This year, Library of Congress education specialists are visiting Kansas communities. They’re holding free events for community members to discover a variety of the Library’s online collections found at loc.gov, with demonstrations on accessing those collections. The Library is collaborating with local museums and public libraries to host these community events, which include learning sessions on topics such as genealogy and local history, the Veterans History Project, and the Kansas Talking Book Project. See the schedule for the Watkins event below.

Banners highlighting the exhibition “Collecting Memories: Treasures of the Library of Congress”, which opened in Washington, D.C., in 2024, will be on-site at the community events. “Collecting Memories” is dedicated to sharing rare and important works created across the globe that showcase how cultures memorialize the past. These works are housed in every corner of the Library and are available for viewing online.

No registration is required. Participants in the April 5 sessions at the Watkins will be able to enter a drawing for a gift basket full of local items! The winner will be drawn and notified at the close of the program.

Watkins Museum April 5 Schedule:

10:00 AM            Historical Newspapers from the Library of Congress

Chronicling America, a database of 16+ million digitized historic newspapers, provides curious researchers insight into daily life in towns large and small from as far back as the 18th century. This session will show how users can browse the collection using an interactive map and timeline as well as access the research guides to help with sought-after topics.

11:00 AM            Genealogy Resources from LOC.gov

There’s no place like home! The Library has all kinds of primary sources related to local history as well as national history. This session will help attendees trace their family’s or town’s historic trail by introducing several collections, including panoramic photographs and maps, the Historic American Building/ Engineering Record/Landscapes Survey collection (HABS/HAER/HALS), and historic newspapers. Attendees will also learn effective ways to search the Library of Congress website to find exactly what they need.

12:00 PM             The Veterans History Project

The Veterans History Project (VHP) of the Library of Congress American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the firsthand narratives of U.S. military veterans, including medical and support staff, who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions. Collections include oral histories, photographs, diaries, correspondence, and more, and they can be submitted by individuals aged 15 and up. Since 2000, VHP has preserved thousands of individual veterans’ collections, which offer users an unparalleled archive of primary source material.

1:00 PM               By The People: Crowdsourcing at LOC

By the People is an online transcription platform inviting anyone with an internet connection to transcribe documents from Library of Congress digital collections. Everyone is welcome to contribute! Volunteer-created transcriptions improve search, readability, and access to handwritten and typed documents for everyone. Recently completed transcription campaigns include the correspondence of President Theodore Roosevelt, the papers of women’s and civil rights activist Mary Church Terrell, and the papers of the American Federation of Labor in the Progressive Era.

2:00 PM               The Kansas Talking Book Program and Kansas Center for the Book

Did you know the Library of Congress is already at work in your state? The Kansas Talking Book program is a direct service is available to any resident of Kansas who has difficulty reading or handling traditional print materials as a result of a permanent or temporary visual impairment, physical impairment or reading disability. Learn how to access free services and audio books in this session. Also, the Kansas Center for the Book is an affiliate of the Library of Congress and exists to highlight the state’s literary heritage and foster an interest in books, reading and libraries.  Kansas Center for the Book staff organizes programs, including Kansas Notable Books and Kansas Reads to Preschoolers, and provides title suggestions for the Greats Reads from Great Places campaign.

3:00 PM               Creative Works from New Deal

In July of 1932, amid the greatest economic crisis in U.S. history, Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, promising “a new deal for the American people.” That promise became a series of relief, recovery, and reform programs designed to provide assistance to the unemployed and poor, revive the economy, and change the financial system to prevent another depression. Several online collections at the Library of Congress highlight the assembly of creative works such as the American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers’ Project, 1936 to 1940, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives, WPA Posters and items related to the Civilian Conservation Corps.

4:00 PM               Transportation Resources at LOC.gov

Transportation in the U.S. has changed dramatically over the course of the nation’s history. Each new development in moving people and goods has fueled the nation’s growth and shaped the way people live and work, such as the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways Act. This session will include a sampling of Library of Congress primary sources, such as railroad maps and historic newspapers that document how different modes of transportation have played a role in U.S. history.