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By: Betty Lupinacci
I never know where the inspiration of an On the Shelf post will come from. Today’s stems from a patron request for an item which Ann Hemmens subsequently brought back to me for preservation work. As the 1941 D.C. Building Code sat on my desk, I thought about how many times I’ve told friends and …
Posted in: In Custodia Legis
By: Mark Hartsell
This post first appeared in “Veterans on the Homefront,” the November–December issue of LCM, the Library of Congress Magazine. The entire issue is available online. The Library preserves recordings and sheet music of thousands of tunes from World War I. The Great War inspired thousands of songs, music that a century later still evokes a …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by folklife specialist Ann Hoog. The American Folklife Center is pleased to announce the online release of the Rhode Island Folklife Project Collection. Between 1977 and 1997, the AFC conducted 25 ethnographic field projects and cultural surveys in various parts of the United States, resulting in a rich body of …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Anne Holmes
The following is a guest post by Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center. An earlier version was published on “Folklife Today,” the center’s blog. Halloween is here, and the Library of Congress has released a new web guide to Halloween resources at the Library. It features select materials on the folk customs, fine art, pop …
Posted in: From the Catbird Seat
By: Mark Hartsell
This post first appeared in the September–October issue of LCM, the Library of Congress Magazine. The issue is titled “Comics: An American History!” and is available in its entirety online. Two new online collections capture contemporary culture as it is consumed, via the web. The millions of items in Library of Congress collections chronicle human …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Libby Smigel
The following is a guest post from Sophie Benn, one of the Music Division’s Fellows from Case Western Reserve University this past summer. Dance Archivist Libby Smigel introduces her. I’m beginning to believe that every dance historian could benefit from working alongside a dance-loving musicologist. This past summer graduate student Sophie Benn fit that role …
Posted in: In The Muse
By: Wendi Maloney
Baseball and music have a basic affinity, as any fan knows. . . . [E]very pitch ends either with the satisfying pop of the catcher’s mitt or the tension-creating crack of the bat. . . . It should surprise no one that a game with such inherently strong elements of musicality should have attracted scores …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Manuscript Division. On May 17, 1877, former president Ulysses S. Grant and his wife Julia departed from Philadelphia on an extended trip. Other former presidents traveled after retiring from public office, but none journeyed as far as Grant did. He and Julia spent …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Wendi Maloney
This is a guest post by digital library specialist Elizabeth Gettins. There is a mystique surrounding libraries with old, rare books, and the Library of Congress is no exception. Just think of all the dark and vast vaults of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division that are closed to the public and imagine what …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Wendi Maloney
A love of travel inspires so many photos. A stunning group of images we’re featuring now in our “free to use and reuse” feature on the Library’s home page will take you on a century-old “grand tour” of the world. Our Photochrom Print Collection shows, in color, Europe, the Middle East, Canada, Asia and the …
Posted in: Timeless