Designation as Federal Depository
"The United States government is a constant and generous donor to the library. Senator John Alexander Logan designated it as a depository of United States publications, May 26, 1876. The library has now an important collection of these national documents. An effort has been made to gather also the official publications of states and cities."
Ambrose, Lodilla. "Chapter X: The Library," IN Wilde, Arthur Herbert.
Northwestern University 1855 – 1905: A History.
The University Publishing Society, 1905, volume 3 p.200.
This is how Lodilla Ambrose, who served as the Assistant Librarian at Northwestern from 1888-1908 (1), described the inauguration of what is now known as the Government & Geographic Information Collection, located in Room B190 on the lower level of the University Library. Interestingly, A Brief History of the FDLP (2) provided by the Government Publishing Office (GPO) (3) indicates that the Depository Library program has been in operation since 1895. In that year, Congress revised printing legislation and provided GPO added authority to print for all three branches of the federal government. The 1895 legislation authorized GPO to collect, catalog, and distribute information to libraries.
As is stated in that history:
"In 1895 there were 420 designated depository libraries, each required to hold at least 1,000 other books or documents and to agree to make depository materials freely available to the public. The first depository shipment, on July 17, 1895, contained eleven Congressional publications."
Northwestern University Libraries committed early on to providing government information to its faculty, students, and the larger community to ensure an informed citizenry capable of participating actively in its own governance. Through all the many changes in both the FDLP and the Northwestern University Libraries over the past 150 years, that commitment to provide information in support of citizenship, teaching, and research, has never wavered. As James Madison wrote,
Letter from James Madison to W.T. Barry (August 4, 1822), in
The Writings of James Madison (Gaillard Hunt ed.)
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1) Assistant Librarian was the title used for the head of the library 1887-1908. See, Erickson, Rolf. Northwestern University Libraries: Organization Units, Heads of Units, 1856-1977. typescript, 1978.
2) FDLP = Federal Depository Library Program
3) GPO was known as the Government Printing Office until its name was changed by law in 2014 to the Government Publishing Office.
Book Nook Display: September - October 2025
To observe Constitution & Citizenship Day, which falls annually on September 17, in 2025, NUL staff recorded themselves reading the Constitution. The recording was shared via social media and has been archived on YouTube. A display in the Book Nook (University Library, ground floor) to highlight the 150th Anniversary of Northwestern University Libraries being a Federal Depository Library, expanded upon the theme highlighting collection materials pertinent to selected Constitutional amendments and Congressional legislation that has been enacted over the past 230+ years to ensure the fullest participation in, and protection by, our government to all.
The Constitution isn't perfect, but through rigorous debate and principled compromise, progress has and will continue to be made toward the ideal expressed so nobly by Abraham Lincoln for, "government of the people, by the people, and for the people."
The display in the Book Nook was necessarily selective and addressed the following examples of Constitutional Amendments that have expanded civil rights, and the legislation enacted to enforce those rights for all Americans.
Display: Civil Rights
Civil Rights Actions
13th Amendment to the Constitution
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
14th Amendment to the Constitution
All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. (3 additional sections)
15th Amendment to the Constitution
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude–
Civil Rights Act of 1964
Prohibited discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, and schools. Outlawed discrimination in federally funded projects. Prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor employment discrimination.
See the Additional Resources section of this page for information about more federal Civil Rights legislation. What follows is a very selective listing of books and government publications related to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Before the Movement
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; E185.61 .P46 2024Publication Date: 2024Before the Movement is an account of Black legal lives that looks beyond the Constitution and the criminal justice system to recover a rich, broader vision of Black life--a vision allied with, yet distinct from, "the freedom struggle." -
Bending toward justice: 60 years of civil rights laws protecting workers in America.
