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Posted by: Erin Allen
In palmistry, a person’s personality traits, talents and interests are revealed through the topography of his or her hands. Amelia Earhart, born July 24, 1897, had her palm prints analyzed by palmist Nellie Simmons Meier four years before her mysterious disappearance. According to Meier’s analysis, the length and breadth of the famed aviator’s palm indicated …
Posted in: Collections, History, Manuscripts, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
The weather of late has been particularly hot, and I’m sure many of us have been looking for ways to cool off. Perhaps it’s very appropriate, then, that July is National Ice Cream Month. I’m a rocky road fan, and I love to scoop some ice cream between two warm cookies for a ice cream …
Posted in: History, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
Jason Emerson is a journalist and an independent historian who has been researching and writing about the Lincoln family for nearly 20 years. He is a former National Park Service park ranger at the Lincoln Home National Historic Site in Springfield, Ill. His previous books include “The Madness of Mary Lincoln,” “Lincoln the Inventor” and …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Events, History, Manuscripts, Researcher Stories, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam is now concluding his tenure as the Kluge Chair in Countries and Cultures of the South at The John W. Kluge Center. His research looks at the first person narratives of early modern India …
Posted in: Collections, Events, History, Kluge Center, Manuscripts, Researcher Stories
Posted by: Erin Allen
Recently my dad gave me an interesting little tidbit concerning further research he has done on our family tree that is particularly auspicious for the occasion of today’s Fourth of July celebrations. (As you may recall from this previous blog post, my father has found a new hobby in ancestry research.) As it turns out, …
Posted in: Collections, History, Manuscripts, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
More than 40 states celebrate the day that Texans learned of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. The news came late—two-and-a-half years late—and in the form of an official pronouncement. Known as “General Order No. 3,” the edict was delivered by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger from the balcony of a mansion in Galveston, Texas on June …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Collections, Events, History, Manuscripts
Posted by: Erin Allen
The Library of Congress blogosphere was blooming with great posts. Here are a selection. In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog To Richard Wagner on His 200th Birthday: A Textilian Tale Retold Letters reveal insight into the composer’s private life. Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business The Aeronauts Jennifer Harbster writes about Civil War aeronautics. In …
Posted in: Civil War, Education, History, Law Library, Music, Photos, Poetry, Social Media
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Author Marie Arana is a writer-at-large for the Washington Post and former editor-in-chief of Book World, as well member of the Library of Congress Scholars Council. Her latest book, a biography of Simon Bolívar, was extensively researched …
Posted in: Books, Events, History, Kluge Center, Libraries, Researcher Stories, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
When looking at some clothing trends of today, with their bright colors and patterns, daring necklines, couture price tags and sometimes general wackiness, it’s hard to imagine how far fashion has actually come. According to Mary D. Doering, an heirloom-clothing collector, despite the trauma imposed by the Civil War, the mid-19th century witnessed the development …
Posted in: Civil War, History, Uncategorized