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Category: Capitol Hill

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

… and Wonderful Wordsmiths!

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Saturday, Sept. 25 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Library of Congress National Book Festival – “A Decade of Words and Wonder.” If you’re among the hundreds of thousands of people who have attended the event in its first nine glorious years, or just want to know more about this celebration of books, the …

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

Iamb What I Am

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

On Tuesday, April 20 at noon, 16 actors will appear at the Library of Congress’ Whittall Pavilion to deliver more world-famous iambic pentameter than you can shake a spear at. It’s the annual Shakespeare’s Birthday reading, a chapter in the “Poetry at Noon” series presented by the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center.  (It’s Shakespeare’s 446th.) …

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

NAACP Online Exhibition, Symposium Coming

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

As America prepares to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday later this month, the Library of Congress also will have two offerings in February in commemoration of African American History Month.  On Feb. 3, the Library will launch a new online exhibition about the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), an …

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

Wait … Wasn't That Alan Brady?

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Carl Reiner, whose influence on comedy in the U.S. may be unsurpassed, will speak at the Library of Congress’ Madison Building in the 6th-floor Montpelier Room on Monday, Oct. 26 at 1:30 p.m. Doors open one hour earlier! Don’t miss it!

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

Carl Reiner! In Person!

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

When it comes to laughter – flat-out, clutch your sides, tears-springing-from-your-eyes laughter – Carl Reiner is an American icon. For something like four generations he’s been cracking us up, from his writing and skit performance on the legendary Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows” (external link) to his creation of “The Dick Van Dyke Show” …

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

The Bebop Bridge

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

East may be East, and West may be West – but music is universal, and if the music is jazz, it’s even open all night! On Wednesday, Sept. 30 from noon to 1 p.m., Larry Appelbaum, the Library of Congress’ jazz music specialist, will co-anchor “A Russian-American Jazz Summit – Conversations on the American Influence …

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

By the Time We Got to Bookstock …

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Right now, here and there all over the world, people are sitting down with a good book and enjoying a good read. Sprawled on the lawn, curled up on the sofa, sitting on the steps in the piazza — they’re communing with a great author, or a funny author, or an author who’s telling them …

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

The Joys of Jabbing Jefferson

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

When revolutionary-turned-president Thomas Jefferson still walked the streets of Washington, D.C., there were people who wanted to give him a good jab with their index finger and hand him a piece of their minds. These days, here on Capitol Hill, you can give Thomas Jefferson a jab … and dig a little deeper into his …