Winter Holiday Resources from the Federal Government This guide was created by the CSU Stanislaus University Library and links to holiday season resources provided by the federal government

Library of Congress: Who Invented Electric Christmas Lights?

This short history created by the Library of Congress discusses the history of electrical lights and their use in holiday decorations.

Christmas Music History

20th century American newspapers published lyrics, stories, and music during the holiday season. Research the Library of Congress's newspaper collection for Christmas carols and more!

For over two hundred years, the performance of carols has been a feature of Christmas in villages throughout many parts of England, especially in the West Country and in the region of South Yorkshire and Derbyshire around Sheffield, on the eastern edge of the Pennine hills. In this talk for the Library of Congress American Folklife Center, Ian Russell explores the development of this tradition in terms of musicality, group structure, style, and repertoire with recorded examples.

The history of the song "I'll Be Home For Christmas" which is part of the Library of Congress song collection may also interest readers!

The post Where Did That Christmas Song Come From? by Stephanie Hall on the Library of Congress Folklife Today blog discusses the origins of some favorite Christmas carols.

A ChRiSTMAS CAROL BY CHARLES DICKENS

Read A Christmas Carol on the Library of Congress website.

Read a series of blog posts on the Library of Congress Folklife Today blog about ethnography and folklore in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Readers may also enjoy "A Christmas Carol Was Not His Best Holiday Novel, Charles Dickens Thought" by Danny Heitman. This article appears in Humanities which is a magazine published by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Celebrate Jewish Culture and Traditions

This holiday season learn about the history of Jewish life in America! From Haven to Home: 350 Years of Jewish Life in America is a Library of Congress exhibition marking 350 years of Jewish life in America. The exhibition features more than two hundred treasures of American Judaica from the collections of the Library of Congress.

View the Jewish Culture and Traditions: Resources in the American Folklife Center research guide to learn about resources available in the Library of Congress. This guide focuses on activities such as fieldwork, interpretation, and programming related to Jewish culture and Jewish Americans as documented in the collections of the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.

The Library of Congress is home to a collection of rare children’s books and periodicals in Hebrew and Yiddish,. While many of these items are still protected by copyright, five of these publications have been digitized and are available for reading online!

Meal Ideas For a Joyous Kwanzaa

While not a federal government resource, Oregon State University has a website dedicated to African Heritage recipes. Check out the site by clicking the link below!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture also offers healthy recipe ideas for a Kwanzaa celebration.

HEALTHY, THRIFTY HOLIDAY MENUS From the USDA

Find recipe ideas for holiday meals on the USDA website!

Happy Holidays!

The CSU Stanislaus Library wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday season!