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Archive: 2010 (24 Posts)

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

A Man of the Folk

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This is a guest post by Carl Fleischhauer, program officer with the Library’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program In 1975, Alan Jabbour and I began a project to document the fiddle playing of Senator Robert C. Byrd, who passed away a few days ago at the age of 92.  Sen. Byrd was aware that …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Sound and Memory

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The Librarian of Congress today named 25 new entries to the National Recording Registry, a designation given to recordings that are culturally, historically or aesthetically significant and at least 10 years old.  This year’s entries bring the total to 300 and include recordings made famous by a range of artists from Tupac Shakur, Little Richard …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Taking the Waters in La Bella Italia

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The Library of Congress’ Flickr page has just put up 100 photocrom images of Italy (chiefly the charming northern lake regions), popular tourism destinations back in the Victorian and Edwardian eras and still popular today.  Soon, 400 images of Italy will be on the site. Take a mental stroll around the beautiful Lake Como; be …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Come Laugh With Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Beloved comedian Bob Hope’s legacy has gotten new legs with the opening of the Library of Congress exhibition “Hope for America: Performers, Politics & Pop Culture.” An online preview is available here. “Hope for America” explores the special relationship between comedians and politicians and the way it changed in the century that encompassed Hope’s life and …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

… and Wonderful Wordsmiths!

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Saturday, Sept. 25 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Library of Congress National Book Festival – “A Decade of Words and Wonder.” If you’re among the hundreds of thousands of people who have attended the event in its first nine glorious years, or just want to know more about this celebration of books, the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Businessman, Philanthropist, Reader

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Thursday, Librarian of Congress James H. Billington had an announcement sure to thrill hundreds of thousands of people who’ve loved the National Book Festival during its storied run, “a decade of words and wonder.” He announced that David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and managing director of the private equity firm The Carlyle Group, is donating $5 million …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Music … Ripped from the Headlines!

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

One of the complaints heard from non-fans of classical music is that so much of it reaches back centuries. As one wag, who preferred jazz, put it: “Mozart hasn’t written anything decent in 200 years!” And yet classical, as a genre, continues to unfold even in our lifetimes.  Which means there may be among us the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

But You Don’t Look a Day Over 209 …

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Audrey Fischer of the Library’s Public Affairs Office offers this guest blog item for Saturday: April 24 marks the Library’s 210th anniversary. Let it be said that the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution keeps getting better with age. In 2000, the Library of Congress celebrated its bicentennial. That same year it embarked on a mission …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Iamb What I Am

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

On Tuesday, April 20 at noon, 16 actors will appear at the Library of Congress’ Whittall Pavilion to deliver more world-famous iambic pentameter than you can shake a spear at. It’s the annual Shakespeare’s Birthday reading, a chapter in the “Poetry at Noon” series presented by the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center.  (It’s Shakespeare’s 446th.) …