Text-only version [Prototype Note]

Introduction

American Memory is the Library of Congress offering of primary-source and archival collections relating to American culture and history. These collections are the Library of Congress's key contribution to the national digital library. Most of these collections have been drawn from the holdings of the Library's special collections divisions. Each collection is accompanied by introductory material, users' guides, and bibliographies for further research. Only a small portion of the huge collections of the Library of Congress is digitized. The Digital Collections mainly include historical and uncopyrighted or out-of-copyright materials. It is a constantly growing collection that contains both primary materials and secondary materials (e.g. indexes, finding aids).

The available services are listed on the left side of the screen. We recommend that you browse and select collections of interest. The Information Desk provides special tours and answers frequently asked questions. A particular effort has been made to provide information for educators and life-long learners (the "learning pages") to help use the collections.


Samples from collections


Sample Special Presentations

The Progress of a People: Special Presentation from the African-American Pamphlets fromthe Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1880-1920

Become a Historical Detective

Time Line for theCivil War: Special Presentation from the Selected Civil War Photographs

To Form aMore Perfect Union: An Introduction to the Congressional Documents: SpecialPresentation from the Documents from the Continental Congress and ConstitutionalConvention, 1774-1789

Mirror Images:Daguerreotypes at the Library of Congress: Special Presentation from theDaguerreotypes, 1842-1862

From War to Normalcy:An Introduction to the Nation's Forum Collection: Special Presentationfrom the The Nation's Forum Sound Recordings, 1918-1920

Voices fromthe Thirties: An Introduction to the WPA Life Histories Collection: SpecialPresentation from the Life History Manuscripts from the Folklore Project,WPA Federal Writers' Project, 1936 - 1940

Web Accessibility