On this day 150 years ago, December 18, 1865, then Secretary of State William H. Seward issued the following statement verifying the ratification of the 13th Amendment. These two digitized images come from A Century of Lawmaking. The image below comes from the Abraham Lincoln Papers at the Library of Congress and shows that the …
On a trip back home to Indiana, I stopped in at the Indiana State House. I always enjoy visiting buildings with a dome (the U.S. Capitol, the Library of Congress Jefferson Building, and the Hoosier Dome), so it is no surprise that I think the Indiana State House is a beautiful building. The Indiana Supreme …
After a quick trip to Harpers Ferry, I was curious to learn more about its history. At a recent blog team meeting, Betty mentioned that it was almost the anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry. This felt like a perfect opportunity for me to do some research. The event took place on October 16, 1859. …
A lot has happened to our reading room over the last few months. One of the final steps is to have the new furniture assembled and arranged. You can see our new entrance, the beginning of the new reference desk, lots of chairs, tables, a little trash, and the microfilm reading room in the pictures …
I love to walk around Capitol Hill. From the Library of Congress and the Capitol Building, there are numerous views of the many beautiful buildings and fun and unusual things to see here. Today’s photos feature the statues in front of the Rayburn House Office Building. The building is a short walk from the Law Library’s home in the …
With each update the new Law Library of Congress Reading Room comes more into focus. The Architect of the Capitol (AOC) has continued to do great work in the space. If you are following along at home, first the space was emptied and then it was gutted. The previous batch of photos provided the first glimpse of …
The following is a guest post by Kimberly Allen, our planning officer for the Law Library of Congress and editor for In Custodia Legis. Spring may well be my favorite time of year, and I believe there is nowhere more gorgeous than D.C. in the springtime. It comes upon us quickly after the cold weather …
There is more than one “court” near the Library of Congress. The most obvious is the Supreme Court of the United States, which–just as the Law Library–was once also in the Capitol Building. There is also “The Court of Neptune Fountain,” which is at the front of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of …
As winter winds its way to a close, snow has continued to fall this week in Washington. Kelly sent me a link to today’s Pic of the Week suggesting I tweet it. I liked it so much I thought it deserved to be today’s post. Not only is it a fun photo, but it has Congressional …