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Archive: November 2017 (17 Posts)

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

New Acquisition: Extremely Rare Mesoamerican Manuscript

Posted by: Benny Seda-Galarza

The Codex Quetzalecatzin, an extremely rare Mesoamerican manuscript acquired by the Library’s Geography and Map Division, explores the extent, the people and the history of northern Oaxaca and Southern Puebla in Mexico. Held in private collections for more than 100 years, the codex has been digitally preserved by the Library and made available to the public online for …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Veterans History: Spell Checking the Vietnam Veterans Memorial

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Lee Ann Potter, director of educational outreach. Thirty-five years ago this month, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated. Three years later, in 1985, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund donated its records to the Library of Congress. But the National Archives actually plays …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Native American Heritage Month: Preserving Songs and Stories of the Past

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Judith Gray joined the staff of the American Folklife Center in 1983 with a goal in mind: she wanted to work on the Federal Cylinder Project. The Folklife Center launched the project four years earlier to preserve early field recordings of the sung and spoken traditions of Native American communities. Ethnographers had made the recordings on …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

EverydayLOC: Holiday Inspiration from the Library of Congress

Posted by: Gayle Osterberg

‘Tis the season to be jolly, be of good cheer and…be a thorough list-maker. Gift lists, grocery lists, invitation lists … there are so many things, and so little time that lists are essential to helping us make a bit more sense of it all. The Library offers a lot of great resources that can …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

This Day in History: Painstaking Assassination Investigation Uncovers Strange Side-Story

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas 54 years ago today. Last month, to much anticipation, historians and the public awaited release by the National Archives of the government’s final records on the investigation into his murder—a law passed in 1992 set October 26, 2017, as the deadline for public disclosure of all assassination-related …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Pic of the Week: Tony Bennett Honored in Star-Studded Gershwin-Prize Tribute

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Celebrated performer Tony Bennett salutes the crowd on November 15 after Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden and a delegation of Members of Congress presented him with the 2017 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Members who joined Bennett on stage were Rep. Kevin Yoder, U.S. House of Representatives Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Collecting Independent Comics and Cartoon Art

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Megan Halsband, a reference librarian in the Serial and Government Publications Division. It was first published in “Comics! An American History,” the September–October issue of LCM, the Library of Congress Magazine. The issue is available in its entirety online. Through an agreement with the Small Press Expo, the Library …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

New Online: Abraham Lincoln Papers

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Manuscript Division. Regular visitors to the Library of Congress website may be scratching their heads right now, thinking, “Aren’t the Abraham Lincoln Papers already online?” It is true that the bulk of the Abraham Lincoln Papers have long been available through the Library’s …