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Archive: March 2024 (7 Posts)

Bernie Taupin, Carla Hayden and Elton John stand onstage in front of a red grand piano

Elton John & Bernie Taupin: Rocking the Gershwins

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Sir Elton John and Bernie Taupin accepted the Library's 2024 Gershwin Prize for Popular Song during a tribute concert last night in Washington, as a star-studded lineup saluted them by performing some of their biggest songs. Garth Brooks and Joni Mitchell (both prior Gershwin honorees) performed, as did Annie Lennox, Billy Porter, Brandi Carlile and Charlie Puth.

Colorful fashion sketch of a woman wearing a multi-colored dress

Florence Klotz: Costume Design & Broadway History

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Broadway legend Florence Klotz won six Tony Awards for her costume designs, more than any previous designer. The Library’s Florence Klotz Collection includes designs for many of her works, including “Follies,” “A Little Night Music,” “Pacific Overtures,” “On the Twentieth Century,” “City of Angels" and “Kiss of the Spider Woman." For her final show alone, a revival of "Show Boat," she designed 585 costumes for 72 actors. In all, there are approximately 2,500 designs, plus hundreds of additional pages of correspondence, notes, photographs and other items. There also are more than 40 “Show Bibles” — extraordinary volumes that track every aspect of every costume for a show by performer.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in black and white half portrait, stands behind a table, leafing through a large book, with a painted portait of a judge behind her

Sandra Day O’Connor Papers Now Open for Research

Posted by: Neely Tucker

A major portion of the papers of Supreme Court Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, consisting of approximately 600 containers, opened for research use this week. Housed in the Manuscript Division, the collection documents the trajectory of O’Connor’s life in politics and law in Arizona and, later, as the U.S. Supreme Court’s first woman justice.

Brooding pen and ink sketch of a man in late 19th century apparel, with topcoat and long cloak, walking past a streetlight on a foggy eetlight at dusk. A bat flies in the background

Crime Classics: Richard Harding Davis Gets Lost “In the Fog”

Posted by: Neely Tucker

“In the Fog" is the latest Library of Congress Crime Classic to be republished. This 1901 novella is by Richard Harding Davis, the influential war correspondent, author and playwright. He might be largely forgotten now, but Davis was a Renaissance man of his era, as renowned for his battlefield escapades, famous friends and good looks as he was for his literary and journalistic success. "In the Fog" takes place in Victorian London and was, like many of Davis' books, a bestseller.

Womens History Month: Filling in the (Almost) Lost World of Maggie Thompson

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Margaret Virginia “Maggie” Thompson spent most of her life in tiny Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, more than a century ago. When a Library genealogist came across Thompson's long-lost scrapbook recently, she set out to solve a mystery: Who were the other people pictured in her scrapbook?