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Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
This year’s National Recording Registry is a sonic smörgåsbord– quite a lot to choose from, and all of it audibly appetizing. The 25 selections being preserved by the Library of Congress based on their cultural, historic or aesthetic value include two takes on “The Wizard of Oz,” in the form of Judy Garland’s version of …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Music, Preservation
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Four hundred years ago this weekend, two of the greatest geniuses in wordcraft this world has ever seen both died: William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes. Shakespeare’s plays still dazzle, written though they are in Elizabethan English and iambic pentameter; their story lines are still fresh enough to inspire endless straight-play performance worldwide, Broadway musicals …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Copyright, Education, History, Libraries, Manuscripts, Poetry, Preservation
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
This year’s list of 25 noteworthy films named to the Library of Congress National Film Registry is out, and it includes some well-known favorites: “Ghostbusters,” “The Shawshank Redemption,” “Top Gun,” even the original Douglas Fairbanks vehicle “Zorro.” Films are annually named to the registry that are culturally, historically or aesthetically important; the object is preservation …
Posted in: American Folklife Center, Audiovisual, Film, History, Preservation
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
To read a poem is a quiet joy. To read some authors’ prose is as wonderful as reading a poem. It’s just the poet, or the writer, and you. Right there, in black and white. What could be better? How about hearing it “in color” as a poet or author reads to you from his …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Capitol Hill, Collections, History, LC Web site, Poetry, Preservation, Technology, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Today we bring you a trio of images from this week’s display of items found in the Library’s collections by our Library of Congress Junior Fellows–36 interns from around the nation who dig through our collections during their 10-week stays and showcase their findings at summer’s end. Chosen each year through a competitive program, the …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Collections, Copyright, Education, Events, Exhibitions, Libraries, Music, Pic of the Week, Preservation, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Who the devil was Soapy Smith? Some would say the devil was Soapy Smith. He was a swindler, a con artist, a bunco steerer. In the 1880s and ’90s he fleeced rubes from Denver to Skagway, Alaska and at many points in-between. He was dubbed “Soapy” because an early con involved selling overpriced soap by …
Posted in: Books, History, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Newspapers, Photos, Poetry, Preservation
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Where were you when you first heard that? I was in the theater audience for the movie “Woodstock,” and I recall thinking even then that the section featuring Sly and the Family Stone was the high point of the film. Now, whenever I hear “I Want to Take You Higher,” which has the Boom-shaka-laka-laka bridge …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Blogging, Collections, Music, Preservation
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
A few years ago – around 2001, 2002 – I had a cannon in my basement in Rockville, Maryland. You could see it through the front windows, where it was aimed. I wondered if the mailman would report us to Homeland Security. It wasn’t a real one, but it was incredibly realistic and man-o’war-size (about …
Posted in: Collections, Education, Exhibitions, Manuscripts, Music, Preservation, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
The late 19th century gave rise to some truly imaginative, public-minded Americans. We all know about the Thomas Edisons, the Henry Fords, the Garrett Morgans. But there were others who, while not household names today, lived very interesting lives and left behind fascinating legacies. Among these we find Dayton C. Miller, born on a farm …
Posted in: Collections, Concerts, Curators, Events, Exhibitions, LC Web site, Music, Preservation