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Archive: September 2013 (16 Posts)

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

A Congressional Legacy: The Peter Force Library

Posted by: Erin Allen

Purchased through an act of Congress in 1867, the Peter Force Library became the foundation of the Library’s Americana collections.  As the nation sought to reconstruct the Union after the Civil War, so, too, did the Library of Congress seek to build a collection that documented fully America’s history. At the time, the nearly 100,000 volumes …

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 History Prize Recipient Danielle Johnson

Posted by: Erin Allen

Earlier this summer, the Library of Congress awarded the first “Discovery or Exploration in History Prize” as part of National History Day (NHD) to Danielle Johnson of Faiss Middle School in Las Vegas. Johnson was honored for her project, “The Erie Canal: ‘A Little Short of Madness.’” The prize is sponsored by the Elizabeth Ridgway …

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

If You Build It, They Will Learn

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a story written by Daniel De Simone, curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Library’s Rare Book and Special Collections Division, for the September-October 2013 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine. You can download the issue in its entirety here.) The year 1912 was a pivotal one for African American …

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

One Day, 15 Hours, 53 Minutes and Counting …

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The Library of Congress National Book Festival is just hours away! It’s free … it’s open to the public on the National Mall … and it’s got fun and fascination for readers of all ages and tastes. No fewer than 112 stellar authors – historians, novelists, children’s and teens’ authors, poets, biographers, illustrators and graphic …

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

Happy Constitution Day!

Posted by: Erin Allen

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Today we celebrate …

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

Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month: Why Sept. 15?

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post by Barbara A. Tenenbaum, specialist in Mexican culture in the Library of Congress Hispanic Division.)       It seems a bit strange that in contrast to all the other “heritage” celebrations and recognitions, the one for Hispanic Americans starts in the middle of the month – September 15 …

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

Back to School

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is the cover story written by Stephen Wesson, educational resource specialist in the Educational Outreach Division of the Office of Strategic Initiatives, for the September-October 2013 edition of the Library of Congress Magazine. You can download the issue in its entirety here.)  Teachers and students are discovering new ways of learning with resources from …