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Two women in 1960s dress stand near opened card catalog drawers.
Staff members at the Library of Congress searching the National Union Catalog, 1969. Box 85, Object 1815, Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects Series, Library of Congress Archives, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

Envisioning the Twentieth-Century Past in the Library of Congress Archives

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This guest post is by Maurita Baldock, Assistant Head, Preparation Section in the Manuscript Division.

What do the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, actor Gregory Peck, and the Dalai Lama all have in common? They were all once visitors to the Library of Congress as documented in the Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects Series in the Library of Congress Archives.

The Library of Congress Archives is a large body of institutional records that chronicle the history of the Library and its operations, activities, and initiatives. Held in the Manuscript Division and available for research use, the Library of Congress Archives consists of two components: 1) both originals and copies of some legacy, historical Library of Congress record collections transferred to the division prior to 2010, and 2) selected desk papers and non-record copies of records created after that date.

A finding aid for the Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects series of the Library of Congress Archives is now available online. It includes a detailed index (available as a PDF and Excel spreadsheet) to people, events, and topics represented in containers 1-149 of the series.  Containers 150-155 were not indexed.

The photographs and images in this collection provide a look into the Library of Congress throughout the twentieth century with most of the images dated from 1920 to 1991. The images document visits to the Library from authors, politicians, and celebrities, and show Library of Congress staff and their work.

Man in suit (actor Gregory Peck) in library stacks holds unspooling reel of film.
Actor Gregory Peck, a member of the National Council on the Arts, visited the Library on April 1, 1966. Here he is examining film in the Motion Picture section. Box 42, Object 654, Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects Series, Library of Congress Archives, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.
Man at switchboard holds telephone to his ear while making a note on a piece of paper.
Staff member responding to a telephone inquiry, 1969. Box 85, Object 1812, Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects Series, Library of Congress Archives, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

The photographs also document public events at the Library, heads of state and other leaders meeting with the Librarian of Congress and other Library staff, and authors, poets, and actors who gave talks and interviews at the Library.

Man in suit on right (young LeVar Burton) signs autograph for uniformed security officer on left next to interior marble wall of Library of Congress.
Actor LeVar Burton visited the Library of Congress with his fellow Star Trek: The Next Generation castmates on May 3, 1991. Box 146, Object 3171, Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects Series, Library of Congress Archives, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

Most of the collection is comprised of images used in the Library of Congress Information Bulletin (previously titled Staff Information Bulletin), an internal publication of the Library. Other images were added later from the file for the Library’s Poetry Office and Literary Functions in the Library of Congress Archives. Because many of the images are from a staff publication, they often portray “behind the scenes” peeks into the work of staff. This includes documentation of workspaces, award ceremonies, retirement parties, and other staff activities. These photographs chronicle changes in library technologies and witness the shift from the analog to the digital era.

Seated man works at computer terminal. Four smiling women stand around him. Balloons are attached to the terminal.
Serial Record Division catalogers watch colleague Michael Halkin add their first machine readable catalog records to the OCLC database, January 1985. Box 85, Object 1812, Photographs, Illustrations, and Objects Series, Library of Congress Archives, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress.

For more information on the Library of Congress Archives, see its finding aid.

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Comments (2)

  1. Gregory Peck was UC Berkeley Alumni. Go Bears!

  2. Last photo: Serial Record Division catalogers (not staff from the separate Serial Division).

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