Yale University Library Research Guides: Constitution Day: Collections

Beinecke Library

Check out the Beinecke's Words for the Nation video series... the reading of the Constitution is featured below

Other Beinecke Collections include:

The Journal of the Federal Convention of 1787, manuscript copy in the hand of James Madison of the Journal made by William Jackson as Secretary of the Convention
Early printings of the U.S. Constitution from 1787
The first printing of The Federalist Papers

Plays

What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck
ISBN: 9781559369640
Publication Date: 2021
When she was fifteen years old, Heidi Schreck earned money for her college tuition by giving speeches about the U.S. Constitution. Decades later, she traces the effect this document has had on four generations of women in her family. Deftly examining how the United States' founding principles are inextricably linked with our personal lives, Schreck also explores the ways in which their misuse has engendered violence and inherited trauma. With passion and wit, this galvanizing new play acknowledges the ways in which our Constitution has failed us while simultaneously offering hope that we may yet steer ourselves toward a better future.

Media

Maps of the Ratification of the Constitution
Interactive Constitution Media Library
From the site:"the latest constitutional content from the National Constitution Center. Listen to our weekly We the People podcasts; watch America’s Town Hall programs held live in Philadelphia and across the country; and stay informed about Constitution issues in the news with analysis from the Constitution Daily blog."
WKU Editorial Cartoon Collection- Nixon

Music Library

Many of these items are on Women's Rights/Suffrage- which bridges both 2019 and 2020 Constitutional Day themes

One quite impressive provision from Suzanne Lovejoy includes this bibliography of materials.

The items identified here have been curated by Suzanne Lovejoy and Richard Boursy.

The image (which is linked to its source document) to the left is of the song American Ballot which can be paged from the Music Library's Special Collections.

Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music from the Library of Congress From the Library of Congress about the collection: "Women's Suffrage in Sheet Music includes over 200 pieces of sheet music spanning the years 1838-1923, over half of which highlight women's emerging voices and suffrage efforts; the collection includes published rally songs and songsters written and compiled by notable composers and suffragists, as well as music manuscripts submitted for copyright deposit by everyday citizens. Anti-suffragists raised voices in song as well, and popular music of the era echoed anti-suffrage sentiments of the day with specific references to the movement."
Lords of Creation Sheet Music
I'll be no submissive wife- A Ballad
Womans right; A right good ballad rightly illustrating womans rights
Suffragist sheet music : an illustrated catalog of published music associated with the women's rights and suffrage movement in America, 1795-1921, with complete lyrics
Currently checked out, but recently published (2015) book of suffragist sheet music
Women's rights; the suffrage movement in America, 1848-1920
Access provided through Yale Libraries

Constitution Day: Collections

Recommended Databases

Beinecke Library

Plays

Media

Music Library

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