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Archive: 2016 (53 Posts)

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Signs of Their Times: A Few of My Favorite Signs

Posted by: Jeff Bridgers

In this final installment in the “Signs of Their Times” series drawing from the Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information (FSA/OWI) Photograph Collection, I offer a few of my miscellaneous favorites. To begin, I can’t imagine any librarian, or book-lover for that matter, could resist this 1940 appeal from the “The Mogollon School …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Marching to the Beat

Posted by: Julie Stoner

The end of August reminds me of the sweltering hot days I spent as a teenager in band camp, marching back and forth across the black pavement of the high school parking lot, attempting to learn field formations while simultaneously playing only half-remembered music.  Though well past my marching days, I still appreciate a well-executed …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Caught Our Eyes: Swan Dive

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

As I swelter through the dog days of summer along with my fellow Washingtonians, my overheated mind called forth a favorite print from our Fine Prints collection. The grace and simplicity of this lithograph are compelling enough, but the promise of a refreshing splashdown and a cool breeze on the way down is what caught …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

A Market Perspective: Pictures of Public Markets

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

I can’t resist poring over pictures of public markets. The hubbub, the variety of objects that demand a closer look, and the regular presence of stacks of food (albeit not always mouth-watering to contemplate) draw me in. So when I recently set off on one of my favorite kinds of tours through the Prints & …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Puttering About the Yard

Posted by: Julie Stoner

One of my favorite memories of visiting my grandparents’ house during summer vacation is my grandpa teaching me to play croquet in the side yard. I became nostalgic for those summer days when I came across this Civil War era photograph of a group playing croquet in Washington D.C. I decided to search the collections …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

A Virtual Vacation: Bem-vindos a Lisboa!

Posted by: Lara Szypszak

When I am about to set off on an adventure, as many are about to do this summer, I prepare both my luggage and my expectations. Along with reading guidebooks, I like to search through images of the destination, from both the past and present, in anticipation of the sights my eyes will see. The …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Spectators Pictured “Fanning” the Flames of Baseball Passion

Posted by: Jeff Bridgers

The mid-season All-Star Game break provides baseball fans an opportunity to assess their team’s progress thus far, taking stock of strengths and areas for improvement, successes and failings. But, I’m going to take a much further distant historical look at baseball spectators and fans enjoying the game. Going back some 150 years to October 1865, the engraved …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

A Trip Around the Ferris Wheel

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The two people in the photo at right seem stopped in their tracks, much like I was when I saw this image for the first time. As I took in the details, I realized the towering metal behemoth was a Ferris wheel. It would take a bit more research to discover that this is actually …