About Music of US

The Music of US project is made possible thanks to funding from the Library of Congress Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative.

Music of US is developing educational learning experiences for middle and high school students that deepen understanding of United States History and Civics using music and other primary sources from the Library’s digital collections.

In each Music of US Episode, students discover important music, musicians, and performers that reflected and contributed to the rich fabric of U.S. history and culture while making connections to themselves and society today.

Down the line, Music of US plans to include a Builder App that will allow students to create their own Episodes with music they have created or chosen, showing connections between that music and their lives and communities.

Music of US Team

The Music of US project is being created by a diverse, skilled and experienced team.

  • Bert Snow directs the Music of US project. He is the principal of Snow&Co, and Co-PI of the KidCitizen project. He is an award-winning games-for-learning designer, and also co-founded an influential music--games company, Virtual Music, which developed games with Aerosmith and the Who.

  • Muzzy Lane Software is the developer of the Author cloud platform, on which the Music Of Us Builder App and Episodes will be built. The Author platform supports the creation and delivery of innovative interactive and game-based learning experiences, and has delivered millions of experiences to students, with partners including McGraw-Hill Education. The KidCitizen project has run for 6 years on the Author platform, with almost zero technical issues.

  • Jane Knox Mills is an experienced musician and music educator who has been a Connecticut Middle School Music Teacher of the Year, and whose students have won many awards. She is (was) the director of the TPS-funded Virtual Ensemble Project.

  • Julie Schaul is a consultant specializing in educational program and product development, usability, instructional design, and marketing. She has worked on a variety of projects for the Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program for nearly 20 years.

  • James Sullivan is an author, longtime Boston Globe contributor and freelance journalist. From 1995-2004 he was pop music and culture critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. He is the author of “Which Side Are You On? 20th Century History in 100 Protest Songs”, among other books. He teaches in the Journalism department at Emerson College.

  • Lynn Tuttle serves as Executive Director and CEO of the American String Teachers Association, the nation’s premiere service organization for string educators in schools, in private studios, and in higher education. She served as project leader for a TPS program from 2017-2021 at the National Association for Music Education.

  • Holly Golder is the K-12 Supervisor of Social Studies for the Red Clay school district and is Co-Chair of the Social Studies Coalition of Delaware. She is active in social studies professional learning as a teaching with primary sources coach, participant in TPS Leadership Institute, social studies specialist for Library of Congress Regional Grant and holds a certificate in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion from Rutgers.

  • Jeffery C. White is an experienced leader with a demonstrated history of working in the public policy industry, social service and community organizing with a Master’s Degree focused in Human Rights from Columbia University in the City of New York. He is an Adjunct Professor at John Jay College (SUNY), and a Special Education Teacher at Sunset Park High School, NYC.

  • Barbara Kirby is the Director of the TPS Eastern Region.

  • Keith Patterson is the Director of the TPS Western Region.

About the Library of Congress Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative

The Lewis-Houghton Civics and Democracy Initiative (LHI) honors the service and democratic ideals of Reps. John R. Lewis and Amo Houghton, by supporting organizations developing digital educational projects that teach history, civics, and democracy to secondary students using creative arts materials from the Library’s collections. In 2023, LHI funded six projects:

  • Music of US: Middle and High-school students interactively explore History and Civics through music from the Library of Congress

  • The American Road: The TAPESTRY is a unique digital delivery platform that will reach users of The American Road – an innovative, music-driven history, civics and community engagement program for secondary students.

  • TeachRock: A People’s Playlist: U.S. History with Music as a Primary Source is a High School U.S. History course that features American music as a source of historical inquiry.

  • TIME OUT OF JOINT: Fostering Civic Engagement, Creative Expression, and Empowering Students' Voices - uses primary sources from the Library to engage students in historical understanding of Shakespeare, theater, society and issues about race and incarceration.

  • The Library of Congress Mixtape is an analytical and creative tool that help students understand the structure and content behind musical works in the Library.

  • From Harikatha to Hip-Hop: Integrating Library of Congress Primary Sources on Traditional Music and Dance into the Humanities Curricula integrates primary sources from the Library’s collections depicting culturally-rooted music and dance traditions from around the world into instruction.