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Posted by: Erin Allen
The holidays are full of many traditions – gift giving, sending cards, singing and cooking. Also kissing. If ever there was a time to pucker up, it’s in December, underneath the mistletoe. Washington Irving wrote in the 1800s, “young men have the privilege of kissing the girls under [mistletoe], plucking each time a berry from …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Books, Collections, Folksonomies, History, LC Web site, Music
Posted by: Erin Allen
Luthier John Montgomery inspects the strings on the 1697 “Castelbarco” cello made by Cremonese master Antonio Stradivari, one of five Stradivari instruments originally donated to the Library by Gertrude Clarke Whittall in 1935. According to her bequest, the instruments would be played from time to time, as they were intended. To that end, she established …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Music, Photos, Pic of the Week, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Smokey Robinson made headlines as the Library celebrated his work and career during the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song celebration concert. “Amid multiple standing ovations from an audience filled with political dignitaries at DAR Constitution Hall, the Motown star reflected on his humble Detroit roots as he accepted the prestigious Gershwin Prize for Popular Song,” …
Posted in: Collections, Concerts, Events, Music, News, Newspapers, Veterans History Project, Video
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post written by Stephanie Hall of the American Folklife Center.) In 1934, folklorist John Lomax and his 19-year-old son Alan went to southern Louisiana to collect folksongs and music in many styles from several ethnic groups in English and French. Among the songs in the resulting collection is “Trench Blues,” a …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Audiovisual, Collections, Curators, History, Music
Posted by: John Sayers
The two-day celebration of Smokey Robinson’s 50-year career—and his selection as the 2016 recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song—began in the nation’s capital with a touching trip down the keyboard of George Gershwin’s piano and ended with a rollicking concert of his greatest hits. During his visit, Robinson sat down …
Posted in: Concerts, Events, Music, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
Today, American citizens gather en masse to exercise their right to vote for the nation’s next president. This particular election will certainly go down in the history books as an interesting one. However, American presidential election history is full of choice moments. This election year hasn’t been the first to see name-calling and insults. In …
Posted in: Collections, Congress, History, Music, News, Newspapers, Today in History, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
The following cross-post is written by Cait Miller and originally appeared on the In the Muse blog. The following post is co-written with Musical Instruments Curator Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford. Early yesterday morning the world learned of the death of Thailand’s King Bhumibol Adulyadej, crowned in 1946 and known as the world’s longest-reigning monarch. Born in …
Posted in: Blogging, Collections, History, Music
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by William Kellum, manager in the Library’s Web Services Division.) National Book Festival The Library’s 16th Annual National Book Festival takes place on Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Washington Convention Center in Washington D.C., and we’ve updated our Mobile App and website with all the details. The app, available …
Posted in: Collections, Events, Exhibitions, History, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Music, National Book Festival, New Online, News, Newspapers, Podcasts, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest blog post written by Elizabeth Gettins, Library of Congress digital library specialist.) This week, we not only celebrate the birthday of author Edgar Lee Masters (Aug. 23, 1868) but also observe the untimely death of Ann Rutledge (Aug. 25, 1835), who figured in his best-known work. Masters spent his childhood …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Books, Collections, Curators, History, Manuscripts, Music, Poetry, Rare Book of the Month