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Category: Music

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

Pics of the Week: We Write the Songs

Posted by: Erin Allen

Last week, the Library hosted the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation for its annual “We Write the Songs” concert, featuring the songwriters performing and telling the stories behind their own music. Taking the stage to perform some of their most notable music were Ne-Yo, Natalie Merchant (also formerly of 10,000 Maniacs), Donald Fagan …

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

Have Exhibit, Will Travel

Posted by: Erin Allen

True or false? Visiting Washington, D.C. is the only way to enjoy the collections of the Library of Congress. False. The Library offers a rich treasure trove of its collections. Not only that, it loans items to other institutions and agencies for their exhibitions, as well as offers other institutions and cultural organizations the opportunity to …

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

Collecting Comedy

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an article from the May/June 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. Daniel Blazek, a recorded sound technician at the Library’s Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Preservation, wrote the story. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Laughter, with its links to the development of the human brain, no doubt …

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

Library in the News: April 2015 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

April headlines covered a wide range of stories about the Library of Congress. The Library recently acquired a collection of rare Civil War stereographs from Robin Stanford, and 87-year-old Texas grandmother and avid collector. “The images are rich and incredibly detailed,” wrote reporter Michael Scotto for New York 1. Michael E. Ruane of The Washington Post …

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

The Power of a Poem

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is an article from the March/April 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. Editor Audrey Fischer wrote the story. You can read the issue in its entirety here.) Billie Holiday’s iconic song about racial inequality was penned by a poet whose works are preserved at the Library of Congress. Recorded in …

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

Library in the News: March 2015 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

Headlining Library of Congress news for March was the announcement of new selections to the National Recording Registry. Time called this year’s selections the “most American playlist ever.” “If the Smithsonian is America’s attic, the National Recording Registry is the dusty box of records that America’s parents left up there,” wrote reporter Ryan Teague Beckwith. …

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

Library in the News: February 2015 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

The Library’s big headline for February was the opening of the Rosa Park Collection to researchers on Feb. 4, which was also the birthday of the civil-rights icon. “A cache of Parks’s papers set to be unveiled Tuesday at the Library of Congress portrays a battle-tested activist who had been steeped in the struggle against …

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

Library in the News: January 2015 Edition

Posted by: Erin Allen

More than 112,000 patrons visited the Library of Congress exhibition “Magna Carta: Muse and Mentor”  during its brief 10-week viewing, which ended Jan. 19. “Much has been written about Magna Carta’s current visit to America, particularly in relation to the inchoate liberties it birthed. Rightly so,” wrote Kevin R. Kosar for The Weekly Standard. “The …

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

Alan Lomax’s Legacy

Posted by: Erin Allen

(The following is a story written by Stephen Winick, folklorist and writer-editor in the American Folklife Center, for the January/February 2015 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM. The issue can be read in its entirety here.) A century after his birth, folklorist Alan Lomax is remembered for his preservation of the nation’s cultural …