Top of page
Posted by: Neely Tucker
David Breger, a successful freelance cartoonist, drafted into the Army in 1941, created the "Private Breger" cartoon during his off-duty hours at Camp Livingston. Once it caught on, the name (but little else) was changed to "G.I. Joe." From there, it became a cultural icon.
Posted in: Comics, LCM, World War II
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
The Library's concert producer Michele Glymph helps bring music to the masses, producing concerts by some of the biggest names in popular music: Stevie Wonder, Dolly Parton, Paul McCartney, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Shirley Caesar, Billy Joel and Gloria and Emilio Estefan.
Posted by: Neely Tucker
U.S. politician and diplomat Joel R. Poinsett was also an amateur botanist. In 1828, he brought back a bright red plant from a posting in Mexico, grew it in his South Carolina greenhouses and was so identified with its popularity that it was soon named after him -- the poinsettia, the ever-popular holiday decoration.
Posted in: Christmas
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Judy Garland insisted that the original gloomy lyrics of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" be rewritten to a warm, wistful tone in what is now a holiday standard. Garland debuted the song in the 1944 musical, "Meet Me in St. Louis."
Posted in: Christmas, Music, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
"A Christmas Memory," Truman Capote's bittersweet short story about his small-town Alabama childhood with his eccentric elderly cousin, has been one of the nation's most beloved tales in the holiday canon since it was first published in 1956. The Library has Capote's handwritten draft of the story, which reveals much about the young Capote.
Posted in: Christmas, Manuscripts, Writers
Posted by: Wendi Maloney
Lin-Manuel Miranda and his production team researched Jonathan Larson's papers at the Library for the new musical, "tick...tick...Boom!" Here's how they did it.
Posted in: Film, Music, Performing Arts, Theater
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The National Film Registry's 2021 class is the most diverse in the program's 33-year history, including blockbusters such as "Return of the Jedi," "Selena" and "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring," but also the '70s midnight-movie favorite "Pink Flamingos" and a 1926 film featuring Black pilots in the daring new world of aviation, "The Flying Ace." The Library interviewed a dozen key players about their role in inducted films, including Mark Hamill, Edward James Olmos, John Waters, and documentary filmmakers Cheryl Dunye and Sylvia Morales.
Posted in: African American History, Asian American, Asian American History, Hispanic and Latino, LGBTQ, National Film Preservation Board, National Film Registry
Posted by: Neely Tucker
As college football bowl games give way to the NFL playoffs this time of year, the specter of Red Grange — the Galloping Ghost — who starred for the University of Illinois in the mid-1920s and brought respectability to the sketchy professional sport, lives on in photographs from the Library’s collections.
Posted in: Free to Use and Reuse, LCM
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
Library offices abroad acquire hard-to-find material from developing countries around the world.
Posted in: LCM, Library Work and Employees