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Category: General News

A photo of the wooden columned structure that houses the Kluge Center.

The Kluge Center: The History of its Space

Posted by: Andrew Breiner

This is a guest post by Bela Kellogg. Kellogg is a 2023 Kluge Center summer intern, where she worked with Writer-Editor Andrew Breiner and Kluge Fellow Samira Spatzek. She is currently pursuing a BA in English and history of art from the University of Michigan. In addition to being a member of the La Jolla …

A Movie Mystery at the Kluge Center

Posted by: Sophia Zahner

It started with a sneeze, or so we thought. Since the 1950s, film historians counted “The Sneeze” from 1894 as the earliest surviving film copyrighted in the United States. At this time, the film began being shown as a motion picture after being copied back to film from a photograph. Claudy Op den Kamp, a …

Image shows the Join In exhibit at the Library of Congress, featuring a model barn raising

Joining In at the Kluge Center

Posted by: Andrew Breiner

This is a post by Kevin Butterfield, Director of the John W. Kluge Center.  One of the more remarkable coincidences of my professional life happened on September 12, 2022, when I arrived for my first day of work at the Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress as the new Director of the John W. …

Sweeping view from the floor of a great room, looking upwards past marble columns and arches to a grand golden-colored dome

Deepak Nayyar Joins Kluge Center as Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South

Posted by: Sophia Zahner

The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is pleased to announce the appointment of Deepak Nayyar as Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South. Nayyar began his time at the Kluge Center this September. Deepak Nayyar is Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, and an Honorary …

Image of Kevin Butterfield

Kluge Center Welcomes New Director Kevin Butterfield

Posted by: Andrew Breiner

Kevin Butterfield, noted historian of American history and most recently executive director of the Fred W. Smith National Library for the Study of George Washington at Mount Vernon, has joined the Library of Congress as Director of the John W. Kluge Center. Butterfield succeeds Brent Yacobucci, who has returned to managing the energy and materials …

Image of Kluge Director Brent Yacobucci interviewing Tamika Y. Nunley

Navigating Liberty’s Promise: Black Women in Washington, DC and the End of Slavery

Posted by: Andrew Breiner

Nineteenth-century Washington, DC was home to thousands of enslaved people, as well as a hotbed of abolitionist activism. Black women were subject to incredible levels of legal and social restriction, but found ways to make their own lives within that world. Historian Tamika Nunley’s latest book, At the Threshold of Liberty: Women, Slavery, and Shifting …

Image of Steve Swayne

Steve Swayne Joins John W. Kluge Center as Chair in Modern Culture

Posted by: Andrew Breiner

The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Swayne as Chair in Modern Culture. Swayne, who began his residency in March, is working with the Library’s David Diamond Collection to produce a book on the life and work of the influential 20th century American composer. …

Image of Elizabeth Currid-Halkett

Kluge Center Welcomes Elizabeth Currid-Halkett into Residence

Posted by: Andrew Breiner

Kluge Center Welcomes Elizabeth Currid-Halkett into Residence USC Price School of Public Policy Professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett has been appointed as the Kluge Chair in Modern Culture at the John W. Kluge Center. She will begin her term in June 2022. This appointment is awarded to a scholar of significant accomplishment in modern arts and media …