by
Call Number: EBookPublication Date: 2025This report discusses civil rights protections afforded to workers and identifies EEOC resources to help employees, applicants, employers, staffing agencies, unions, and others in both the public and private sectors recognize and prevent discrimination (including harassment and retaliation). It also provides a historical overview of the development of Federal anti-discrimination laws protecting workers. Furthermore, it presents a timeline of amendments, EEOC guidance, and significant court cases relevant to the civil rights laws that the EEOC enforces. -
The Bill of the Century : the epic battle for the Civil Rights Act
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; 342.73085 R595bPublication Date: 2014The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the single most important piece of legislation passed by Congress in American history. ... But there was nothing predestined about the victory: a phalanx of powerful senators, pledging to "fight to the death" for segregation, launched the longest filibuster in American history to defeat it ... as Clay Risen shows, the battle for the Civil Rights Act was ... a broad, epic struggle, a sweeping tale of unceasing grassroots activism, ringing speeches, backroom deal-making and finally, hand-to-hand legislative combat -
Citizen's guide to the 1964 Civil Rights Act byCall Number: Main Library Stacks ; 342.73087 C581Publication Date: 1965
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The Civil Rights Act of 1964: An Overview
by
Publication Date: 09-21-2020Provided by the Congressional Research Services -
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 : the passage of the law that ended racial segregation
by
Call Number: Main Library Core - 2 North ; 342.73087 C582Publication Date: 1997This book details, in a series of first-person accounts, how Hubert Humphrey and other dedicated civil rights supporters fashioned the famous cloture vote that turned back the determined southern filibuster in the U. S. Senate and got the monumental Civil Rights Act bill passed into law. -
An Idea Whose Time Has Come
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; KF4744.5151964 .P87 2014Publication Date: 2014A top Washington journalist recounts the dramatic political battle to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ... In a powerful narrative layered with revealing detail, Todd S. Purdum ... recreates the legislative maneuvering and the larger-than-life characters who made its passage possible. -
Judgment Days : Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the laws that changed America
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; 973.92 J67ZkoPublication Date: 2005In this first full account of the working relationship between Johnson and King, Kotz offers a detailed, surprising account that significantly enriches our understanding of both men and their time. -
Resolving Racial Conflict : the Community Relations Service and civil rights, 1964-1989
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; 323.1196 L665rPublication Date: 2004In 1964, when the Civil Rights Act was passed, Congress created an agency based in the U.S. Department of Justice to help forestall or resolve racial or ethnic disputes evolving from the act ... This first written history of the Community Relations Service uses the experiences of the men and women who sought to resolve the most volatile issues of the day ... From Selma to Montgomery, at the encampment of the Poor Peoples' Campaign in Resurrection City, to the urban riots of the sixties, seventies, and eighties, from the school desegregation battles north and south, at the siege of Wounded Knee, and during the Texas Gulf Coast fishing wars between Southeast Asian refugees and Anglos, these federal peacemakers lessened the atmosphere of racial violence in every major U.S. city and thousands of small towns. -
The Longest Debate : a legislative history of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; 342.73087 W552l Also available at Core 2 North and Law LibraryPublication Date: 1985 -
To End All Segregation
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; 323.1196 L826tPublication Date: 1990This book traces the early history of the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, showing how brutal police treatment of civil rights demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama, forced President Kennedy to send a strong civil rights bill to Congress in June of 1963. The various legislative strategies used to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress are detailed. -
Title VI enforcement highlights. byPublication Date: 2012OCR investigates allegations of discrimination and, as needed, obtains robust remedies that address the root causes of the discrimination. OCR’s resolutions seek to equip educators, parents and communities to pursue educational equity as intended by Title VI. Almost 600 OCR team members lead this work from our headquarters and 12 regional offices around the country.
To find books about the Civil Rights Act of 1964, other related legislation, and social change, use one or more of the following SUBJECT search terms in NUSearch:
African Americans -- Civil rights
African Americans -- Civil rights -- History -- 20th century
African Americans -- Legal status, laws, etc
Civil rights -- United States
Civil rights movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Discrimination -- United States
Johnson, Lyndon B (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 -- Friends and associates
Johnson, Lyndon B (Lyndon Baines), 1908-1973 -- Relations with African Americans
King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968 -- Friends and associates
Segregation -- Law and legislation -- United States -- History -- 20th century
United States -- Politics and government -- 1963-1969
United States -- Race relations -- Political aspects
United States Civil Rights Act of 1964
Display: 19th Amendment & Title IX
19th Amendment to the Constitution
The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.
Title IX of the Education Act Amendments of 1972
No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.
These are the first 37 words of the Act (see page 139 of Public Law 92-318; codified as 20 U.S.C. § 1681 - 1688):
A very selective listing of books and government publications pertinent to the passage and impact of these landmark laws is provided below.
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9 things women couldn't do before 1971
USA Today article by Jessica Hill, Oct 28, 2020. complete title,
Fact check: Post detailing 9 things women couldn't do before 1971 is mostly right. -
Legal Status of Homemakers
State by state review of laws of support, divorce, inheritance, and access to credit. Based on the facts gathered in these 50 analyses, the Commission issued the report, "... To Form a More Perfect Union" in 1976 (linked below).
