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Archive: 2024 (93 Posts)

A brownish map with a faint outline of the eastern and Gulf Coasts of what is now the United States.

The (Newly Revealed) Wonders of a 16th Century Portolan Chart of the North American Coast

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

New details about early European explorations along the North American east coast have been gleaned from a 16th-century portolan chart by the Library's Preservation and Research Testing Division. Using multispectral imaging and other techniques, Library staff has discovered multiple place names on the chart that could not be seen by the naked eye.

Kwame Anthony Appiah Awarded Kluge Prize

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Kwame Anthony Appiah, the internationally recognized philosopher, author and professor, will be awarded the 2024 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today. The $500,000 prize, awarded every two years, recognizes individuals whose outstanding scholarship in the humanities and social sciences has shaped public affairs and civil society. Since the 1990s, Appiah’s work has been widely regarded as having deepened the understanding of ideas around identity and belonging, concepts that remain deeply consequential. The Library is developing programming on the theme of “Thinking Together” that will showcase Appiah’s work for a public audience.

A two-page spread of the opening pages of the Bible, with "Genesis" in English as a chapter heading, and the rest in another language.

Eliot’s Bible

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Printed in Cambridge between 1660 and 1663, the Eliot Indian Bible today represents a landmark in printing history: It was translated into the Wampanoag language of the region’s Algonquin tribes and was the first Bible printed in North America in any language. In recent decades, the Wampanoag nation has used the Eliot Bible as a tool to help resurrect its ancestral language. The Library preserves a 1685 copy.

Black and white head and shoulders photo of William H. Crogman in middle age. He is wearing a suit and tie and glasses. He is balding with white hair and mustache.

William Crogman’s Daring “Race Textbook” of 1898

Posted by: Neely Tucker

At the end of the 19th century, educator William Henry Crogman had a revolutionary idea: a textbook on African American history, achievements and survival for Black students both in and outside of the classroom. His "Progress of a Race," a textbook that told the history of African Americans as overcoming violence and bigotry, was not the first of its kind but probably the most influential. It caught on quickly, was heavily circulated and sold door-to-door through subscription for decades. The Library preserves several editions of this book, including the 1898 first edition.

Photo of an array of handwritten letters with a snapshot of Einstein and Margarita Konenkova. Photo: Getty Images.

Einstein’s Love Affair at Princeton

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The Library has six letters that Albert Einstein wrote to Margarita Konenkova, a Russian national with whom he had a passionate, late-in-life affair while he was at Princeton. Einstein was a widower, Konekova was married to a famous Russian sculptor. The affair was not revealed until 1994. The letters, our staff experts write, mix Einstein’s humanity with his genius.

Half portrait of middle-aged W.E.B. Du Bois in a studio. He's wearing a suit, collared shirt, and regards the camera with a serious expression. Most notable is his handlebar moustache.

Du Bois and the Paris Exposition of 1900: Three Pictures

Posted by: Neely Tucker

"The Exhibit of American Negroes" was a display of hundreds of photographs, charts and graphs detailing the lives of Black Americans at the 1900 Paris Exposition, or world's fair. It was put together by W.E.B. Du Bois, Thomas Calloway and Daniel A.P. Murray, three major activists and educators of the era (Murray worked for the Library). Here, we look at three photographs of women that Du Bois selected for the exhibition.