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Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Audrey Fischer, editor of the Library of Congress Magazine.) As the Library of Congress prepares to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with a new exhibition (opening June 19), it’s worth remembering a moment in history when the specter of …
Posted in: Events, Exhibitions, History, Music, Today in History, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Persian first gained prominence a thousand years ago, a language of literature, poetry and folklore that connected people across vast stretches of Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The Library of Congress today opens “A Thousand Years of the Persian Book,” the first major U.S. exhibition to make such a wide-ranging study of the Persian language and literature. The landmark exhibition features 75 items drawn …
Posted in: Collections, Curators, Events, Exhibitions, History, Manuscripts, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
I am obnoxious to each carping tongue Who says my hand a needle better fits, A Poets pen all scorn I should thus wrong, For such despite they cast on Female wits: If what I do prove well, it won’t advance, They’l say it’s stoln, or else it was by chance. – Anne Bradstreet, 1678 …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Copyright, Curators, Events, History, Manuscripts, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
On this day in 1985, at 9 a.m., Libby Riddles became the first woman to win the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. She finished in 18 days, 20 minutes and 17 seconds. March is Women’s History Month, and this year’s theme is “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment.” Riddles certainly fits that bill. Often …
Posted in: Collections, Events, History, Photos, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Lisa A. Taylor, liaison specialist with the Veterans History Project.) Disabled combat hero, veterans’ advocate, politician, woman. U.S. Rep. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) is many things, most strikingly, a person who has not only survived but thrived. Her story is among thousands of other women veterans’ stories in the …
Posted in: Collections, Events, Veterans History Project, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Matthew Barton, curator of recorded sound in the Library’s Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.) Last year, the Library of Congress acquired the first of more than 10,000 radio interviews conducted by Ron Barr, founder and host of radio’s Sports Byline USA. The interviews date from 1988 …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Events, LC Web site, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
Jazz’s greatest drummer once earned D’s in music in school, once wrote an essay entitled “I Hate Jazz” and once even launched a venture to break into the soft-drink market. The Library of Congress on Monday announced the acquisition of the papers of Max Roach, the groundbreaking drummer who helped birth bebop, the adventurous musician …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Events, Manuscripts, Music, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
The inner voice of Kate DiCamillo belongs to a 10-year-old girl from a small Florida town who learned to navigate the world through books she checked out at the local library. “That connection to the 10-year-old kid, I’ve come to believe through the years, is more immediate for me than other people,” said DiCamillo, the …
Posted in: Events, Washington DC