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By: Stephanie Hall
Jewish vocal music culture in the United States reflects the variety of the many different parts of the diaspora from which the Jewish immigrants originally came, as well as different song traditions among Jewish denominations. This essay will examine some of the Jewish folksongs curated by the Recorded Sound section, the Music Division, and the …
Posted in: Folklife Today
By: Pat Padua
The following blog post was adapted from an essay by Senior Music Specialist Ray White and Digital Conversion Specialist James Wolf. This week the Music Division launches a new online collection of Yiddish American Sheet Music. The Library’s holdings of Yiddish American popular songs include the Irene Heskes Collection of Yiddish American sheet music as well …
Posted in: In The Muse
By: Kristi Finefield
This photograph of a shop window taken in 1942 speaks eloquently to what it means to have pride in both your heritage as well as in the country you’ve chosen as your home. Artifacts of the Jewish faith fill the window, studied carefully by a young girl. (Her gaze appears caught by the book entitled …
Posted in: Picture This
By: Caitlin Rizzo
This past Sunday marked the first night of Hanukkah, and Washington, D.C. celebrated in true style with the lighting of the world’s largest menorah on the Ellipse, just across from the White House. Here at the Poetry and Literature Center the decorations are a little more austere (a blue and white snowflake left over from …
Posted in: From the Catbird Seat
By: Erin Allen
A simple label inside thousands of rare books bears witness to the origins of one of the great collections of Hebrew material in the world: “Deinard Collection Presented by Jacob H. Schiff.” Beginning next week, the Library of Congress will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its Hebraic Collection – started with a gift from Schiff …
Posted in: Timeless
By: Erin Allen
For the third consecutive year, special items from the Library of Congress’ Jewish American collections have been put on display at the White House. In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, President Barack Obama hosted a reception at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Wednesday evening. “Generations of Jewish Americans have brought to bear some of our …
Posted in: Timeless
A brief history of Jewish American Heritage Month
Posted in: In Custodia Legis
By: Pat Padua
The following is the last in a series of posts by our 2010 class of Junior Fellows. It was written by Carrie Smith, a recent graduate of New York University. For four years while a student at New York University, I went to class in a building on Washington Place, just to the east …
Posted in: In The Muse
By: Matt Raymond
I’m overdue in mentioning this, as I had promised several days ago, but in addition to the other annual diversity months, the Library of Congress is joining in the official May observance of Jewish American Heritage Month. A list of our events can be found here. In addition — and I believe this is a …
Posted in: Timeless