Liza Mundy, author of the bestselling "Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II," researched the bestselling 2017 book at the Library's Veterans History Project. She drew on the military service records of thousands of women who served in the war but whose work had been little recognized.
William Munro found time to sketch and draw hundreds of pieces of art while serving during World War II. Working as a medic and supply clerk in the Army's medical battalion in North Africa and Europe, Munro sketched everything from scenes of war to lush landscapes to the camraderie of his fellow soldiers. His letters and some 370 artworks are in his collection at the Veterans History Project.
The Veterans History Project was founded by Congress in 2000. Since then, it has grown into an archive of stories from over 121,000 U.S. military veterans. The service records, letters, diaries, photographs and other memorabilia spans generations and gives a unique, moving view of what it means to serve in the U.S. military.
Charles Fox was always exciting and new -- the composer was a hit-making wonder in the 1970s and 1980s, writing themes for television shows such as “The Love Boat,” “Happy Days,” “Laverne and Shirley,” “Wonder Woman" and “Monday Night Football.” He also composed classic hits such as "Killing Me Softly with His Song" and "I Got a Name." A trove of his papers are now at the Library.
One of the most famous creations of Caspar Vopel, the German mathematician and geographer, is a armillary sphere, consisting of a terrestrial globe only 3 inches in diameter, bearing a hand-drawn map with names of regions written in red and the location of important cities marked with red dots. Constructed in 1543, the globe is contained within 11 interlocking armillary rings that illustrate the rotation of the sun, moon and stars in the Ptolemaic tradition, with the Earth at the center of the universe. It's preserved in the Library's Geography and Map Division.
