The Library of Congress > Teachers > Classroom Materials > Primary Source Sets

Abraham Lincoln, 1865

Abraham Lincoln
Speeches, correspondence, campaign materials and a map documenting the free and slave states in 1856 chronicle Lincoln’s rise to national prominence

Group of Indian boys from Dakota territory

Assimilation through Education
Photos, early film footage, federal government reports, cartoons, and maps tell the complex tale of the efforts to assimilate Native Americans through education

Spanish-American baseball guide

Baseball: Across a Divided Society
Song sheets, video clips, images, trading cards, and photographs tell the story of how baseball emerged as the American national pastime. Featured primary source items show Americans from different backgrounds and social experiences embracing the sport

Portrait of a musician U.S. Cavalry

Civil War Music
Sound files, sheet music, photographs, letters and maps help students better understand the American Civil War through study of the popular song "When Johnny Comes Marching Home"

The Foundation of American Government - Hintermeister

Constitution
Newspaper articles, notes, and original documents trace the process of drafting and adopting the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Speeches and song lyrics show how later generations used and interpreted the original ideals of the United States

Migrant Agricultural Worker's Family

Dust Bowl Migration
Photographs, recorded music, and song lyrics document the daily ordeals of rural migrant families from the Great Plains during a decade marked by both the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression

Alice Paul

Found Poetry
Using primary source texts on a variety of subjects, students select words to retell the historical content in poetic form

Huexotzinco Codex, 1531

Hispanic Exploration
Songs, maps, drawings, paintings, written documents and presentations outline the role of Hispanic explorers in the discovery, exploration, and development of America

U.S. Inspectors Examining Eyes of Immigrants

Immigration Challenges for New Americans
Photographs, maps detailing immigration patterns, official documents, song sheets and streaming audio recount the immigrant experience in America, their reasons for leaving their homelands, and the reactions of established Americans

Photo of a 'Breaker Boy', coal miner

The Industrial Revolution in the United States
Maps, songs, photos, and political cartoons tell the story of the United States' transition to an industrial nation

Dayton Homecoming, 1909

The Inventive Wright Brothers
Wilbur and Orville Wright went from repairing bicycles to inventing the airplane. Photographs, newspapers articles, personal letters and telegrams, and official army documents record their experiences and their experiments

The Englishmen's arrival in Virginia

Jamestown
Maps, images, and text tell the story of the first English settlement in North America, and how it came to be regarded in later years

Japanese-Amercian camp

Japanese American Internment During World War II
Official documents, newspapers, and images offer perspectives on the Japanese American experience of forced relocation to internment camps during World War II

Airshow with a Jim Crow Trailer

Jim Crow in America
After the Civil War, most Southern states limited the economic and physical freedom of former slaves by enacting laws that came to be called Jim Crow laws. This primary source set presents popular views on, and the causes and effects of, these laws

Old sailing ship

Maps From The World Digital Library
Explore maps from different cultures and eras to discover diverse perspectives on the world's geography. All the items in this set are from the World Digital Library, a project that makes available significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world

Booker T. Washington

The NAACP: A Century in the Fight for Freedom
The story of America's oldest and largest civil rights organization, told through letters, photographs, maps, and more

Photo of a 'Relief Client'

The New Deal
Photographs, posters, oral histories, and music recount how Federal programs sought to end the Great Depression

map of the USA

Primary Sources By State
The Library of Congress has rich documents and artifacts from every state, the U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia. Browse some of the best primary sources by state.

The First Thanksgiving, 1621

Thanksgiving
Study photographs, paintings, letters, and official proclamations to discover historical perspectives on American Thanksgiving holiday traditions beginning with the pilgrims who came to North America on the Mayflower

Gunner Nice of the “Devil-Dogs”

Veterans' Stories: The Veterans History Project
The personal stories of American war veterans and civilian workers who supported them, as recorded in interviews, diaries, letters, photographs, and drawings

Daniel Burress, Marines, Vietnam

Veterans' Stories: Struggles for Participation
Women and people of color have often had to overcome obstacles in order to participate fully in the U.S. armed forces. Veterans tell their stories through interviews, memoirs, and photographs

American progress

Westward Expansion: Encounters at a Cultural Crossroads
The expansion of the U.S. westward and the encounters that resulted are documented in photographs, sheet music, maps, letters, oral history, and more

Suffrage Parade, New York City

Women's Suffrage
Sound files, sheet music, photographs, letters and maps help students better understand women's suffrage

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