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Archive: October 2017 (12 Posts)

LOC Halloween Logo 2017

More Scary Songs for Halloween

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Halloween is here! This year the Library of Congress has decided to make it extra-special, with a pop-up exhibition of our best spooky treasures. The event is called LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, and we hope you’ll visit us for the scary fun–you have just one more day! Also, the Library has just released a new …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Pic of the Week: Ghost Pirate!

Posted by: Stephen Winick

If you follow our blog, you may know that the American Folklife Center has joined other Library of Congress divisions in creating LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, an exhibition of our scariest collection items. Today we had the congressional and press preview of the exhibit, and Library staff member Joon Yi shot a few photos of …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

The Hair-Raising Tale of “The Witch Who Kept a Hotel”

Posted by: Stephen Winick

As we get closer and closer to Halloween, the Library of Congress feels spookier and spookier! Just look at the black cat in our Halloween graphic above! In fact, the Library has just released a new web guide to Halloween resources, which can be found here. The new web page will act as your guide through our rich …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

What is a Veteran?

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is a guest blog post by Kerry Ward, Liaison Specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). As this Veterans Day approaches, I find myself really pondering the word “veteran,” and all it encompasses. If you ask most people to describe what they visualize as “veteran” comes up, chances are many will envision a white-haired, Caucasian …

LOC Halloween Logo 2017

Ghost Stories in Song for Halloween

Posted by: Stephen Winick

Halloween is on its way, and this year the Library of Congress has decided to make it extra-special, with a pop-up exhibition of our best spooky treasures. The event is called LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, and we hope you’ll visit us for the scary fun. As part of the effort, I’ve been looking through AFC’s …

Portrait of a man sitting in a chair

What’s in a Whistle? The Curious Beginnings of an Ending Trope

Posted by: John Fenn

This is a guest post by American Folklife Center archivist Kelly Revak. As I covered in a previous blog post, I have been exploring the “experimental recordings’ of Jesse Walter Fewkes and discovering a number of items of folkloric interest therein. One of these Fewkes recordings is at least somewhat well-known and that is this …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Happy Birthday to our U.S. Navy!

Posted by: Lisa Taylor

The following is a guest blog post by Kerry Ward, a liaison specialist for the Veterans History Project (VHP). Predating even the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Navy was commissioned in 1775 by the Continental Congress.  Starting with a small anti-piracy force with two ships [i], the U.S. Navy now is the largest navy in …

A man playing a guitar and singing to a close crowd of a dozen or so men and women

Bessie Jones Tells a Spooky Story: “Married to the Devil”

Posted by: Stephen Winick

With Halloween just around the corner, the Library of Congress is gearing up for an exhibition of our best spooky treasures. The event is called LOC Halloween: Chambers of Mystery, and it’s sure to add both cheer and chills to your All Hallows season. As part of the effort, I’ve been looking through AFC’s collections for …