Top of page

Category: Thomas Jefferson Building

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

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

Story Time Returns at the Young Readers Center

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The author Pat Mora has a word for it: Bookjoy. If you’re a lover of books, you won’t have to look that up in a dictionary – you’ll just know, instinctively, what it is.  But where were you when you first experienced the joy of books? Odds are it was on your mom’s, dad’s or …

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 Marie Arana

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Author Marie Arana is a writer-at-large for the Washington Post and former editor-in-chief of Book World, as well member of the Library of Congress Scholars Council. Her latest book, a biography of Simon Bolívar, was extensively researched …

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

Pic of the Week: Taft in the House

Posted by: Erin Allen

Washington Nationals newest mascot, William Howard Taft, stopped by the Library of Congress last Friday during a special event celebrating the acquisition of the historic recording collection of Hall of Fame sports broadcaster Bob Wolff. A selection of Library treasures was put on display for guests, including Taft’s papers, which the National’s mascot is seen …

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

A Birthday Fit for a President

Posted by: Erin Allen

Saturday is the 270th anniversary of Thomas Jefferson’s birth (April 13, 1743). And, the Library of Congress owes much to this esteemed third president. After the British invaded Washington in the War of 1812, they burned down the Capitol building, including the Library of Congress collection housed there. Jefferson, an avid book collector, sold his …

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

Pic of the Week: Country Crooners

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Library of Congress Coolidge Auditorium turned Grand Ole Opry for a night last Wednesday, as members of the Country Music Association (CMA) took to the stage to sing their hits. Bob DiPiero returned to host the latest installment of the CMA Songwriters Series, which this time featured Ronnie Milsap, Loretta Lynn “Lorrie” Morgan and …

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

Inquiring Minds: Exploring Jefferson’s Universe

Posted by: Erin Allen

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 small green ribbon. “It’s been a little slow,” says Dimunation, chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, as he scans the titles. The books all were drawn from the “Thomas …