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Collection Essays

In-depth explorations of humanities topics accompanied by primary source sets and discussion questions

18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Polar History at the Newberry Library

Woodblock print of a sailing ship moving through bay with icebergs. A polar bear is eating a seal on one of the icebergs in the foreground.

Dr. Daniella McCahey, Texas Tech University
November 14, 2024

20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

The Great Migration in Historical Perspective

Pullman Company ID Card of Willie L. Wynne

Dr. Tikia K. Hamilton, Loyola University Chicago
July 25, 2024

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

These Are the Women Who Saved the Cities

Black-and-white bust photos of Jane Addmas (left) and Janie Porter Barrett (right). Addams is a middle-aged white woman wearing a high-necked black dress. Porter Barret is a younger light skinned Black woman wearing a high-necked dress decorated with buttons.

Kathleen Thompson
May 1, 2023

16th Century, 17th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

Spanish Golden Age Nobility Documents

Two-page spread of an open book. On the right is a full-page illumination depicting a plumed helmet above a crest on a shield. The shield is split into four parts. Clockwise from the upper left: an armed knight on top of a tower, leaves surrounding a green rectangle crossed by a diagonal orange line, five black pots within a square surrounded by black Xs on a gold background, and a pattern of gray, black, and orange and gold checkered horizontal lines. The image is bracketed on both vertical side by a floral border. The image on the left also has vertical floral borders. These bracket two illuminations stacked vertically. The upper illumination shows Jesus (white) floating in a halo above a gold tomb. Three white men wearing armor cower away from him. The lower illumination shows a white man on a rearing white horse with sword raised. A figure wearing orange lays under the horse's feet.

Elizabeth A. Neary
April 13, 2023

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

Movable Mayhem: Pop-Up Books through the Ages

Sheets of paper layered one behind the other to create a 3D scene of buildings as if they rise up a hill. At the bottom is a body of water with fountains and a decorative balustrade running along its edge. Above this is a large neo-Romanesque house. Above this is an even larger rectangular building with grand entrances on each side, domes on the corners, and many flags. Above this is a cathedral-like building with tall windows filled with light and many domed towers. A US flag flies from its central, largest dome. The buildings are surrounded by lush plants.

Dr. Suzanne Karr Schmidt, Newberry Library
March 3, 2023

19th Century, 20th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

United States Expansion, Migrants, and Transportation Technologies, ca. 1810-1930

Colored map showing roads and bodies of water. Surrounded by a border of black-and-white photos advertising the local area, including photos of forests, lakes, Native people, moose and bear, and homes,

Gabrielle Guillerm, PhD
September 14, 2022

18th Century, 19th Century, 20th Century, Collection Essays

Maps as Heritage: Commemoration and Travel in American Cartography

Hand-drawn map, showing the country from Lake Superior and the Mississippi in the east to Pacific Ocean in the west and the Kansas River in the south to the northern boundary of the Louisiana Territory in the north. The map shows the locations of many Indigenous groups along with natural features like rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges.

Nicholas Kryczka, PhD
August 31, 2022

16th Century, Collection Essays

The World According to Comenius: Seen and Unseen in the Orbis Sensualium Pictus

Single page an early printed book. Text is in English and Latin in black in an 17th-century font (some "s"s written as "f"s). On the left-hand page is a circular woodblock print image showing the land with people (numbered 9), animals (8), fields (7), hills (5), and trees (8); the sea with fish (4) in it, the sky with birds (3) and a band of clouds (2); above the clouds is darker sky with stars (1). Abov the image is the title "Mundus" and below it the title "The World."

Evan Dutmer, Ph.D., Culver Academies
April 20, 2022

18th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays, High School

Native Nations in an Age of Empire and Revolution: Glossary

Rachel Banke, PhD
March 23, 2022

14th Century, 15th Century, 16th Century, 17th Century, Classroom Materials, Collection Essays

Learning from Premodern Plagues

Stephanie Reitzig
October 13, 2021

18th Century, 19th Century, Collection Essays

Latin American Independence in the Age of Revolutions

Will Hansen
August 25, 2021

16th Century, 17th Century, 18th Century, 19th Century, Collection Essays

Sugar and Power in the Early Modern World

Etching of white men participating in the sugar refinement process, including chopping up sugar cane, melting it in vats, and removing finished sugar from drying containers.

Dr. Sarah Peters Kernan, Independent Scholar
March 18, 2021