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Archive: March 2018 (15 Posts)

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

It’s #SpringFling Time! Help Us Celebrate the Season

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Naomi Coquillon of the Interpretive Programs Office. As spring slowly blossoms in Washington, we’re gearing up for our celebration of all things windy, flowery and new with our Spring Fling Pop-Up Exhibition. Open April 6, 7, 13 and 14, the pop-up invites visitors to experience the living history of …

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

World War I: The Women’s Land Army

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Ryan Reft, a historian in the Manuscript Division, in honor of Women’s History Month. “The man with the hoe is gone. Six hundred thousand of him left the fields of America last year,” observed the Los Angeles Times in April 1918. Hundreds of thousands more would follow as a …

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

National Recording Registry Reaches 500!

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Harry Belafonte, Run-DMC, Yo-Yo Ma Recordings Among Newly Announced Inductees Tony Bennett’s hit single “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”; the Latin beat of Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine’s 1987 “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You”; the timeless soundtrack of “The Sound of Music”; Run-DMC’s 1986 crossover hit album “Raising Hell”; and radio …

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

Rare Book of the Month: A Revolutionary Woman and the Declaration of Independence

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by digital library specialist Elizabeth Gettins. Mary Katherine Goddard (1738–1816) lived during remarkable times in early American history, and she did not sit idly by observing events. Instead, this brave and industrious woman actively took part in helping to found a new republic through use of her printing press. She …

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

Pic of the Week: Team of Linguists Translate Rare Mayan-Language Manuscript

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

On March 13 and 14, an international team of linguists visited the Library of Congress to transcribe and translate, for the first time, the “Guatemalan Priests Handbook,” a rare and important manuscript in the Library’s Jay I. Kislak Collection. Dating from the early 16th century, the manuscript is written in several indigenous Mayan languages. The …

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

That All May Read: Technological Innovations Extend Reach of National Library

Posted by: Benny Seda-Galarza

From braille to audio books, the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) has embraced technological innovations throughout its 85-year history to allow people with visual impairments and other disabilities to read texts all over the world. NLS is a free braille and talking book library service for people with low vision …

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

New Webinar Series: Discover the Library’s Ancient Mesoamerican Manuscripts

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

The Library of Congress holds three of fewer than 100 surviving Mesoamerican pictorial manuscripts that predate 1600: the Huexotzinco Codex (1531), the Oztoticpac Lands Map (1540) and the newly acquired Codex Quetzalecatzin (1570–95). On three Wednesdays this spring, starting on March 14, John Hessler of the Library’s Geography and Map Division will host webinars exploring …