Wrightsville is an anachronism of the most disturbing kind. All the tired marches and all the old songs serve up reminders of hopes still unfulfilled, of how far we have not come - Ron Taylor As we rise up yet again against the racism, the injustice and the police misconduct that continues to stifle this country let's revisit the goings on in a small Georgia town in 1980. On a May night shots rang out in the black part of town. A young black girl was wounded and a white policeman was grazed. By then the citizens of Wrightsville had already begun to push back against...
The Nation’s Fall Books Supplement of 1924 served up an especially spicy potage
As those of you who check in with us regularly know, one of our guiding lights is our regular visits to the past. Whether it's an archive for In The Stacks, collectible books for a homage to an author or book, or referencing some past event to help us make us sense of the present we are always deeply indebted to what has come before. We are delighted to have Richard Kreitner contribute this piece to Book Patrol. In celebration of the current Fall Books issue of The Nation, Kreitner, Special Assistant at The Nation and editor of its Back Issues blog, shares some book juice from the October 8, 1924...
A Parade of Thanksgiving Goodness at the Digital Public Library of America
Thanksgiving Day Raphael Tuck & Sons, 1907 Did you know that over 2400 items related to Thanksgiving reside at the DPLA? From Thanksgiving menu's from hotels and restaurants across this great land to Thanksgiving postcards to images of the fortunate and less fortunate taking part in Thanksgiving day festivities. Here's just a taste of Thanksgiving at the Digital Public Library of America. Enjoy and and have a Happy Thanksgiving! Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 1932 Photograph by Alexander Alland Japanese Internment Camp - Gila River Relocation Center, Rivers, Arizona. One of the floats in the Thanksgiving day Harvest Festival, 11/26/1942 Annual Presentation...
A visual tour of Halloween in America during the first half of the 20th century
Children dressed up in costumes for Halloween. from the Daily Reflector (Greenville, N.C.), 1950's What better way to wrap up American Archives month then with a Halloween stroll through the Digital Public Library of America. From turn of the century Hallow'een postcards through photos from the 1950's we get a taste of Halloween in America during the first half of the 20th century. From the small town to the segregated South to the Japanese American internment camps of WWII Halloween offered an opportunity to shed the daily trials and tribulations and have some fun. Enjoy! A little boy examines a Halloween display of two jack o'lanterns and...
Seattle Public Library launches the Pike Place Market Digital Collection
"We believe handmade, homegrown and face-to-face are still the best ways of doing things." It was an August day in 1907 when "crowds of shoppers seeking fresh produce and bargains descended...The first farmer sold out of produce within minutes. Within a week, 70 wagons were gathering daily to sell along the newly named Pike Place, a wooden roadway that connected First St. to Western Ave." The Pike Place Market rests just under the Space Needle when it comes to Seattle's prominent landmarks. It is both a tourist mecca and community hub. In all, the Pike Place Market Historic District comprises 9 acres. It is...