History Lessons

The articles below provide access to valuable resources, including articles, videos, and courses that deepen knowledge and civic engagement.

In June of 1652, the Massachusetts Bay Colony took an extraordinary step that would shape the course of ...

A storm of steel and determination arose over the coast of Normandy on June 6, 1944. What unfolded ...

A wartime law offered surveyed public land to eligible claimants who could meet its conditions. What made that ...

Elaine Lan Chao has been one of the most influential public servants in modern American history, with a ...

Larry Itliong didn’t seek the spotlight, but without him, the farmworker movement in America would not be what ...

Fred Korematsu didn’t plan to become a civil rights icon. He was a quiet, unassuming welder from Oakland, ...

Patsy Mink didn’t set out to make history—she just wanted a fair shot. Born on a sugar plantation ...

The Library of Congress (LOC) is one of the most important institutions in the United States. It’s more ...

Ella Fitzgerald, affectionately known as the “First Lady of Song,” was one of the most extraordinary vocalists in ...

On the evening of April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was shot by John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate ...

On March 31, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson surprised the nation when he announced that he wouldn’t run ...

In honor of our founder, the first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O’Connor, we are featuring other ...