The month of March brings us a multitude of celebrations, events, and observances such as Daylight Saving Time, the Ides of March, St. Patrick’s Day, Vernal Equinox, and Women’s History Month. Also this year (2011) in March we celebrate Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras), Ash Wednesday, Lent, and Purim. We should add two more things to celebrate …
Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans and I am not there. Instead I am here in Washington, D.C. at work. For some reason, this year I’m a little sad about missing all of the festivities. I have no costume to wear, and no beads or doubloons to catch. I will not be there to …
I was recently at a dinner party where the gracious hostess embellished the dining room table with Sweethearts, also known as Conversation Hearts and Sweet Talks. As you can imagine, the guests questioned the history of these sweethearts and turned to me for an answer. I promised that when I returned to the Library that …
I am the granddaughter of a football coach and the Super Bowl XLV (45th) is this Sunday (Feb. 6), so I was inspired to write something for the blog about the history of football in the United States. I searched the Library’s online catalog, databases, and browsed the football section of the book stacks hoping …