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Category: Congress

Black and whilte foto of several men and one woman sitting around a table. All are dressed in business attire and have somber expressions.

Beer Runs to the White House and Other Long-ago Radio Delights

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

As the clock struck 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 5, 1933, a truck full of beer departed Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis. KMOX CBS Radio excitedly broadcast the event to the nation -- Prohibition had ended. Beer was on en route to the White House. This slice of history is just one example of thousands of broadcasts that the Library's Radio Preservation Task Force have brought to light in archives across the country since its launch in December 2014.

Head and shoulders portrait of Ida B. Wells, based on a photograph. She's facing right, hair swept up in a bun, a stern expression on her face

Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. Du Bois, and the Maps of American Racism

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

Ida B. Wells was 30 years old in 1892, living in Memphis and working as a newspaper editor, when a mob lynched one of her friends. Distraught, the pioneering journalist set out to document the stories of lynching victims and disprove a commonly asserted justification — that the murders were a response to rape. Wells’ …

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

New Online: Congressional Web Archive Adds Content

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This is a guest post by Robert Brammer of the Law Library. It was first published on “In Custodia Legis,” the Law Library’s blog. The Library of Congress Web Archiving Program is dedicated to providing reliable access to historical web content from the legislative branch. To that end, the Library has just released an update to the …

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

Trending: Congressional Black Caucus Takes Center Stage

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

This week, thousands of people from around the country will gather in the vast Washington, D.C., Convention Center to take part in a decades’ old tradition: the annual legislative conference of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation. From September 20 to 24, participants will hear from approximately 100 hundred speakers, including many members of Congress, …

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

Women’s History Month: First Woman Sworn into Congress 100 Years Ago

Posted by: Wendi Maloney

One hundred years ago this Sunday—on April 2, 1917—Jeannette Rankin was sworn into the 65th Congress as the first woman elected to serve. She took her seat more than two years before Congress passed the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, giving women nationwide the right to vote. That alone is remarkable, but Rankin also made history in another …