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Posted by: Neely Tucker
Here's a handy guide to holiday stories that readers frequently turn to at the Library. Favorites include the tale of who invented Christmas tree lights, how Truman Capote wrote "A Christmas Memory" (the Library has his handwritten first draft) and how a Central American flowering plant became the favorite Christmas flower around the world.
Posted in: Christmas, Hispanic and Latino, Manuscripts, Social Media, Writers
Posted by: Neely Tucker
A sizzle reel introduces the 25 influential films from the past 102 years have been selected for the 2023 Library of Congress National Film Registry, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today, inluding blockbusters such as "Fame," "Home Alone" and "Apollo 13," the popular romance "Love & Basketball," and influential feature films and documentaries such as "12 Years a Slave," "Matewan," "Alambrista!" and "Maya Lin: A Strong, Clear Vision."
Posted in: Asian American, Film, Hispanic American History, Hispanic and Latino, LGBTQ, Library Work and Employees, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, National Film Preservation Board, National Film Registry, News, Performing Arts, Preservation, Preservation and Conservation, Technology, Video, Women's History
Posted by: Maria Peña
Mexican printmaker José Guadalupe Posada, considered Mexico's most influential graphic artist, helped popularize the calavera as a satirical graphic motif, often printed with rhyming ballads or corridos. After Posada's death in 1913, the calaveras became closely associated with the "Día de los Muertos," a holiday in November to honor and remember deceased loved ones. The Library of Congress has one of the largest collections of his work in the U.S. and is a major resource for understanding Mexican culture.
Posted in: Halloween, Hispanic and Latino, Hispanic Division
Posted by: Neely Tucker
It’s Hispanic Heritage Month, which makes it an excellent time to check in on the Library's collection of Free to Use and Reuse images, this time from a set devoted to Hispanic life and culture. We look at two photos of two young Mexican women who came to work in the U.S. One is of a mural devoted to the legendary actress Delores del Río, the first Latina to become a Hollywood icon. The second is Dorothea Lange's unforgettable Depression-era image of the daughter of a Mexican field laborer in rural Arizona.
Posted in: Farm Security Administration Photographs, Free to Use and Reuse, Hispanic American History, Hispanic and Latino, Performing Arts, Photos
Posted by: Maria Peña
Born in 19th-century Cuban dance halls, danzón eventually became the country’s official national dance. Influenced by African and European music and dance traditions, it continues to thrive outside the big island’s borders, in Mexico and beyond, in orchestra halls and dance salons, leaving an indelible mark on Latin American culture. It’s a genre all its own and a lovely bit of romance to remember during Hispanic Heritage Month here in the U.S. The Library has plenty of music, films and books to help you explore its rich history.
Posted in: Audiovisual, Film, Hispanic American History, Hispanic and Latino, Hispanic Division, Music, National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, Performing Arts
Posted by: Neely Tucker
Some of the most important works by Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Frederick Douglass, Willa Cather, Zora Neale Hurston and Cesar Chavez will be the focus of a new television series being produced by C-SPAN and the Library. The 10-part series — “Books That Shaped America” — starts on Sept. 18 and will examine 10 books …
Posted in: African American History, Alexander Hamilton, Civil Rights, Civil War, Exhibitions, Hispanic and Latino, Library Work and Employees, Thomas Jefferson
Posted by: Brett Zongker
Ada Limón, the U.S. Poet Laureate. is launching the signature project of her tenure: seven site-specific poetry installations in national parks across the country, an initiative with the National Park Service and the Poetry Society of America.
Posted in: Hispanic and Latino, Poetry, U.S. Poet Laureate, Writers
Posted by: Mark Hartsell
"A Library for You" is the Library's multi-year initiative to connect readers and patrons to our collections in new ways. These new galleries, exhibits and showcases will present some of the Library's most stunning items, whether they are recent or thousands of years old. These include Lincoln's handwritten first draft of the Gettysburg Address, fragments of the ancient Greek epic the "Iliad," cuneiform tablets that are among the oldest examples of writing, pre-Columbian artifacts, Rosa Parks' papers and watercolors by Diego Rivera. They'll begin to open in 2024.
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, African American History, Civil War, Collections, Exhibitions, Hispanic and Latino, Jay I. Kislak Collection, LCM, Library Work and Employees, New Visitors Experience, Thomas Jefferson Building
Posted by: Neely Tucker
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled rolled out its Spanish-languague site earlier this year to wide readership and media attention. Readers have jumped at the chance to find the newest reading materials in Spanish-language audio and Braille.
Posted in: Hispanic and Latino, National Library Service (NLS), New Online, Technology