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Category: Women’s History

Photograph of Ruth S. Freitag with Halley's Comet Bibliography taken at the Library of Congress, April 1985.

Celebrating Librarian Extraordinaire Ruth S. Freitag

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

In celebration of  Women’s History Month the American Library Association’s  Feminist Task Force  invited submissions to highlight valued women in libraries.  Library of Congress Science Reference Section Head Constance Carter has contributed this article about her mentor and inspiration Ruth S. Freitag. Ruth S. Freitag is a librarian who should be celebrated during Women’s History Month.   Admired by grateful …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

London Olympic Games Then and Now: 1908 & 2012

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

The 30th Olympiad of the Modern Era, aka London 2012,  is  here! This is the third time London has hosted the Olympics. The first time was in 1908 (4th Olympiad) and the second was in 1948 (14th Olympiad).  I thought it would be fun to examine how the Olympics have changed in the past 100 years , so I’m going to …

Black and white photograph of librarians, mostly women, working with catalog cards in the Processing Department of the Library of Congress.

The Ambitious Girl

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

This week I have been relocating to a new office. This is my first move since I joined the Library over ten years ago and boy have I accumulated a vast collection of files and paper. Many of these files have been buried away and it takes a move like this for some interesting stuff …

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 …

Tattered red cover with gold lettering Raisin Center Cook Book

A 1904 Vegetarian Thanksgiving Dinner

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

By all that is sacred in our hopes for the human race, I conjure those who love happiness and truth to give a fair trial to the vegetable system- Percy Bysshe Shelley. When I asked our culinary specialist, Alison Kelly, for advice for a Thanksgiving blog post she eagerly shared with me The Vegetarian Thanksgiving …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

Pic of the Week: Discovery

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

One of our volunteers discovered this intriguing magazine while he was combing the stacks for interesting and lesser known publications. Discovery: an illustrated journal of scientific news and progress for everybody launched its first issue in May 1907. Its aim was  to bring the public in sympathetic touch with scientists and their work throughout the …

Silver stylized owl with radiant circles around its head, surrounded by a gold frame

Food Thrift: Scraps from the Past

Posted by: Jennifer Harbster

Today’s post is authored by Constance Carter, head of the science reference section. Connie has written for us before, see her post - Celebrate with a Chocolate Chip Cookie. Today, as the country recovers from an economic downslide, we can seek our forebears’ advice and learn from their ingenuity. How exactly did they use their talents to …