The authors’ lineup for the National Book Festival on Saturday, Sept. 26 went public today–what star-power! Bestselling authors David Baldacci, John Grisham, John Irving, Julia Alvarez, Judy Blume, Ken Burns, Gwen Ifill, and Jodi Picoult–as well as celebrity chef Paula Deen–will be among scores of authors and illustrators presenting at the festival, organized and sponsored …
Long before we were being sold something (through advertising jingles) or somebody (through campaign ads), presidential campaign seasons brought out the songwriter in many a partisan. This unique niche of Americana is celebrated in a new Library of Congress exhibition on the web, titled “Voices, Votes, Victory: Presidential Campaign Songs.” The tradition of writing songs …
The Library’s Prints & Photographs Division today is offering a new twist on the Library’s Flickr site in The Commons — a clickable list of favorites from the Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information collections, under the heading “FSA/OWI Favorites.” There will be 10 “most-requested” photos from these Library collections, including the iconic …
As you might have heard, President-elect Obama will be using Abraham Lincoln’s Inaugural Bible when he is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States. Lincoln is, of course, a major inspiration to the President-elect and a strong influence on the themes of the upcoming inauguration. So we know you’re waiting with baited …
My, how time flies. If I weren’t back on Atkins, I might be tempted to track down a cupcake and a birthday candle, because today is the first anniversary of this blog. (It is also, not coincidentally, the 208th birthday of the Library of Congress, a milestone this blog itself will not reach until the …
I appreciate all of the email feedback I get, both the positive and, yes, even the negative constructive criticism. I got an email yesterday, however, that was too good not to share it in its entirety, with the author’s permission. And I swear we didn’t pay him to write this: I just visited the Library …
There are probably few people about whom more words have been written than Adolf Hitler. But today the Library of Congress has helped add to the visual dimension surrounding one of the most reviled figures in history. You might have seen news a couple of weeks ago about a painting in Britain’s National Gallery. The …
If you traveled to Washington, D.C., and had time to see just one attraction, what would it be? The Capitol? The White House? Maybe the National Mall? On Saturday, noted historian David McCullough, who was inducted as a “Living Legend,” said that our new exhibition “Creating the United States” — part of the new Library …
Tomorrow we’re having a party. Maybe you’ve heard. The Library of Congress is throwing open its bronze doors to the public for the first time since 1990 to celebrate the new Library of Congress Experience, a project for which I have run out of superlatives, so I will leave the descriptions to sources of less …