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" ... To form a more perfect union ... " : justice for American women; report of the National Commission on the Observance of International Women's Year
by
Call Number: Main Library Government Information - Lower Level Room B190 ; Y 3. W 84: 1/976Publication Date: 1976
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The spirit of Houston : the first national women's conference : an official report to the President, the Congress and the people of the United States.
by
Call Number: Main Library Government Information - Lower Level Room B190 ; Y 3. W 84: 1/978Publication Date: 1978
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Final report of the Illinois International Women's Year Conference
Print copy available in NUL Special Collections
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American women today & tomorrow
by
Call Number: Main Library Government Information Lower Level B190 Y3.W 84:2Am3Publication Date: 1977A national survey of women's attitudes, opinions, current activities, patterns of their lives, and views of the future. -
Equality on Trial : gender and rights in the modern American workplace
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; KF3467 .T87 2016Publication Date: 2016In 1964, as part of its landmark Civil Rights Act, Congress outlawed workplace discrimination on the basis of such personal attributes as sex, race, and religion. This provision, known as Title VII, laid a new legal foundation for women's rights at work. Though President Kennedy and other lawmakers expressed high hopes for Title VII, early attempts to enforce it were inconsistent. In the absence of a consensus definition of sex equality in the law or society, Title VII's practical meaning was far from certain. The first history to foreground Title VII's sex provision, Equality on Trial examines how the law's initial promise inspired a generation of Americans to dispatch expansive notions of sex equality. -
A student guide to Title IX byCall Number: Main Library Government Information - Lower Level Room B190 ; HE 19. 108: St 9/ 2Publication Date: 1977
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Title IX’s Application to Transgender Athletes: Recent Developments byPublication Date: Updated August 12, 2020Non-partisan research support provided to Congress by the Library of Congress, CRS reports address a wide spectrum of issues and policies.
To find books about Title IX and its impact, use one or more of the following SUBJECT search terms in NUSearch:
United States Education Amendments of 1972 Title IX
Discrimination in education -- Law and legislation -- United States
Educational law and legislation -- United States
Federal aid to education -- United States
Gender identity -- Law and legislation -- United States
Minorities -- Employment -- Government policy -- United States
Pregnant students -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States
School sports -- Law and legislation -- United States
Sex and law -- United States
Sex discrimination -- United States
Sex discrimination against women -- Law and legislation -- United States
Sex discrimination in sports -- Law and legislation -- United States
Sex discrimination in education -- Law and legislation -- United States
Sexual harassment in education -- United States -- Prevention
Sexual harassment in education -- Law and legislation -- United States
Students -- Civil rights -- United States
Women -- Education -- United States
Women -- Employment -- United States
Women -- United States -- Economic conditions
Women athletes -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- United States
Display: Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (Public Law 101-336 ; codified as 42 U.S.C. § 12101)
PURPOSE- It is the purpose of this Act--
(1) to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
(2) to provide clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities;
(3) to ensure that the Federal Government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established in this Act on behalf of individuals with disabilities; and
(4) to invoke the sweep of congressional authority, including the power to enforce the fourteenth amendment and to regulate commerce, in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities.
Taken from the text of Public Law 101-336
archived on Govinfo.gov
A very selective listing of books and government publications pertinent to the passage and impact of this landmark law is provided below.
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8 ways in which the Americans with Disabilities Act changed everyone's lives
by
Publication Date: July 13, 2015Blog post based upon research at the National Museum of American History.
