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Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) This month, in honor of Mary Todd Lincoln’s birthday on December 13, we will depart from our literary theme and look at some of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division’s “special collections.” While these items are not …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Curators, History, Rare Book of the Month
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 …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Blogging, Collections, Curators, Film, History, Video
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is an article, written by Brett Carnell and Helena Zinkham of the Prints and Photographs Division, for the November/December 2016 Library of Congress Magazine.) “If one is the possessor of health and strength, a good news instinct … a fair photographic outfit, and the ability to hustle, which is the most necessary qualification, …
Posted in: Collections, Curators, Exhibitions, History, LC Web site, LCM, Photos, Women's History
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 …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Audiovisual, Collections, Curators, History, Music
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a feature story from the November/December 2016 Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, that was written by Helena Zinkham, director of the Library’s Collections and Services Directorate and chief of the Prints and Photographs Division. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) What do Marilyn Monroe, Civil War soldiers and the Wright Brothers …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Books, Civil War, Collections, Curators, Education, History, LC Web site, LCM, Photos, Social Media
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Beverly Brannan, curator of photography in the Prints and Photographs Division. Helen Johns Kirtland must have been a very persuasive person because only a few U.S. women obtained credentials to report in countries actively fighting in World War I. Both she and her husband Lucien Swift Kirtland secured …
Posted in: Collections, Curators, History, Photos, Women's History
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest blog post by Mark Diminution, chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division, and Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) There are the occasional stories that one hears about a book saving a life due to an informational or even spiritual message, but how many people can claim a …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Books, Collections, Curators, History, Video
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) Halloween is upon us and what better time to recount some of the classic gothic stories by American writers? Henry James’ ghostly tale “The Turn of the Screw” (1898) and Washington Irving’s headless horseman from “The Legend of …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Curators, Rare Book of the Month
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by VHP Reference Specialist Megan Harris, reprinted from the Folklife Today blog.) One look at Irving Greenwald’s diary is all it takes to bring to mind the old adage “good things come in small packages.” This World War I diary, written by Pfc. Irving Greenwald, was donated to the Veterans …
Posted in: Collections, Curators, Education, History, Manuscripts, Veterans History Project