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Posted by: Erin Allen
Today marked a rather monumental occasion as the space shuttle Discovery made its final flight – not to the stars but to its permanent home at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum annex near Dulles, Va. Library of Congress staff members were able to capture its final spin, as it took a few turns …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Events, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Video, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
In the wee hours of the morning on April 15, 1912, the RMS Titanic – the largest passenger steamship in the world at the time – sank into the depths of the Atlantic Ocean after hitting an iceberg only a few hours earlier. More than 1,500 people died. This year marks the centennial of one …
Posted in: Collections, History, Music, Newspapers, Photos, Today in History, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
The Library of Congress is constantly in the process of improving its products and services to better assist its patrons, friends and researchers. Recently we launched a series of updates to the website, enabling users to find and use our online materials more easily. The Library’s main web search function has been improved. A new …
Posted in: Collections, LC Web site, Maps, News, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
From time to time, I’d like to blog about notable historical events or otherwise interesting advents in our nation’s past, courtesy of Today in History, which mines the American Memory collections to discover what happened in our nation’s history on each date throughout the year. Today’s “TIH” marks the day in 1917 the United States …
Posted in: Collections, History, LC Web site, Today in History, Uncategorized, Veterans History Project
Posted by: Erin Allen
April marks National Poetry Month, a time for poets and lovers of poetry everywhere to unite, recite and delight in the art and in those who have created it. The annual commemoration was inaugurated in 1996 by the Academy of American Poets. Some of my favorite poets include Byron, Tennyson, Yeats and Neruda. And I …
Posted in: Congress Blogs, Events, LC Web site, Poetry, Uncategorized
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 …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, History, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Uncategorized, Video
Posted by: Erin Allen
Ayaka Isono lost her sight to a rare retinal disorder in 2001 at age 29 and, devastated, figured her career as a pianist was over. “I couldn’t see the score, I couldn’t work with conductors, I couldn’t play ensembles, I couldn’t write new music,” says Isono, who performed in chamber groups with some of the …
Posted in: Collections, Music, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Comics and cartoons are well-loved because they’re funny. Most of us think of them as a break in the monotony of a working day, a light moment, a chuckle over our morning coffee. But for some, mirth is money. Those people tend to take their comics more seriously. Take, for example, the reaction to “The …
Posted in: Books, Collections, Events, History, Newspapers, Photos, Preservation, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
A bat in the belfry? Maybe. A tree growing in Brooklyn? Sure. A light in the attic? Of course. But, a dirigible in the Library’s Jefferson Building? It happened. Walking the institution’s resplendent halls, you come across lovely murals, elaborate ornamentation, gilded embellishments, and, as it turned out the other day, two rather large balloons …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Kluge Center, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC