Cheers to a list of favorite holiday drinks from long-ago mixology books in Library collections as curated by J.J. Harbster, head of the Science Reference Section. You can try the Baltimore Egg Nog from 1862, but we'll opt for the bourbon-based Frosted Cocktail of 1910.
Monica Smith, chief of the Library's informal learning office, talks about her work and the goals of the program. She joined the Library in 2023 after three decades at the Smithsonian; she's also a veteran world traveler.
For 34 years, Kathy Woodrell helped bring the Library's decorative arts collections to light. She recently retired. Here, she reflects on her years at the Library, particularly how her early exposure to architecture, antiques and textiles influenced her career.
Fashion has always been an avenue for reference and reinvention, expressing societal viewpoints and political movements through fabric and adornment. As the Library’s collections demonstrate, this was especially true for 20th-century fashion in the U.S. The story of American style is depicted in the Library’s century-old newspapers and magazines; in department store catalogs and home-sewing pattern books; in vintage lithographs and high-gloss photography.