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Category: Jewish American History

Photo of an array of handwritten letters with a snapshot of Einstein and Margarita Konenkova. Photo: Getty Images.

Einstein’s Love Affair at Princeton

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The Library has six letters that Albert Einstein wrote to Margarita Konenkova, a Russian national with whom he had a passionate, late-in-life affair while he was at Princeton. Einstein was a widower, Konekova was married to a famous Russian sculptor. The affair was not revealed until 1994. The letters, our staff experts write, mix Einstein’s humanity with his genius.

The Ketubah, An Ornate Jewish Marriage Tradition

Posted by: Neely Tucker

No Jewish marriage is complete without a ketubah, a traditional legal document introduced during the wedding ceremony. The ketubah not only legitimizes the marriage but, following Jewish law, also spells out the groom’s financial and conjugal obligations to his bride during their life journey. The Library holds 11 of these ornate, beautiful traditional documents, spanning centuries and many nations.

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

Crime Classics: Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award-Winning “Room to Swing”

Posted by: Neely Tucker

This is a guest post by Hannah Freece, a writer-editor in the Library’s Publishing Office. “I broke par in Bingston.” With this enigmatic statement, private eye Toussaint Moore opens “Room to Swing,” Ed Lacy’s Edgar Award–winning 1957 novel, the newest addition to the Library of Congress Crime Classics series. It’s the hard-hitting story of a …

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

Free to Use and Reuse: The Photographs of Bernard Gotfryd

Posted by: Neely Tucker

The photographs of Bernard Gotfryd, now free for anyone to use from the Library's collections, are a remarkable resource of late 20th-century American pop-culture and political life, as he was a Newsweek staff photographer based in New York for three decades. He was also a Holocaust survivor who wrote about the experience with grace and courage.

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

Roman Totenberg: A Symphony of a Life

Posted by: Neely Tucker

Roman Totenberg's papers at the Library tell the story of his amazing 101-year life. Born in Poland in 1911, he was a child prodigy on the violin, playing street corners in Russia to help his family survive famine. He returned to Poland, became a star while a teenager, eventually fled the Holocaust and became one of the 20th century's greatest violinists, living the rest of his life in the United States. He was as renowned as a teacher as he was a performer, and his three children -- Nina, Amy, Jill -- each went on to prominent careers.