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Archive: January 2013 (12 Posts)

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

Library Signs “Declaration of Learning”

Posted by: Erin Allen

Today, the Library of Congress joined 12 other government agencies and non-governmental organizations in signing a “Declaration of Learning” that formally announces their partnership as members of the Inter-Agency Collaboration on Education.

 The initiative is spearheaded by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who joined representatives at the signing ceremony in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms …

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

First Drafts: Poem for a President

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an article from the January-February 2013 issue of the Library’s magazine, LCM, highlighting “first drafts” of important documents in American history.) Robert Frost (1874 –1963) was the first poet commissioned to write a poem for a presidential inauguration. His poem, titled “Dedication,” was intended to be read at the inauguration of John …

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

Inquiring Minds: An Interview with Kluge Fellow Lindsay Tuggle

Posted by: Erin Allen

The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center. Lindsay Tuggle, Ph.D., teaches English Literary Studies at the University of Sydney, Australia. Her dissertation dealt with mourning and ecology in the work of Walt Whitman. As a Kluge Fellow, she has been researching and writing her …

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

Presidential Precedents

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Library of Congress holds the papers of 23 U.S. presidents, from George Washington to Calvin Coolidge. These collections, housed in the Manuscript Division—and the Library’s holdings in other formats such as rare books, photographs, films, sound recordings, sheet music and maps—inform us about the time and tenor of each of their administrations. Unique to …

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

Happy Birthday Flickr Commons!

Posted by: Erin Allen

Today marks five years since the launch of the Flickr Commons with two photo collections from the Library of Congress. Since then, more than 250,000 photographs with no known copyright restrictions have been contributed by 56 libraries, archives and museums worldwide, with new images added each week. The Library’s blog, Picture This: Library of Congress …

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

A Gift for President Karzai — and for You

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

On Thursday evening, a very nice gift was given, and received, in an ornate room at the U.S. Department of State.  Afghan President Hamid Karzai was the recipient – on behalf of several libraries and research institutions in his nation – of a trove of digitized treasures from the Library of Congress and its associated …

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

Forever Free

Posted by: Erin Allen

Three-hundred-and-twenty-five words made up the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation. So simple a start for what would become a pivotal document in our nation’s history – one that would also provide groundwork in passing the 13th amendment abolishing slavery. Currently on view in the Library’s “The Civil War in America” exhibition through Feb. 18, …