Top of page

Category: Audiovisual

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

Smokey Robinson at Gershwin’s Piano

Posted by: Gayle Osterberg

This Friday (Feb. 10) PBS stations nationwide (9 pm Eastern – check your local listings) will share with America the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song tribute concert honoring Motown legend Smokey Robinson. It was a great pleasure to host Smokey, Berry Gordy, family and friends at the Library the day before 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

Trending: The Inauguration Will Not (Just) Be Televised

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following post is featured in the January/February 2017 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, and was written by Audrey Fischer, LCM editor. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) The inauguration of the 45th president will be the social media event of the year. Today, social media provides an unlimited …

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

Library in the News: December 2016 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

Happy New Year! Let’s look back on some of the Library’s headlines in December. Topping the news was the announcement of the new selections to the National Film Registry. Outlets really picked up on the heavy 80s influence of the list. “It’s loaded with millennials,” said Christie D’Zurilla of The Los Angeles Times. “Ten of …

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

Highlighting the Holidays: Under the Mistletoe

Posted by: Erin Allen

The holidays are full of many traditions – gift giving, sending cards, singing and cooking. Also kissing. If ever there was a time to pucker up, it’s in December, underneath the mistletoe. Washington Irving wrote in the 1800s, “young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under [mistletoe], plucking each time a berry from …

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

What Do You Go to the Movies For?

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

This year’s entries to the Library of Congress National Film Registry, 25 in all (bringing the grand total of films of cultural, historic or aesthetic value to be preserved for posterity to 700), will fulfill many of our reasons for going to the pictures: “I go to the movies to be terrified.” – Well, we’re …

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

World War I: On the Firing Line With the Germans (1915)

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following post was written by Mike Mashon of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division and originally appeared on the Now See Hear! blog.) During the centenary observance of World War I, we’ve been prioritizing the preservation of films in our collection pertaining to the conflict. Foremost among these is a film called “On …

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

World War I: “Trench Blues” — An African American Song of the War

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a guest post written by Stephanie Hall of the American Folklife Center.) In 1934, folklorist John Lomax and his 19-year-old son Alan went to southern Louisiana to collect folksongs and music in many styles from several ethnic groups in English and French. Among the songs in the resulting collection is “Trench Blues,” a …