Top of page
Posted by: Margaret Wood
The last week of May marks the anniversary of the first meeting of the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The convention was called to address problems with the Articles of Confederation, which had been drafted in 1777 in order to provide a system for a national government. By 1779, the Articles had been ratified by …
Posted in: Collections, Congress, Education
Posted by: Margaret Wood
Today is the anniversary of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first inauguration, which took place on March 4, 1933. Historically speaking, it was the last presidential inauguration held in March. As I wrote in the post on the 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the Confederation Congress had set the date for the first Congress to be celebrated …
Posted in: Congress, Law Library, Pic of the Week
Posted by: Margaret Wood
I recently re-read one of my favorite childhood books, Karen by Marie Killilea. The book recounts the struggles of the author’s daughter who was born with cerebral palsy and her challenges to lead a normal life. The author also mentions Frances Giden Berko who had cerebral palsy as well and this caught my attention because …
Posted in: Congress, Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
On September 24, 2015, Pope Francis delivered a speech before a joint meeting of Congress. I thought it would be interesting to provide some information about joint sessions and meetings of Congress–what they are, how they occur and where one can find historical information about joint sessions. The Senate website defines a joint session as …
Posted in: Congress, In the News
Posted by: Margaret Wood
Thursday, September 17th is Constitution Day and on this date we commemorate the signing of the Constitution. This day also recognizes those who have become citizens of the United States by coming of age or by naturalization. The Law Library frequently celebrates this auspicious day with a lecture or scholarly debate. Over the years we …
Posted in: Collections, Congress, Event, Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
No, this is not a post about summer temperatures in Washington, D.C. Rather, this is a post that a number of us have been dreaming about for several years. For some curious reason, baking and law librarianship seem to be inextricably linked: many law librarians are master bakers, and those that are not are master …
Posted in: Congress
Posted by: Margaret Wood
I suspect most people would not find the United States Code a riveting read. And I have to admit, I would not chose it for my bedtime reading; but in the course of my work, I am continually amazed at the wealth of legislative and historical information that can be found in the U.S. Code–print …
Posted in: Collections, Congress, Law Library
Posted by: Margaret Wood
On January 6, 2015 434 representatives and 33 senators will take the following oath: “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, …
Posted in: Congress
Posted by: Margaret Wood
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 …
Posted in: Congress, Law Library