Top of page

Archive: 2018 (9 Posts)

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Women, Baseball and the Law

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

The Library of Congress’s Baseball Americana exhibit gives me something new to think about each time I visit. Most intriguing to me (well, right up there with any mentions of Pittsburgh, the Washington Nationals, Bob Dylan, and my friend Patti’s portrait) are the numerous times women are depicted in the exhibit. Two things stand out from …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Baseball Blues: Sunday Games and the Law

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

There’s nothing like a Sunday afternoon baseball game. The stands are full of families, with children carrying gloves in the hopes of snagging a foul ball or, better yet, a home run ball! But it wasn’t always this way. During the early 1900s (and up until 1933), states’ blue laws prohibited baseball games being played …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

An Interview with Robert MacNeish, Collection Services Intern

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

Today’s interview is with Robert MacNeish, an intern working in the Collection Services Division, Law Library of Congress. Describe your background. My name is Robert MacNeish. I am half-American and half-Italian. My mother, who also works for the Library of Congress, is from Sicily and my father is from Florida. I am the middle child …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

You Ott to Know: Using Legal Documents to Change Baseball History

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

The ABA publication Insights On Law & Society states in its Winter 2017 issue that “The birth certificate is among the first legal documents an individual might acquire.” In most jurisdictions it’s the only document one can use for obtaining a drivers’ license, proving your citizenship, obtaining a passport… just merely establishing your existence. And …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Baseball and the Law

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

I love my job. Starting today, and continuing into July 2019, the Library of Congress is hosting a new exhibit, Baseball Americana. I hope you all make plans to come and see this fascinating look into baseball and our culture. The Library has lots of interesting artifacts, bolstered by items and material from the Baseball …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Getting Cranky at the Law Library

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

Once in a while we come across something unusual in the Law Library of Congress.  Generally these items are from a bygone era, when things were more hands-on.  Curiously, today’s object is from one of the few times when the Law Library was a little more high-tech than it is now. When the Law Library …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

National Parks versus Monuments versus Preserves

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

Jennifer Gonzalez’s post on the centennial of the National Park Service made me want to travel more extensively to see what the U. S. National Park Service had to offer. So recently, friends and I took a vacation to Arizona (with forays into California and Nevada). Our itinerary included two national parks, seven national monuments, …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

On the Shelf – More D.C. Regulations

Posted by: Betty Lupinacci

Recently, it seems as though we have had a run on 1940s D.C. regulations.  In November, I wrote about the city’s 1941 building height restrictions, and yesterday, Ann Hemmens (again) brought me a copy of the 1944 Police Regulations a patron had requested.  I perused the index of the latter and found the entry “Sheep: …