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Category: Biography

Cover from the June, 1914 issue of Vanity Fair of three fashionable women and a young girl holding a dog on a leash gathering on a street, conversing. Behind them people walk and a coachman drives a carriage.

Eleanor Lambert–Empress of Seventh Avenue

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

… [Eleanor Lambert] realized that the American fashion industry, along with the individual designers deserved to be treated as equals on the world stage. From that moment on, this idea would become her driving passion. (John Tiffany, Eleanor Lambert: Still Here, Pointed Leaf Press, c2011: p.19) On Thursday February 2, 2012 we are hosted a …

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Profiles in American Business

Posted by: Ellen Terrell

I had been looking for a good way to start an occasional series on both the well known and lesser known men and women in American business, when I ran across a great series of articles in Moody’s Magazine from 1909 written by Mark M. Reynolds. Each month’s issue featured one or more profiles. As …

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My Favorite Day

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

So you think you have a cool job? Here in the World’s Largest Library, there’s always something going on: lectures, special programs, concerts and exhibits. And you never know who you’re going to see in these hallowed halls: famous authors, actors and musicians, Poets Laureate old and new, maybe even the President or Royalty if you’ve been tapped to participate in a special event.

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A Sister Act

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

As summer is coming to a close, our interns are finishing their projects and heading back to school. This year our division was fortunate to have 3 summer interns, 2 volunteers and a Junior Fellow. You may have already read about Brian Horowitz’s discovery of Brevet Major Alfred Mordecai’s work in Stumbled Upon in the Stacks  and Aileen M. J. Marshall’s …

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We Shall Keep the Faith

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Have you noticed people wearing the paper red poppies that veterans sell each Memorial Day? This tradition can be traced back to Miss Moina Michael of Athens, Georgia.  She had the inspiration on November 9, 1918 to make the red poppy (Papaver rhoeas) the symbol of remembrance for the sacrifices of fallen soldiers during World War I. Her …

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Martin Gardner (1914-2010)

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

If you were having a dinner party and could invite any three people, who would you invite? My guest list would include Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, and Martin Gardner.   If you know of Martin Gardner’s work, then you know why I would want him at my dinner party.  He was a great thinker and could discuss …