Pioneering women who led and won struggles for equality and civil rights; created and advanced educational and professional opportunities; and made great contributions to the arts, sciences and humanistic causes are honored each year during the month of March - National Women's History Month. This special celebration evolved from National Women's History Week which began in 1981 as a result of a Joint Congressional Resolution. In 1987, the National Women's History Project petitioned Congress to expand the national celebration to the entire month of March. The Canton Public Library offers year-round access to a wide variety of resources highlighting the accomplishments and achievements of women.

Instead of going to the mall for the Presidents Day sale, you can really celebrate by brushing up on some presidential history. A great place to start is the Internet Public Library's POTUS which provides biographical information, historical documents, and audio and video files. If this doesn't satisfy your historical sweet tooth, check out Public Papers of the Presidents at the American Presidency Project which has digitized over 85,000 documents related to the Presidency, including audio and video. Still not enough? The Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections contains detailed national results of all U.S. presidential elections since 1789.

African Americans are at the heart of the greatest achievements of our history, from music to law, from politics to sports, from literature to religion. Below are just some of the biographies of influential Black Americans that can be found in the Canton Public Library's collection.

Books: Reference

African American Lives edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham (2004).

The Black 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential African-Americans, Past and Present by Columbus Salley (1992).

The month of February has been set aside to celebrate the contributions of the country's African Americans. It was in 1926 that  Negro History Week was first organized by historian Dr. Carter G. Woodson (1875-1950) and others. During America's Bicentennial celebration in 1976, the one-week span was lengthened to four and February was established as Black History Month.  The Canton Public Library has a vast amount of resources for and about African Americans.

Books: Reference

Christopher Columbus first made landfall in the Americas on October 12, 1492 somewhere in the Bahamas, on an island which the natives called Guanahani and which Columbus renamed San Salvador. This date is a observed as public holiday in the United States as well as in many countries in South America. It is known as Discovery Day in the Bahamas, Day of the Americas in Uruguay and Day of the Cultures in Costa Rica. Although all federal offices will be closed in the U.S. on this day, and there will be no mail delivery, the Canton Public Library will be open!

National Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from mid-September through mid-October each year. The resources in this Special Collection provide an introduction to the culture, identity and direction of the diverse population that is Hispanic.

Culture

Arte Latino: Treasures From the Smithsonian American Art Museum by Jonathan Yorba: This book documents 50 Latino artists from the U.S. and Puerto Rico as they explore their identity and influence on U.S. culture over the past two centuries through various media.

This legal holiday is celebrated in the United States on the first Monday of every September. The first Labor Day celebration dates back to a parade in New York on Tuesday, September 5, 1882. More than half the states were celebrating Labor Day by 1893, but it wasn't made a national holiday until June 28, 1894, when President Grover Cleveland signed it into law.

Senator Edward M. Kennedy passed away early this morning after a long battle with cancer. He was 77. Kennedy, nicknamed "Ted," and known as the "Lion of the Senate" was first elected to represent Massachusetts in 1962. He is one of only six senators in U.S. history to serve more than 40 years. Throughout this time he played major roles in the passage of such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act. He has also been one of the Senate's foremost champions of health care reform. Speaking to reporters after hearing the news of Kennedy's death, President Obama called him "not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy."

Do you remember Hurricane Camille? Woodstock? Apollo 11? The Manson Murders? The Stonewall Riots? If so, do you remember what all of these history making events have in common? They all occurred in the Summer of 1969. For an overview of some of these events check out CNN's Special page. For a perspective on the entire year you can also read Rob Kirkpatrick's recent book 1969: the Year Everything Changed. Or check out Wikipedia's timeline for a day-by-day breakdown of this seminal year in American history.

February 12, 2009 marks the 200th birthday of America's 16th - and perhaps greatest - president, Abraham Lincoln. He is being celebrated in ceremonies all over the country, including at an exhibit in Plymouth, Michigan called "In the Presence of Lincoln" which will run through November 4.

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