Top of page

Category: Manuscripts

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

Jewish Heritage

Posted by: Erin Allen

For the third consecutive year, special items from the Library of Congress’ Jewish American collections have been put on display at the White House. In honor of Jewish American Heritage Month, President Barack Obama hosted a reception at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Wednesday evening. “Generations of Jewish Americans have brought to bear some of our …

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

Who Does Rob Think He Is?

Posted by: Erin Allen

Tonight at 8 p.m. EDT, NBC airs another episode of its popular “Who Do You Think You Are” series … this time starring actor Rob Lowe and the Library of Congress. You can catch a quick preview here. Lowe ventures into his past and discovers an ancestor who battled against George Washington during the American …

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

The Armenian Literary Tradition

Posted by: Erin Allen

Last Thursday, the Library of Congress opened its newest exhibition, “To Know Wisdom and Instruction: The Armenian Literary Tradition at the Library of Congress,” and I had a chance to take a tour with its curator, Levon Avdoyan, the Library’s Armenian and Georgian area specialist in the Near East Section of the African and Middle …

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

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

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

Your Well-Wisher, H. C. Andersen

Posted by: Erin Allen

The following is a guest post from Taru Spiegel, reference specialist in the Library’s European Division. How would you like to receive a phone call out of the blue, asking if you are interested in a gift of priceless original letters by your favorite author? When you work at the Library of Congress, fairy-tale offers …