InRetrospect: February Blogging Edition

Here’s a sampling of some of the highlights in the Library’s blogosphere from February.

  • Inside Adams: Science Technology & Business

Turf Wars on the Football Field

Jennifer Harbster debates the differences between natural and synthetic turf grass on the football field.

  •  In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog

In Memory of Patty Andrews and the Andrews Sisters

Chris Hartten and Mark Horowitz remember Andrews Sister front woman Patty Andrews.

  • In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress

Washington’s Farewell Address

Pres. George Washington gives advice to the new nation.

  • The Signal: Digital Preservation

After the Flood: Digital Art Recovery in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy

A New York City art gallery documents recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy.

  • Teaching with the Library of Congress

Frederick Douglass on Abraham Lincoln: The Writer and Abolitionist Remembers the President in Library of Congress Primary Sources

Library of Congress resources highlight friendship between Lincoln and Douglass.

  • Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos

George Washington Carver: More Than a Name

What do the photographs tell you about the successful scientist, inventor and educator?

  • From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress

Visitors Welcome

The Poet Laureate is in residence and receiving guests.

Inquiring Minds: Exploring Jefferson’s Universe

Now, more than ever, researchers are using the books in Thomas Jefferson’s library. The following is a guest post by Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library of Congress staff newsletter, The Gazette. Mark Dimunation stands in a vault near the rare-book reading room and eyes a dozen volumes on a half-filled shelf, each bearing a …

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First Drafts: Poem for a President

(The following is an article from the January-February 2013 issue of the Library’s magazine, LCM, highlighting “first drafts” of important documents in American history.) Robert Frost (1874 –1963) was the first poet commissioned to write a poem for a presidential inauguration. His poem, titled “Dedication,” was intended to be read at the inauguration of John …

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Presidential Precedents

The Library of Congress holds the papers of 23 U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. These collections, housed in the Manuscript Division—and the Library’s holdings in other formats such as rare books, photographs, films, sound recordings, sheet music and maps—inform us about the time and tenor of each of their administrations. Unique to …

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Oath of Office

(The following is a guest article written by my colleague Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library’s staff newsletter, The Gazette.) President Barack Obama next week will again take the oath of office on the Bible, drawn from the Library of Congress collections, that President Abraham Lincoln used at his first inauguration more than 150 years …

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A Gift for President Karzai — and for You

On Thursday evening, a very nice gift was given, and received, in an ornate room at the U.S. Department of State.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai was the recipient – on behalf of several libraries and research institutions in his nation – of a trove of digitized treasures from the Library of Congress and its associated …

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Inquiring Minds: An Interview with British Research Council Fellow Maria Shmygol

The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center. In 2012, the John W. Kluge Center welcomed 28 promising young scholars from the United Kingdom to conduct research at the Library of Congress. The scholars – all currently pursuing doctorate degrees – are funded by the …

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The Sensei from Sioux City

Today marks 19 years since the passing of one of the world’s great management thinkers—W. Edwards Deming. After World War II, the U.S. did something remarkable in the history of war – it helped its friends and even its former foes get back on their feet economically.  In Europe, that was accomplished through the Marshall …

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Let’s Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is just a day away, and I’ve been noticing on Facebook, friends posting what they are thankful for this holiday season. Those statuses certainly have given me pause to count my own blessings. First and foremost, I am thankful for my family, who, no matter how far away I am from them, help me …

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