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Posted by: Erin Allen
Music is a powerful tool. It can create an emotional response, a feeling, a certain attitude. Music can unite people, and give a voice when simple words fail. During the Civil Rights Movement, music played a vital role. Freedom songs drew from spirituals, gospel, rhythm and blues, football chants, blues and calypso and were sung …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Exhibitions, History, Music
Posted by: Erin Allen
In August, the Library of Congress was busy with exhibitions and expositions, opening “American Ballet Theatre: Touring the Globe for 75 Years” on Aug. 14 and hosting the 14th annual National Book Festival on Aug. 30. “At the company’s heart was ballet theater, a physical way of creating a new world onstage,” wrote Sarah Kaufman …
Posted in: Civil War, Collections, Events, Exhibitions, National Book Festival, News, Newspapers, Preservation, Technology, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Now in its 14th year, the Library of Congress National Book Festival welcomed book lovers to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center — a new venue for this year — on Saturday. More than 100 authors, poets and illustrators were featured throughout the day and evening, packing crowds into pavilions such as History & Biography, …
Posted in: Books, Education, Events, Libraries, National Book Festival, Photos, Pic of the Week, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Considered the most significant piece of civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. It banned discrimination in public accommodations, such as hotels, restaurants, theaters and retail stores. It outlawed segregation in public education. It banned discrimination in employment, and it …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Audiovisual, Civil Rights, Collections, Congress, Education, Exhibitions, Film, History, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is an article in the July-August 2014 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. Award-winning novelist E.L. Doctorow discusses the role of fiction and storytelling. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) The story is the most ancient way of knowing. It preceded writing. It is the world’s first system for collecting …
Posted in: Books, Education, Events, Libraries, National Book Festival, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is an article written by Guy Lamolinara, communications officer for the Center for the Book, featured in the September-October 2012 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine. Aug. 24 was the 200th anniversary of the burning of the Capitol building and the Library.) The story of the phoenix that rises triumphantly from its …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Books, Capitol Hill, Collections, Congress, Education, Events, History, Libraries, Manuscripts, Thomas Jefferson Building, Today in History, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Michelle Krowl, a historian in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division.) Could George B. McClellan have become the seventeenth President of the United States? It certainly appeared to be a possibility as Abraham Lincoln assessed the military and political landscape of the United States in the summer of …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Congress, Curators, Education, Events, History, Manuscripts, Today in History, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Last week, the Library of Congress opened the exhibition “American Ballet Theatre: Touring the Globe for 75 Years,” which highlights the dance company’s distinguished history and its collection here at the Library. Shortly after the opening, ABT alum Sue Knapp-Steen (1969-1974) stopped by to view the exhibition and reminisce on her time as a professional dancer …
Posted in: Collections, Exhibitions, History, Music, Photos, Pic of the Week, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Aug. 15, 2014, marked the centennial of the completion of the Panama Canal, a 48- mile waterway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The canal is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Plans by the Panamanian government to celebrate the historic event began more than a year ago. A Panama Canal mobile app was launched …
Posted in: Collections, Events, History, Today in History