Did you know that the federal Washington's Birthday holiday (otherwise known as Presidents' Day) never actually falls on Washington's actual birthday?  It's true!  The Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968 shifted the holiday to the Monday between the 15th and the 21st, so it will never be celebrated on February 22nd.  This may not bother Washington much, but it bothers me - that's my birthday too and I'll never get the day off for it!  (By the way, RCPL is not closed today, although the post office is.  So leave your packages at home and come check out some books!) 

In honor of poor Washington and his mislaid birthday I'll showcase a few of our magazines that focus on American history. 

American History is a bi-monthly magazine focusing on... oh, I'll let you guess.  Did you know that Phil Collins (yes, that Phil Collins) owns the world's largest private collection of Alamo documents and artifacts?  Well, you would if you read American History!  Each issue is full of articles on various aspects of the topic as well as book and movie reviews, features on museum exhibits, and news items.

American Heritage is a magazine with a long and distinguished pedigree; strategy gamers may remember board games sponsored by it in the 1960's, and the American Heritage Dictionary was founded by the magazine's owner, James Parton, who was appalled by the permissiveness of Webster's Third International Dictionary.  Now the magazine is published quarterly and includes extensive articles, news items, reviews, and "My Personal History", a feature in each issue about personal stories.

American Spirit is a bi-monthly magazine published by the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Unsurprisingly, they don't publish many articles about the darker underbelly of American history, but this magazine shouldn't be overlooked.  Each issue features artifacts from the DAR's extensive museum collection and offers stories on historic houses and travel opportunities, extensive book reviews, and of course feature articles.

Stop by the Periodicals Department at the Main Library and take a look at these and many more publications dedicated to American history!