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Category: History

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Inside the March on Washington: Bayard Rustin’s “Army”

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Kate Stewart, processing archivist in the American Folklife Center, who is principally responsible for organizing and making available collections with Civil Rights content in the division to researchers and the public.) The planning and execution of the March on Washington in 1963 stands as an extraordinary testament to the …

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

Experts Corner: Civil Rights Collections

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an interview from the July-August 2013 edition of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Adrienne Cannon, African American history and culture specialist for the Manuscript Division, discusses the scope of the Library’s civil rights collections. When did the Library of Congress begin collecting …

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

Inquiring Minds: Studying Decolonization

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Each year the International Seminar on Decolonization, sponsored by the National History Center (NHC) and hosted by The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, brings together young historians from the United States and abroad to …

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

Hands to the Skies

Posted by: Erin Allen

In palmistry, a person’s personality traits, talents and interests are revealed through the topography of his or her hands. Amelia Earhart, born July 24, 1897, had her palm prints analyzed by palmist Nellie Simmons Meier four years before her mysterious disappearance. According to Meier’s analysis, the length and breadth of the famed aviator’s palm indicated …

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

One Scoop or Two

Posted by: Erin Allen

The weather of late has been particularly hot, and I’m sure many of us have been looking for ways to cool off. Perhaps it’s very appropriate, then, that July is National Ice Cream Month. I’m a rocky road fan, and I love to scoop some ice cream between two warm cookies for a ice cream …

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

Witnesses to History, Keepers of the Flame

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This is a guest post by Cheryl Fox of the Library’s Manuscript Division The First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas (July 21, 1861) set many precedents in American history—key troops were transported by train, battle reconnaissance was attempted via observation balloon, battle scenes were sketched and the battle’s aftermath, photographed to be published in newspapers.  And …

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

Inquiring Minds: An Interview with Author Jason Emerson

Posted by: Erin Allen

Jason Emerson is a journalist and an independent historian who has been researching and writing about the Lincoln family for nearly 20 years. He is a former National Park Service park ranger at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Ill. His previous books include “The Madness of Mary Lincoln,” “Lincoln the Inventor” and …

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

Inquiring Minds: Historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam is now concluding his tenure as the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at The John W. Kluge Center. His research looks at the first person narratives of early modern India …