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Category: History

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Last Chance to See “Creating the U.S.”

Posted by: Erin Allen

On May 5, the Library will close its popular exhibition “Creating the United States.” The exhibition has been on view for four years and seen approximately 2 million visitors passing through its space. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough once called it the one exhibition every American should see on a visit to Washington, D.C. Notable …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Today in History: U.S. Enters World War I

Posted by: Erin Allen

From time to time, I’d like to blog about notable historical events or otherwise interesting advents in our nation’s past, courtesy of Today in History, which mines the American Memory collections to discover what happened in our nation’s history on each date throughout the year. Today’s “TIH” marks the day in 1917 the United States …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

See It Now: A Bully President

Posted by: Erin Allen

A Nobel prizewinner, a paleontologist, a taxidermist, an ornithologist, a field naturalist, a conservationist, a big-game hunter, a naval historian, a biographer, an essayist, an editor, a critic, an orator, a civil-service reformer, a socialite, a patron of the arts, a colonel of the cavalry, a ranchman … the list goes on. Add to that …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

The Year of the Girl

Posted by: Erin Allen

I have a pack of Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies in my freezer. I treat myself to one or two occasionally, although it’s hard limiting myself since you really can’t eat just a couple. I can’t buy Samoas anymore because I won’t stop until I eat the whole box. While we may be enjoying the …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

See It Now: J. Edgar, Man of Mystery

Posted by: Erin Allen

J. Edgar Hoover – former Library of Congress employee, longtime director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a highly respected but feared individual – has been the subject of admiration and controversy alike. Some 40 years since his death, he has returned to the spotlight thanks to Clint Eastwood’s biopic “J. Edgar,” the DVD …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Reverberating Still

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Half a century ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave motion to a powerful, peaceful movement – and his words remain deeply moving today. Here, from the Library’s photographic collections, is a photo of Dr. King shortly before he traveled with members of his family to Oslo, Norway, where in December of 1964 he received …