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Category: Law Library

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Prisoner Letters to the Law Library of Congress

Posted by: Margaret Wood

This is a guest post by William Mahannah, an Assistant Reference Librarian in the Public Services Division. The Law Library of Congress, holding the world’s largest legal collection, receives a large volume of inquiries from patrons throughout the world. One might be surprised to learn that a continuous volume of request letters come from prisoners confined …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Centennial of the 1913 Suffrage March

Posted by: Margaret Wood

As a graduate of Oberlin College, I have always been proud that when Oberlin was established in 1833, it was the first co-educational college in the country, admitting both men and women.  However, it did not initially admit men and women on the same terms: women were not admitted to the baccalaureate program until 1837.   …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Washington’s Farewell Address

Posted by: Margaret Wood

In 1796, towards the end of his second term, President Washington wrote a letter to the “People of the United States” in which he announced that he would not be seeking a third term.  This letter to the nation was originally published in the American Daily Advertiser and then in other papers throughout the country but …

Ornate red and ivory wall decoration, with plaque and symbols

Copyright and Dracula

Posted by: Margaret Wood

Like many people, I have always enjoyed being scared—just a little—not with chainsaws and blood but a contest of wits between the archetypal vampire Dracula and his human opponents.  Dracula of course is not the first  fictional vampire.   John Polidori, physician to Lord Byron, and Sheridan LeFanu both wrote short stories about vampires in the …