Teaching with Primary Sources Southern Region

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Teaching with Primary Sources Southern Region

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*This page is not an official publication of the Library of Congress and does not represent official Library of Congress communications.

Funded by the Library of Congress, the Teaching with Primary Sources Southern Region at MTSU promotes the widespread, sustained and effective use of primary sources from the Library by increasing access to the TPS program in eight states across the South. Content created and featured in partnership with the TPS program does not indicate an endorsement by the Library of Congress.*

Funded by a Library of Congress grant, the Teaching with Primary Sources - Southern Region program at Middle Tennessee State University was officially established in 2025 and is administered by the MTSU Center for Historic Preservation. It grows out of the previous TPS-MTSU program, which joined the national TPS Consortium in May 2008. For almost sixteen years, TPS-MTSU linked current state-focused educational initiatives to larger national themes and emphasized the student exploration of history, science, arts, and culture through the use of primary sources available from the Library of Congress. As part of the TPS Regional program, TPS-Southern Region promotes the widespread, sustained and effective use of primary sources from the Library of Congress in K-12 classrooms by increasing access to the TPS program. School districts, universities, cultural institutions, library systems and other educational organizations may apply for grants of up to $25,000 to incorporate TPS materials and methods into their existing education and professional development programs for pre and in-service K-12 teachers, librarians, community members, and students. Beginning in 2025, the TPS Regional Program will also offer subgrants under the Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative, named in honor of late Congressmen John Lewis (D-GA) and Amo Houghton (R-NY). Lewis-Houghton Initiative subgrants will support projects incorporating music and creative arts-based primary sources and approaches to support student learning about civics, history, and democracy at the middle and high school level. Educational organizations across the country can apply for subgrants to incorporate music, visual art, theatre, poetry, and literature from the Library's digital collections, as well as arts-based approaches, into secondary civic and history education. Grant recipients may use TPS funding to meet a variety of programmatic needs, including:

Delivering online or face-to-face TPS workshops
Embedding TPS materials and content into broader professional development programs
Revising undergraduate or graduate course syllabi or curricula to include a TPS focus
Disseminating existing TPS materials to broader audiences
Partnering with another TPS consortium member on a pilot
Adapting existing TPS materials for new learner populations

09/29/2026

Kira and Layla are excited to be participating in the 2026 SEMC conference. This is a great conference to learn about the amazing work happening in museums across the region.

09/26/2026

Thanks to the staff of Mississippi Department of Archives and History for inviting us to present at the teacher workshop at Two Mississippi Museums yesterday in Jackson, MS. Stacey led a session about primary sources and professional development from the Library of Congress and got to enjoy a tour of both the archives and the Civil Rights museum.

09/17/2026

We are at the AASLH NCPH joint conference this week! Looking forward to meeting new people in the exhibit hall

09/08/2026

We’re looking for judges for the Middle Tennessee Regional History Day 2027 contest! Next year’s contest will be held on Friday, February 26th and the theme is “Innovation in History: Impact, Influence, Change”! If you’re interested in being a judge this year, please fill out this Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe9FkBgDj-orNidWRrJCqjPEMKQmar4YVDOj0eKhW8lyacTTQ/viewform?usp=header

Also feel free to share this post to colleagues or friends who would be interested!

08/25/2026

Tennessee, the Southern Region, and all of the U.S. mourns the passing of Dolly Parton. For Dolly resources at the Library of Congress, start with the "Dolly Parton and the Roots of Country Music" collection at https://www.loc.gov/collections/dolly-parton-and-the-roots-of-country-music/about-this-collection/.

08/19/2026

If you are History Day curious, we encourage you to check out one of these upcoming PD opportunities!

🎉Tennessee History Day is coming to Chattanooga!🎉

Join us for the Tennessee History Day Fall Workshop Series in Chattanooga on Friday, August 21, for a full day of professional development, practical resources, and ideas you can seamlessly implement into your classroom curriculum.

Chattanooga State Community College
August 21
9:00 AM–3:30 PM ET

During the workshop, you’ll explore:

🔎How to apply Tennessee Social Studies Practices through the National History Day program
🔎The Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources program and classroom resources
🔎Classroom strategies and real-world examples for using primary sources

THD will provide:

📍PD certificates for participants
📍A $50 stipend + curriculum materials
📍Lunch

Teams are encouraged to attend. Space is limited, so register today!

Learn more and register: https://tennesseehistory.org/2026-thd-workshop-series/

08/06/2026

TPS-SR team member Alex Lingle McMahan recently had the opportunity to visit The Cabildo Museum in New Orleans whose education team is wrapping up their recent TPS regional grant focused on developing new education materials to teach Reconstruction. Be on the lookout for their walking tour videos that will highlight key local sites that shaped Reconstruction nationally.

08/05/2026

Zoe Flowers, our newest graduate assistant, walks teachers from Metro Nashville Public Schools through a primary source analysis at today's social studies inservice.

08/03/2026

Our team is very excited to be a part of the upcoming TCSS webinar series. Register today to learn more efficient ways to find primary sources from the Library of Congress digital collections.

07/17/2026

The Discovery Tennessee History Collaborative just wrapped the second of three teacher institutes for Tennessee 250. A big shoutout to our wonderful partners from across the state! Photo credit: Jason Bihler Photography for TN250

Address

MTSU Box 80
Murfreesboro, TN
37132

Telephone

(615) 898-2947

Website

http://www.mtsu.edu/tps

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Contact The School

Send a message to Teaching with Primary Sources Southern Region:

The Blackbird Academy
2806 Azalea Place, Nashville

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