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Category: Congress

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Library Bestows Gershwin Prize on Willie Nelson

Posted by: Mark Hartsell

Whenever Willie Nelson’s bus rolls into town, actor and host Don Johnson said, you know you’re in for a good time, a big party. Wednesday night at DAR Constitution Hall was no exception. The Library of Congress awarded its Gershwin Prize for Popular Song to Nelson on Wednesday with a musical party featuring more than …

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

A Legacy of Librarians

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following story, written by Center for the Book Director John Y. Cole, is featured in the November/December 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Thirteen Librarians of Congress helped shape a legislative, national and international library. Today the Library of Congress is truly a …

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

Expert’s Corner: Collection Development Officer Joseph Puccio

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following story is featured in the July/August 2015 issue of the LCM, which you can read in it’s entirety here.) Collection Development Officer Joseph Puccio discusses the Library’s collection-building today and tomorrow. When I began my career at the Library of Congress in 1983 as a freshly minted library school graduate, I was astounded …

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

A Founder and a Firebrand

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The nation and the world are mourning the passing of civil-rights activist Julian Bond, who died on Saturday in Florida at age 75. Brought up in an intellectual family, he was a skinny, witty, articulate young man when he helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC, in 1960, traveling around the south to …

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

The Hero of Two Worlds

Posted by: Erin Allen

  The “hero of two worlds” – as the Marquis de Lafayette has been called – has recently been in the news. A replica of the 18th century French frigate that ferried him to America on his most important mission has been making the rounds of the East Coast, on a journey to commemorate the …

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

First Among Many

Posted by: Erin Allen

The printing press that helped spread world-changing ideas of revolution, liberty and self-governance through early America grew from a humble beginning: a small, error-filled book of religious devotion, produced by a locksmith for settlers forging a home in the North American wilderness. A new Library of Congress exhibition explores early printing in the American colonies, …

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

Happy 215th Anniversary Library of Congress!

Posted by: Erin Allen

A Message from the Librarian Today, on the Library of Congress’s 215th anniversary, I want especially to congratulate the Library’s extraordinary staff for their work in building this amazing, one-of-a-kind institution. I am, and always will be, deeply grateful for all they do. The heart and soul of this great library always has been its …

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

Pics of the Week: Honoring Rosa Parks

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Library of Congress presented a special program on Tuesday to honor the Howard G. Buffett Foundation for loaning the Rosa Parks Collection to the Library. A special guest was U.S. Rep. John Conyers, who employed Rosa Parks in his Detroit congressional office for 22 years. Conyers described Rosa Parks as a quiet, humble person …

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

Buying a Library

Posted by: Erin Allen

Two hundred years ago today, President James Madison approved an act of Congress appropriating $23,590 for the purchase of a large collection of books belonging to Thomas Jefferson in order to reestablish the Library of Congress. Under Madison’s leadership, the United States went to war with Great Britain in 1812. After capturing Washington, D.C. in …