This lesson focuses on the drafting of the United States Constitution during the Federal Convention of 1787 in Philadelphia. Students will analyze an unidentified historical document and draw conclusions about what this document was for, who created it, and why. After the document is identified as George Washington’s annotated copy of the Committee of Style’s draft constitution, students will compare its text to that of an earlier draft by the Committee of Detail to understand the evolution of the final document.

This lesson focuses on a few key concepts of the Declaration of Independence, beginning with the phrase "All men are created equal." Students gain an appreciation of Thomas Jefferson's efforts to deal with the complex issues of equality and slavery in the Declaration of Independence.

The William A. Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs provides almost 350 images showing African Americans and related military and social history. The Civil War era is the primary time period covered, with scattered examples through 1945. Most of the images are photographs, including 270 cartes de visite.

Subjects of special note include Sojourner Truth, fugitive slaves, former slave children from New Orleans, and freed slaves at Seabrook Plantation in South Carolina. Military service photographs document participation in the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, and World War I. Several photographs show Buffalo Soldiers, and one album is filled with portraits of officers of the 25th United States Colored Troops. Baseball is the theme for a group portrait from Danbury, CT, and a panoramic view of the 1924 Colored World Series opening game.

In 1995, The Library of Congress purchased this collection from William A. Gladstone.