Synergy: Farm Security Administration

The Farm Security Administration (FSA) was part of the Great Depression-era New Deal program. The FSA became famous for its photography program that depicted rural poverty. Between 1935 and 1944, about 175,000 black-and-white images were generated by the eleven photographers. Dorothea Lange and Gordon Parks were among the photographers.

Read the recently published nonfiction history for youth then learn more at the website.

PICTURING A NATION by Martin W. Sandler shares the story of the FSA photographers who brought the challenges of rural living alive for America. Filled with stunning photographs and quotes from both the photographers and others, the book features many lesser-known images to help young people understand the impact of the Farm Security Administration’s photography program. After introducing the program, the book explores photographs from each region and concludes with an overview of each photographer.

The FARM SECURITY ADMINISTRATION digital collection at the Library of Congress shares thousands of historical photos along with articles and essays about the FSA-OWI photographic unit.

To visit the black and white collection, go to https://bit.ly/3FBBZHi

To visit the color collection, go to https://bit.ly/3Igrbjs

ABOUT THE FSW is a video from the Library of Congress that introduces the Farm Security Administration collection.

To watch the overview, go to https://youtu.be/00UaD8_UpkE

ARC courtesy of Candlewick Press.

Website: Read.Gov

READ.GOV is website from the Center for the Book at the Library of Congress.

The web resource links to key Library of Congress resources connected with reading. In addition to materials related to books and authors, users will also find many ways to participate with Library of Congress activities such as contests, events, and awards.

Students will particularly enjoy learning about the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature and watching author webcasts.

Librarians will find this website to be a great way to weave literature, author, and reading activities into the classroom.

To learn more, go to http://www.read.gov/.

Website Review: Library of Congress: Free Sets

FREE TO USE AND REUSE SETS from the Library of Congress provide dozens of useful teaching and learning resources.

The Library of Congress contains millions of digital objects. Their free sets of materials makes it easy to locate useful content based on themes. Because the materials have no known copyright or are copyright cleared, they can be used by students in products such as web-based reports and presentations.

This section of the Library of Congress website currently contains over a dozen collections on themes such as dogs, classic children’s books, travel posters, and holidays.

Librarians will find this theme-based resource to be useful in introducing primary source documents. Of particularly note is the set called “Your Favorites” from Flickr.

To visit the website, go to https://www.loc.gov/free-to-use/.

Digital Spotlight: National Film Registry

NATIONAL FILM REGISTRY SELECTIONS is a YouTube collection from the Library of Congress.

Contents: The collection contains thirty five films that have been identified by the Library of Congress as “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant.”

Classroom Connections: Ask students to watch part of a film and discussion how it reflects the time period when it was produced.

Featured Digital Objects:
Popeye the Sailor https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs00068306/
St. Louis Blues https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs00063365/
Memphis Belle https://www.loc.gov/item/mbrs00009301/

To visit the collection, go to https://goo.gl/P8bKkL.

Special Event Website: American Folklife Center

The AMERICAN FOLKLIFE CENTER at the Library of Congress is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016 by collecting photos of folklife tradition.

To participate in the project, the public is encouraged to share photos of their own folklife traditions. Photos can be shared at Flickr with the tag “MyTradition” and a Creative Commons license. The photos will be harvested and added to the AFC’s collections.

Librarians could use this project as an opportunity to talk with classes about American folklife as part of a school-wide social studies program.

For a definition and examples of American folklife, go to http://www.loc.gov/folklife/cwc/?loclr=blogflt.

To learn more about this special project and the 40th anniversary, go to the AFC’s blog at http://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/category/afc-40th-anniversary/.

Website Review: African American History Month

The AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH website from the Library of Congress contains a wealth of resources to help your school library celebrate during the month of February.

The ABOUT page provides information about the history of this event that began with Negro History Week back in 1925.

The EXHIBITS & COLLECTIONS pages provides access to dozens of online collections focusing on topics such as Art & Design, Baseball, Civil Rights, Culture & Folklife, Government & Politics, Historic Places, Military, Music & Performing Arts, Religion, and Slavery. Resource Guides and Profiles are also available.

The IMAGES page provides access to historical photos, maps, and other primary source documents.

The AUDIO/VIDEO page connects to multimedia presentations related to African American history from participating agencies. These include webcasts, musical recordings, sound artifacts, and other media assets.

The FOR TEACHERS page provides access to lesson plans, activities, guides, and other resources from the Library of Congress, National Archives, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, and the National Park Service.

To visit the website, go to http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov/.