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Posted by: Matt Raymond
Attending poetry readings seems like one of the great fringe benefits of my job, except that occasions such as last evening?s are free and open to the public at large. The Poets Laureate of the United States and the United Kingdom came together in a historic joint reading at the Library of Congress in a …
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I swear, if it were closer to January I would make a New Year?s resolution to do these ?Today in History? posts much earlier in the day, but I guess I?ll just have to start getting to the office even earlier. Blame DC?s worsening traffic. I certainly do. Today?s ?TIH? covers that famous day in …
Posted in: Today in History
Posted by: Matt Raymond
For people of a certain age ? for instance, mine ? few performers or artists have defined American music quite so distinctly and significantly as Paul Simon. I remember watching ?Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park? on HBO as if it were yesterday, and Paul Simon?s ?Graceland? was one of the first CDs …
Posted in: Events, Music, News, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Several folks who read the blog via RSS feeds have been requesting the full text of posts rather than just excerpts. Ask, and it shall be given unto you. You should now receive the full text of all posts if you subscribe to our syndication feed. (By the way, I wrote that headline even though …
Posted in: Blogging
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I appreciate all the feedback I have gotten about the blog thus far ? the vast majority of it, thankfully,? positive. One comment that has come across the transom, however: ?Less ?Today in History?!?? Hey, I like history! While I prefer to interpret that as a yearning hunger for even more posts across the breadth …
Posted in: Blogging, LC Web site, Today in History
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I’m overdue in mentioning this, as I had promised several days ago, but in addition to the other annual diversity months, the Library of Congress is joining in the official May observance of Jewish American Heritage Month. A list of our events can be found here. In addition — and I believe this is a …
Posted in: Congress, Events, Jewish American History, News, Washington DC
Posted by: Matt Raymond
Seeing as how we now have a few more readers than, well, zero, I wanted to try my first ?open thread.? This one is topic-specific and might also become another recurring feature, asking a simple question: What are you reading? (Aside from this blog, of course.) It?s a natural question for this blog. After all, …
Posted in: Uncategorized
Posted by: Matt Raymond
I was thinking about doing something slightly different with today?s ?Today in History.? The results had me laughing so hard here at my desk that I was thinking about spinning it off into its own feature. You see, a few weeks ago we launched a new subsite called ?Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers,? in conjunction …
Posted in: LC Web site, Today in History
Posted by: Matt Raymond
National Poetry Month ended exactly one week ago, but today?s ?TIH? celebrates the May 7, 1892, birth of the ?poet-librarian,? Archibald MacLeish, the ninth Librarian of Congress. The Pulitzer Prize winner was Librarian of Congress for five years ? a relatively brief span, given that only 13 individuals have held the post in the Library?s …
Posted in: Events, Today in History