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Posted by: Erin Allen
“To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk.” – Thomas Edison In August 1795, John Fitch not only demonstrated the first successful steamboat but was also granted a United States patent for his invention. A century later, on Aug. 12, 1877, Thomas Alva Edison is believed to have completed the model for …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Collections, Events, Film, History, Manuscripts, Technology, Uncategorized
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
Celebrants observing the 50thanniversary of the March on Washington should not miss special displays of artifacts, treasures and a talk by Congressman John Lewis on Wednesday, Aug. 28, all at the Library of Congress and all free and open to the public. Opening that day is the Library’s photo exhibition, “A Day Like No Other, …
Posted in: Audiovisual, Capitol Hill, Collections, Congress, Copyright, Curators, Education, Events, Exhibitions, History, Law Library, LC Web site, Manuscripts, Music, News, Photos, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Kate Stewart, processing archivist in the American Folklife Center, who is principally responsible for organizing and making available collections with Civil Rights content in the division to researchers and the public.) For many Americans, the calls for racial equality and a more just society emanating from the steps of …
Posted in: African American History, American Folklife Center, Audiovisual, Capitol Hill, Civil Rights, Collections, Education, Events, Exhibitions, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
It is rather hard to believe that at one time some of the decorative murals that adorn every nook and cranny of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building weren’t even known to be there. In the decades after it opened in 1897, the building became increasingly overcrowded with growing staff and collections. By the …
Posted in: Capitol Hill, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a story written by Library of Congress archivist Cheryl Fox for the July-August 2013 edition of the Library of Congress Magazine. You can download the issue in its entirety here.) As the American people struggled to come to grips with the death of president John F. Kennedy, the nation’s Library provided reference, …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Capitol Hill, Events, Manuscripts, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
This is a guest post by Cheryl Fox of the Library’s Manuscript Division The First Battle of Bull Run/Manassas (July 21, 1861) set many precedents in American history—key troops were transported by train, battle reconnaissance was attempted via observation balloon, battle scenes were sketched and the battle’s aftermath, photographed to be published in newspapers. And …
Posted in: Abraham Lincoln, Books, Capitol Hill, Civil War, Education, Exhibitions, History, Libraries, Maps, Photos, Today in History, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Jennifer Gavin
This year’s casting call for the Library of Congress National Book Festival is complete, and our lineup for the free event Sept. 21 and 22 will include writers Don DeLillo, Joyce Carol Oates and Khaled Hosseini, graphic novelists Lynda Barry, Fred Chao, Jonathan Hennessey, Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez, and authors Linda Ronstadt, Christopher Buckley, …
Posted in: Books, Capitol Hill, Education, Events, LC Web site, Libraries, National Book Festival, Podcasts, Poetry, Uncategorized, Washington DC
Posted by: Erin Allen
You know the old saying, “they don’t make them like they used to” – which is perhaps why I’ve always been a fan of classic movies. I’m more prone to get excited about one of them on the television than brand-new ones at the movie theater. The passing of a beloved actress, who I grew …
Posted in: Events, Film, Uncategorized
Posted by: Erin Allen
(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Author Marie Arana is a writer-at-large for the Washington Post and former editor-in-chief of Book World, as well member of the Library of Congress Scholars Council. Her latest book, a biography of Simon Bolívar, was extensively researched …
Posted in: Books, Events, History, Kluge Center, Libraries, Researcher Stories, Thomas Jefferson Building, Uncategorized, Washington DC