Mexican anthropologist and historian Miguel León-Portilla is the newest recipient of the Library of Congress Living Legend Award for his work in studying the Náhuatl language and literature — the ancient, still-spoken tongue of the Aztecs. The award will be conferred upon León-Portill at the Library’s “Celebration of Mexico”on Dec. 12. The Living Legend Award honors those who have […]
As the world turns its sympathy toward the Philippine islands devastated, just days ago, by the largest typhoon in recorded history, a fascinating fact has emerged and moved explosively across the Internet: Just over a century ago, those same islands – indeed that same nearly destroyed town on the island of Leyte, Tacloban – were […]
On Tuesday, the Library of Congress celebrated the life and work of noted astronomer and educator Carl Sagan with an event that featured a veritable who’s who of the science community. The event also launched the official opening of The Seth MacFarlane Collection of the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive to the public at the […]
(The following is a guest post from Michelle Springer in the Office of Strategic Initiatives.) On Veterans Day, Monday, November 11, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, you’re invited to a special public event. Twice each year, the Library of Congress opens its magnificent Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., […]
The Library of Congress has made headlines in the last month with a variety of initiatives and projects, including some of its preservation efforts. In early September, the Library ran a blog post discussing some work its Preservation Directorate was doing to conserve its pulp-fiction magazine collection. CBS News picked up the story to run in […]
Today we welcome the newest member of the Library of Congress blogosphere: Folklife Today, a new blog produced by the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. AFC has one of the largest archives in the world relating to traditional folk culture. The center’s team of bloggers will be posting regularly with interesting information about its […]
“100 years from now, what will it mean to have recorded and preserved the voices and experiences of everyday people?” Celebrating its “10 years of listening to America” this month, Storycorps asks that very question. The oral history project’s mission is to provide people of all backgrounds and beliefs with the opportunity to record, share and […]
(The following is a guest post by Kaydee McCann, humanities editor for the “Handbook of Latin American Studies” and reference librarian in the Hispanic Division.) Historian Natalia Silva Prada is a visiting researcher in the Hispanic Division of the Library of Congress. Supported by a fellowship from Goya Foods, she spent two months preparing an annotated bibliography […]
Earlier this summer, the Library of Congress awarded the first “Discovery or Exploration in History Prize” as part of National History Day (NHD) to Danielle Johnson of Faiss Middle School in Las Vegas. Johnson was honored for her project, “The Erie Canal: ‘A Little Short of Madness.’” The prize is sponsored by the Elizabeth Ridgway […]
(The following is a guest post by Catalina Gomez of the Library of Congress Hispanic Division.) The Archive of Hispanic Literature on Tape, most commonly referred to as the AHLOT, is one of those rare gems that readers can come across in the hidden corners of the Library of Congress. Compiled and carefully curated by […]