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Pic of the Week: Saturdays at the Young Readers Center

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Young Readers Center in the Library of Congress hosted a series of events Jan. 28 to celebrate its new Saturday hours of operation, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The center, which opened in October 2009, will offer more young people and their families the opportunity to experience the wonders and resources of the nation’s library. “It …

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

Curator’s Picks: Surrogate First Ladies

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following article is featured in the January/February 2017 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Manuscript Division specialists Julie Miller, Barbara Bair and Michelle Krowl discuss some non-spousal first ladies. Martha Jefferson Randolph Because Thomas Jefferson was a widower when he became president, Dolley Madison, …

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

New Online: Sigmund Freud Collection

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is written by Margaret McAleer, senior archives specialist in the Manuscript Division.) Sigmund Freud went digital today with the release of an online edition of the Library of Congress’s Sigmund Freud Collection. Freud’s explorations into the unconscious and founding of psychoanalysis profoundly influenced modern cultural and intellectual history, securing his place in the …

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

Stephen King Joins Library in Announcing Applications for the 2017 Literacy Awards

Posted by: Erin Allen

Award-winning author and literacy advocate Stephen King helped the Library of Congress today launch its call for nominations for the 2017 Library of Congress Literacy Awards. The annual awards support organizations working to promote literacy, both in the United States and worldwide, and are made possible through the generosity of David M. Rubenstein, co-founder and …

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

Pic of the Week: Presidential Inauguration Treasures

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Library is highlighting presidential inauguration history in a temporary display on view through Saturday, Feb. 4 in the rooms known as Mahogany Row, LJ-110 to LJ-113, on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Presidential treasures like the handwritten speeches of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln are featured along with collections on …

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

New Online: The Walt Whitman Papers in the Charles E. Feinberg Collection

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following was written by Barbara Bair, historian in the Library’s Manuscript Division.) As a special collections repository, the Library of Congress holds the largest collection of Walt Whitman materials anywhere in the world. The Manuscript Division has already made available online the Thomas Biggs Harned Collection of Walt Whitman Papers and the Walt Whitman …

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

World War I: Restoring Poland

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following guest post is by Ryan Moore, a cartographic specialist in the Geography and Map Division.) Prior to World War I, Poland was a memory, and its territory was divided among the empires of Germany, Russia and Austro-Hungary; these powers along with France and Great Britain were wrestling for dominance of the continent, as …

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

Campaigning for President

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following was written by Julie Miller, Barbara Bair and Michelle Krowl, historians in the Library’s Manuscript Division, for the January/February 2017 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Presidential candidates have used popular culture to promote their campaigns for nearly 200 years. Today’s political …

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

New Online: The George Washington Papers Move to a New Digital Platform

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following post is written by Julie Miller, early American historian in the Manuscript Division.) George Washington was not only the first president of the United States, he was also the first digital president. In 1998 the Library of Congress’s monumental collection of George Washington papers was opened to the world online. The digital Washington …