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Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Today marks 19 years since the passing of one of the world’s great management thinkers—W. Edwards Deming. After World War II, the U.S. did something remarkable in the history of war – it helped its friends and even its former foes get back on their feet economically. In Europe, that was accomplished through the Marshall …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Education, History, Libraries, Manuscripts, Science, Technology, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
What if Abraham Lincoln recorded his innermost thoughts as he moved toward the realization that he must end slavery? What if he lost that diary, but a recently discovered letter suggests that the diary is still out there? Such is the premise of “The Lincoln Letter” (Tor/Forge, 2012) by William Martin, his latest mystery novel …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Books, Capitol Hill, Civil War, Collections, History, LC Web site, Newspapers, Researcher Stories, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Thanksgiving is just a day away, and I’ve been noticing on Facebook, friends posting what they are thankful for this holiday season. Those statuses certainly have given me pause to count my own blessings. First and foremost, I am thankful for my family, who, no matter how far away I am from them, help me …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Education, Events, History, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Photos, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
While the Civil War imposed hardships on both sides, the South found it particularly difficult to adapt to new realities of daily life. The blockade of Southern seaports and the prohibition of trade with the North quickly depleted food supplies throughout the Confederacy. Farmers became soldiers, and a large percentage of crops were used to …
Posted in: Books, Civil War, Collections, History, Science
Posted by: Erin Allen
With Election Day upon us and votes soon to be counted, the nation waits with bated breath to see who our next president will be. Here in D.C., crowds gather in local bars and pubs, as if it were Monday Night Football, to catch the news of which candidate won what state and taking bets …
Posted in: Collections, History, News, Newspapers, Photos
Posted by: Erin Allen
According to the 1860 census, the population of the United States that year was 31,429,891. Of that number, 3,952, 838 were reported as enslaved. The 1860 census was the last time the federal government took a count of the Southern slave population. In 1861, the United States Coast Survey issued two maps of slavery based …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Exhibitions, History, Maps
Posted by: Erin Allen
(This is the third in a series of posts featuring presidential campaign items from the Library’s collections. Read the others here and here.) Every election year, as candidates go head to head during their campaigns, a new wave of vocabulary is born. Political idioms that have found their way into our lexicon include POTUS, left-wing, …
Posted in: Collections, History, News, Newspapers
Posted by: Erin Allen
LeRoy Gresham (1847-1865) was a teenaged invalid who kept a diary for nearly every day of the Civil War, recording the news, his Confederate sympathies and perceptive details about life on the homefront as he experienced the conflict through newspapers, letters and personal visitors. The son of an attorney, judge, and plantation owner in Macon, …
Posted in: Civil War, Exhibitions, History, Manuscripts, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Old newspapers have acquired an iffy reputation over the years. We bemoan the trees that had to die to bring them into existence for their one day of glory; we dub them “mullet-wrappers” or note, as they do in the British Isles, that “Yesterday’s news is tomorrow’s fish-and-chip paper.” But old newspapers can be addictive! …
Posted in: Civil War, Education, History, LC Web site, Libraries, Newspapers, Preservation