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By: Lindsay Conway
Hargus “Pig” Robbins might be the most famous piano player you’ve never heard of, though you’ve likely heard his work. The National Conference of Librarians Serving Blind and Physically Handicapped Individuals will begin in a matter of days in Nashville, Tennessee, so today I want to tell you about a musician who is blind and …
Posted in: NLS Music Notes
By: John Haskell
As anticipated in last month’s blog, the Kluge Center held numerous events in May, including a conversation with Anne Applebaum, author and Washington Post columnist, on disinformation and the threat to democracy. Over 130 people were in attendance. Seth Masket, Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance, also drew a large crowd discussing the future …
Posted in: Insights
By: John Haskell
After an extensive selection process, Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, will announce the winner of the 2018 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity on June 12. The Prize comes with a $1 million award. Understanding how the Kluge Prize fits into the mission of the Library requires a brief …
Posted in: Insights
By: Karen Fishman
Today’s post is by Zoran Sinobad, Reference Librarian in the Moving Image Research Center. Shortly after 7 a.m. on November 6, 1928, two mounted policemen in green breeches and black tunics appeared on the stone bridge at the main entrance to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, Japan. They were followed by two officers of the …
Posted in: Now See Hear!
By: Juliette Appold
We’re happy to learn that our patrons are increasingly using BARD to download music materials. Let’s take a look at some new additions to BARD: Audio Materials Classic Harmonica Blues by Smithsonian Folkways (DBM03629) Cowboy Songs by Smithsonian Folkways. (DBM03627) Flirting with Disaster. For guitar. Performed and taught by Bill Brown. (DBM03887) The Hammer …
Posted in: NLS Music Notes
By: Cary O’Dell
The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus. Thursday, May 31 (7:30 p.m.) Jazz Legends on The Ed Sullivan Show (CBS TV, 1955-1970) This program of renowned jazz musicians on Ed Sullivan’s popular television variety series will include performances by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Peggy Lee, Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, …
Posted in: Now See Hear!
By: Cary O’Dell
An unknown model poses with the past and present, vinyl vs. CD. They had endured for a very long time. Since first being introduced in 1948, by Columbia Records, the 12-inch vinyl disc “LP” (long-playing) album, spinning at 33 and 1/3 rpm, had been the norm. And it came very popular since an LP …
Posted in: Now See Hear!
By: Meghan Ferriter
The following is a guest post from Innovation Intern Aditya Jain on his Southern Mosaic visualization. Two weeks into my LC Labs Innovation internship, I came across Rachel I. Howard’s essay Southern Mosaic on the Library of Congress website. The essay describes the story of John and Ruby Lomax, a husband and wife who made …
Posted in: The Signal
May 2018 is here, and as D.C. finally shook off winter for good, the Kluge Center welcomed three new scholars into residence. Here are the projects that they will be working on: Seth Masket, our incoming Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance, arrived from the University of Denver. During his residency, Masket will conduct …
Posted in: Insights
By: Lindsay Conway
This is the second half of a two-part post on Nashville’s musical history and related books in the NLS Music Collection. Read the first part here: Athens of the South: Nashville’s Musical Legacy, Part 1. Nashville’s most famous music venue, the Ryman Auditorium, was completed in 1892 and was originally a church called the Union …
Posted in: NLS Music Notes