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Ableism in Academia : theorising experiences of disabilities and chronic illnesses in higher education
by
Call Number: EBookPublication Date: 2020 -
All the Way to the Top
by
Call Number: Main Library Leisure Reading - Book Nook ; HV1553 .B39 2020Publication Date: 20202021 Schneider Family Book Award Young Children's Honor Book (American Library Association) Experience the true story of lifelong activist Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins and her participation in the Capitol Crawl in this inspiring autobiographical picture book. This beautifully illustrated story includes a foreword from Jennifer and backmatter detailing her life and the history of the disability rights movement. -
Defectives in the Land
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; JV6485 .B395 2016ISBN: 9780226364162Publication Date: 2016Immigration history has largely focused on the restriction of immigrants by race and ethnicity, overlooking disability as a crucial factor in the crafting of the image of the "undesirable immigrant." Defectives in the Land, Douglas C. Baynton's groundbreaking new look at immigration and disability, aims to change this. -
Disability hate speech : social, cultural and political contexts
by
Call Number: EBookPublication Date: 2020This book, the first to specifically focus on disability hate speech, explains what disability hate speech is, why it is important, what laws regulate it (both online and in person) and how it is different from other forms of hate. -
Disabling Barriers
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; HV1559.C2 D59 2017ISBN: 9780774835237Publication Date: 2017Disabling Barriers analyzes issues relating to disability at different moments in Canadian and American history. In this volume, legal scholars, historians, and disability-rights activists demonstrate that disabled people can change their social status by transforming the political and legal discourse surrounding disablement. -
Enabling Acts
by
Call Number: Law Library: Stacks ; MON KF480 .D38 2015ISBN: 9780807071564Publication Date: 2015The first major behind-the-scenes account of the history, passage, and impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-the landmark moment for disability rights In this riveting account, acclaimed disability scholar Lennard J. Davis delivers the first on-the-ground narrative of how a band of leftist Berkeley hippies managed to make an alliance with upper-crust, conservative Republicans to bring about a truly bipartisan bill. -
No Right to Be Idle
by
Call Number: Main Library Stacks ; HV1553 .R66 2017ISBN: 9781469630083Publication Date: 2017Sarah F. Rose explains a perfect storm of public policies, shifting family structures, and economic changes which effectively barred workers with disabilities from mainstream workplaces and simultaneously cast disabled people as morally questionable dependents in need of permanent rehabilitation to achieve self-care and self-support. -
Nothing About Us Without Us : Disability Oppression and Empowerment
by
Call Number: EBookPublication Date: 1998Nothing About Us Without Us is the first book in the literature on disability to provide a theoretical overview of disability oppression that shows its similarities to, and differences from, racism, sexism, and colonialism. -
What we have done : an oral history of the disability rights movement
by
Call Number: EBookPublication Date: 2012Fred Pelka ... presents the voices of disability rights activists who, in the period from 1950 to 1990, transformed how society views people with disabilities, and recounts how the various streams of the movement came together to push through the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, the most sweeping civil rights legislation since passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Full text also available via Internet Archive for those without current NU affiliation.
To find books about the Americans with Disabilities Act and its impact, use one or more of the following SUBJECT search terms in NUSearch:
Architectural Accessibility
Assistive computer technology
Accessible Web sites for people with disabilities
Bus terminals -- Barrier-free design
Discrimination against people with disabilities
Discrimination against the mentally ill -- Law and legislation -- United States
Passenger ships -- Barrier-free design -- United States
Subway stations -- Barrier-free design
Terminals (Transportation) -- Barrier-free design
Handicapped-- Civil rights
Mental health laws -- United States
Paratransit services -- United States
People with disabilities (many topical subdivisions such as the following)
People with disabilities -- Civil rights -- United States
People with disabilities -- Employment
People with disabilities -- United States -- Transportation
United States Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
Government & Geographic Information - Room B190
Directional signs used on the lower level of University Library
Book Shelving in B190 with
Geological Map of North America as artwork
Book Shelving in B190 with
World Map as artwork
Additional Resources
Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts of Congress Referenced in Black Americans in Congress, U.S. House of Representatives Art, History, and Archives.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom, a digital exhibit from the Library of Congress
These two digital exhibits provide information about additional legislation including:
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the Civil Rights Acts of 1866
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the Reconstruction Acts (1st through 4th 1865-1869)
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the Enforcement Acts (1st - 3rd 1869-1873)
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the Civil Rights Acts of 1875, 1957, 1960, 1965 (Voting Rights Act), 1968 (Fair Housing Act), the 24th Amendment (which in 1964 abolished poll taxes), and the subsequent legislative amendments to many of these acts.
Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote: a digital exhibit from the Library of Congress
Disability Law in the United States: A Beginner's Guide
A Research Guide from the Library of Congress which covers a variety of resources surrounding the Americans with Disabilities Act and other topics related to disability law, including information about relevant federal agencies, service animals, and veterans resources.
America's Founding Documents: The Constitution
from the National Archives
America's Founding Documents: The Bill of Rights
from the National Archives
Constitution & Citizenship Day September 17 - an NUL resource guide created to support this annual holiday provides additional resources.