitution was written in secrecy over a summer in Philadelphia. Constitutional Convention Most of the delegates at the Constitutional Convention had already risked being hanged as traitors by the British. Persuading the states to accept the Constitution was every bit as difficult as they predicted. Separation of Powers The Constitution is the basis of the United States government. The Constitution provided for the structure and powers of Congress in Article I. The president's constitutional powers are very modest, but they include commander-in-chief of the armed forces, negotiator of foreign treaties, and appointer of ambassadors, judges, and other "officers of the United States." Checks and Balances Federalism
Religion and the Founding of the American Republic | Exhibitions This exhibition demonstrates that many of the colonies that in 1776 became the United States of America were settled by men and women of deep religious convictions who in the seventeenth century crossed the Atlantic Ocean to practice their faith freely. That the religious intensity of the original settlers would diminish to some extent over time was perhaps to be expected, but new waves of eighteenth century immigrants brought their own religious fervor across the Atlantic and the nation's first major religious revival in the middle of the eighteenth century injected new vigor into American religion. The result was that a religious people rose in rebellion against Great Britain in 1776, and that most American statesmen, when they began to form new governments at the state and national levels, shared the convictions of most of their constituents that religion was, to quote Alexis de Tocqueville's observation, indispensable to the maintenance of republican institutions.
Colonial Williamsburg Connect : Exploring today's issues through the events and struggles of the past The U.S. Constitution — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts By September 1787, the convention’s five-member Committee of Style (Hamilton, Madison, William Samuel Johnson of Connecticut, Gouverneur Morris of New York, Rufus King of Massachusetts) had drafted the final text of the Constitution, which consisted of some 4,200 words. On September 17, George Washington was the first to sign the document. Of the 55 delegates, a total of 39 signed; some had already left Philadelphia, and three–George Mason (1725-92) and Edmund Randolph (1753-1813) of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry (1744-1813) of Massachusetts–refused to approve the document. James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, with assistance from John Jay, wrote a series of essays to persuade people to ratify the Constitution. Beginning on December 7, 1787, five states–Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia and Connecticut–ratified the Constitution in quick succession.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom President Lyndon Johnson speaking to the nation from the White House prior to signing the Civil Rights Bill into law, while (left to right) Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, Senator Hubert Humphrey, AFL/CIO President George Meany, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Representative Emanuel Celler listen, July 2, 1964. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress September 10, 2014–January 2, 2016 This exhibition, which commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, explores the events that shaped the civil rights movement, as well as the far-reaching impact the act had on a changing society. The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom is made possible by a generous grant from Newman’s Own Foundation and with additional support from HISTORY®. Southwest Gallery, Second Floor, Thomas Jefferson Building
Welcome to 1940s New York: NYC neighborhood profiles from 1943, based on the 1940 Census SoJust.net: Social Justice and Civil Rights Speeches Bella AbzugPlenary Address, Fourth World Congress on Women (1995) John AdamsInaugural Address (1797) Jane AddamsThe Subjective Necessity for Social Settlements (1892)The Modern Lear (1896) Susan B. AnthonyOn Women's Right to Vote (1872) John BrownFinal Address to the Court (1859) William Jennings BryanThe White Man's Burden (1906)Imperialism (1908) Stokely CarmichaelBlack Power (1966) Carrie Chapman CattThe Crisis (1916)Speech Before Congress (1917) Chief JosephSurrender Speech (1877) Shriley ChisholmEqual Rights for Women (1969)For the Equal Rights Amendment (1970) Hillary Rodham ClintonWellesley College Student Commencement Speech (1969)Women's Rights Are Human Rights (1995) Eugene DebsStatement to the Court (1918) Frederick DouglasThe Hypocrisy of American Slavery (1852)Appeal to Congress for Impartial Suffrage (1867) Dwight D. Elizabeth Gurley FlynnMemories of the Industrial Workers of the World (1962) Betty FriedanJudge Carswell and the "Sex Plus" Doctrine (1970) Frances D. John F. Robert F.
A Closer Look at Jefferson's Declaration The New York Public Library's Manuscripts and Archives Division is honored to safeguard a copy of the Declaration of Independence penned by Thomas Jefferson. Because the Declaration was featured in the Library’s 2011 Centennial Exhibition, it will not be on display in July 2012. However, the occasion offers a chance instead for a closer look at the document through the Library’s website. “This is one of several fair copies made by Jefferson of the Declaration, after its adoption and publication, in which he gave the wording of the text as reported by the Committee, with the portions underlined that were changed or rejected by Congress.”Jefferson’s draft arrived at the Library in 1897 as part of the collection of Dr. The origins of the Declaration of Independence are found in the history of political thought and the breakdown of Colonial governments after 1770. As of May 10, 1776, Congress had resolved to establish new governments for the Colonies. Jefferson's Writings:
Women and Social Movements in the United States, 1600-2000 Anti-Saloon League Museum | Westerville Public Library What was the Anti-Saloon League? From 1893 to 1933, the Anti-Saloon League was a major force in American politics. Influencing the United States through lobbying and the printed word, it turned a moral crusade against the manufacture, sale and consumption of alcohol into the Prohibition Amendment to the United States Constitution. Under the motto "The Saloon Must Go," the organization worked to unify public anti-alcohol sentiment, enforce existing temperance laws and enact further anti-alcohol legislation. The League was able to promote the temperance cause by publishing thousands of fliers, pamphlets, songs, stories, cartoons, dramas, magazines and newspapers. How can I find more information? This website was created based on a large collection of Anti-Saloon League documents and artifacts, bequeathed to the Westerville Public Library.