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 …
This week our In Custodia Legis team celebrated Nobel Week with the Swedes and millions of others around the globe. The ten individual 2015 Nobel Laureates were honored in the Nobel Prize Award ceremony yesterday in Stockholm, Sweden, with the Nobel Peace Prize to be awarded in Oslo, Norway on Saturday, December 12. If you are enthusiastic about awards …
Like millions of Americans, I spent yesterday baking and eating all sorts of food which is traditional to Thanksgiving. I have always loved the cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, I enjoy the pumpkin pie with lots of whipped cream, but for me the pièce de résistance is the turkey. However, if Congress had heeded Benjamin …
As a member of the Legislative and External Relations Office in the Law Library of Congress, I have the exciting opportunity to plan public events that celebrate law related observances such as Law Day and Constitution Day. I also have the pleasure of coordinating program visits for legal professionals and students from all over the world who want …
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 …
On a recent trip to Philadelphia, I stopped at the Eastern State Penitentiary. Opened in 1829, this was the most famous and expensive prison of its time. Tourists and researchers came from around the world to study this innovative prison system, including Alexis de Tocqueville and Charles Dickens. Eastern State Penitentiary was famous because it …
The following is a guest post by Andrew Winston, a legal reference librarian with the Public Services Division of the Law Library of Congress. Andrew has previously posted The Revised Statutes of the United States: Predecessor to the U.S. Code and An Interview with Gail Warren, Virginia State Law Librarian. While on holiday in the …
In Stafford County, about 45 miles southwest of Capitol Hill is a 17-acre park that is also on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the site from which the stone was quarried to construct part of the Capitol and White House, as well as many other Virginian buildings in the early 1800s. …
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. …