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Category: Washington DC

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

The Sound of Drums

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

On Friday, November 22, 1963, the students in Mrs. Maxwell’s third-grade class at Sabin Elementary School in southwest Denver got a singular history lesson: the news came in that President John F. Kennedy had been murdered. Janet Maxwell, a popular young instructor who taught 25 kids reading, math, science and history by turns, was trying …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

One Day, 15 Hours, 53 Minutes and Counting …

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The Library of Congress National Book Festival is just hours away! It’s free … it’s open to the public on the National Mall … and it’s got fun and fascination for readers of all ages and tastes. No fewer than 112 stellar authors – historians, novelists, children’s and teens’ authors, poets, biographers, illustrators and graphic …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Carrying a Torch — Ours!

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

With the Library of Congress National Book Festival just days away (it’s a week from this weekend, Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sunday, Sept. 22, free of charge on the National Mall) we have a lot to share in addition to more than 100 best-selling authors for readers of all ages.  One of the great stops …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

March on Washington Riches at the Library of Congress

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, …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Witnesses to History, Keepers of the Flame

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 …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Ink-Stained Riches

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, …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

Story Time Returns at the Young Readers Center

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

The author Pat Mora has a word for it: Bookjoy. If you’re a lover of books, you won’t have to look that up in a dictionary – you’ll just know, instinctively, what it is.  But where were you when you first experienced the joy of books? Odds are it was on your mom’s, dad’s or …

Image of an ornate clock showing 2:05 with sculpted male figures sitting on each side of the clock face

First Batch of Authors for 2013 National Book Festival

Posted by: Jennifer Gavin

Authors and poets Margaret Atwood, Marie Arana, Taylor Branch, Don DeLillo, Khaled Hosseini, Barbara Kingsolver, Brad Meltzer, Joyce Carol Oates, Katherine Paterson and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey will be among more than 100 writers speaking at the 13th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, on Saturday, Sept. 21 and Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013, …