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Posted by: Erin Allen
The “hero of two worlds” – as the Marquis de Lafayette has been called – has recently been in the news. A replica of the 18th century French frigate that ferried him to America on his most important mission has been making the rounds of the East Coast, on a journey to commemorate the …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Congress, History, Manuscripts, Maps
Posted by: Erin Allen
Editor’s note: This blog has been updated to remove an exterior website as a source of confusing information. This year marks the 150th anniversary of Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. On June 19, 1865, Major Gen. Gordon Granger led Union soldiers into Galveston, Texas, with …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Civil War, Events, History, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post from Taru Spiegel, reference specialist in the Library’s European Division.) Today marks the 200th anniversary of the history-changing Battle of Waterloo in 1815. This engagement ended in the conclusive defeat of Napoleon and his French generals and was a costly victory for the Anglo-Dutch, Belgian and German forces. The …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Books, Collections, Events, History, Today in History, Video
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a post written by Peter Armenti from the Poetry and Literature Center’s blog, From the Catbird Seat. Armenti spoke with a researcher who discovered a new Walt Whitman poem in the Library’s collections.) Walt Whitman enthusiasts were treated to a surprise last December when news broke that Wendy Katz, an associate professor …
Posted in: Collections, History, Manuscripts, News, Newspapers, Poetry, Researcher Stories
Posted by: Erin Allen
In May, the Library’s Rosa Parks Collection continued to make news. Her niece, Sheila Keys, visited the Library of Congress to present a lecture on her book about her aunt. She, along with several other relatives, also had the opportunity to view items from the collection. “I was pleased that it would go to a …
Posted in: Civil War, Collections, History, News, Newspapers, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Erin Allen
Doughnuts are as quintessential to America as apple pie. Who hasn’t happily licked glaze off his or her fingers or made a mess with powdered sugar? If there were never to be a Krispy Kreme, Dunkin’ Donuts, LaMar’s or neighborhood mom-and-pop bakery, life as we know it would be a less cheery place … these …
Posted in: Collections, History, Manuscripts, Music, Photos, Today in History
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is an article written by Sara Duke and Martha Kennedy, both of the Prints and Photographs Division, for the May/June 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) The Library’s vast collection of cartoon art chronicles the nation’s political controversies from its founding …
Posted in: Collections, Events, History, News
Posted by: Erin Allen
The printing press that helped spread world-changing ideas of revolution, liberty and self-governance through early America grew from a humble beginning: a small, error-filled book of religious devotion, produced by a locksmith for settlers forging a home in the North American wilderness. A new Library of Congress exhibition explores early printing in the American colonies, …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Collections, Congress, Curators, Exhibitions, History, Manuscripts, Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
I’ve always been a sucker for a great hat. Before I came to work at the Library of Congress, I was a writer for a society magazine in Louisiana whose calling card was the hats we wore to cover local events. Needless to say, when given the opportunity to don a fashionable chapeau, I jump …
Posted in: Events, History, LC Web site, News, Newspapers, Photos, Today in History