The Constitutions of Clarendon were issued by Henry II in 1164. This document became the bone of contention between Henry II and the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was also his former chancellor and friend, Thomas Beckett. The quarrel between these two men eventually led to Thomas’s murder and then elevation to sainthood, as well as …
On Wednesday, I gave a gallery talk for the Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor Exhibition. I focused the talk around King John and his rapacious habits as a ruler: demanding extraordinary fees from his feudal vassals, seizing hostages, and losing battles. I also included some information on the Constitutions of Clarendon (more on that in …
Almost every year, in the fall, I find myself picking up The Lord of the Rings and re-reading parts of it. It has long been one of my favorite books. However, my first introduction to J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing was not so positive. When I was in the fifth grade, I had picked up The Hobbit …
I love history and recently I have been researching congressional apportionment. But what you ask, is apportionment? According to Merriam Webster’s online dictionary, one of the definitions is to “divide and share out according to a plan.” I can see how this might apply to pizza and pie but what does this have to …
I have previously written about the budget process and appropriations. Now, I am turning to authorization legislation. In theory, process for funding the government is an orderly one in which each year the President proposes a budget; the U.S. Congress passes appropriations legislation; the enrolled bills are sent to the President for signing; and voila, government agencies …
The plans for the Law Library Reading Room‘s renovation have been finalized, and we are preparing to move operations to the ground floor of the Madison building during construction. This will be a complicated operation taking about three and a half weeks to shift to our temporary space. For those of you who have visited …
Six of our staff from various divisions — including Public Services, Legislative & External Relations and Global Legal Research — participated in the National Book Festival this year, handing out 2500 of our famous gavel pencils as well as flyers with information about the Law Library of Congress (LLC). As I have done in previous years, I asked my colleagues …
It is that time of year again – the National Book Festival! This year the Festival will be taking place on Saturday, August 30th at the Washington National Convention Center. Once again, Law Library staff are participating in the Book Festival with six staff members manning our booth. We will have some familiar faces at …
This week’s interview is with Ann Hemmens, a legal reference librarian with the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. I grew up in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. My parents were transplants from Illinois and I inherited their interest in travel and living in different parts of the country. I’ve …