James Baldwin and Freedom Summer

We’re wrapping up Black History Month with a post from Adam Berenbak, an archivist in the Center for Legislative Archives. Novelist, essayist, poet, and activist James Baldwin (1924–87) “created works of literary beauty and depth that will remain essential parts of the American canon.”[1] He was an openly gay, Black man living in the Civil … Continue reading James Baldwin and Freedom Summer

Mr. and Mrs. Claus Were Not Communists

Today's post comes from Alan Walker, an archivist at the National Archives at College Park. Ha, you probably thought I was speaking of that jolly old elf and the missus. Nope. This story begins in 1936, soon after the publication of what would become a standard: Consumers Union Reports. It was the first publication devoted … Continue reading Mr. and Mrs. Claus Were Not Communists