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Category: Literature Culture & the Arts

Detail from a visual outline for “So Imagined Mercado” (“Blue Antiquity”), by Oscar Hijuelos, undated.

Hispanic Heritage: Oscar Hijuelos Papers Newly Available in the Manuscript Division

Posted by: Andrea J. Briggs

This is a guest blog by Barbara Bair, historian of Literature, Culture, and the Arts in the Manuscript Division. In 1990, author Oscar Hijuelos (1951-2013) became the first Hispanic American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love (1989). He later received the Hispanic Heritage Award …

Portrait of Dr. Ruth smiling wearing red blouse with glasses and necklace.

“On the Air” and in the Archives: The Dr. Ruth Westheimer Papers

Posted by: Julie Miller

The newly opened papers of sex therapist and talk show host Ruth Westheimer contain thousands of letters sent by listeners of her radio program and viewers of her television show, providing insight into the sexual frustrations and obsessions of the 1980s. They also document the dynamic rise in popularity of “Dr. Ruth.”

Map of the District of Columbia outlined in black.

Home Rule and Go-Go “Live! at the Library,” November 30, 2023

Posted by: Ryan Reft

Join us on November 30 for a “Live! at the Library” commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of home rule in Washington, D.C., with a panel discussion on the legacy of home rule moderated by Kojo Nnamdi and featuring journalist Tom Sherwood; The Drum and Spear Bookstore co-founder, Eyes on the Prize documentarian and civil rights activist Judy Richardson; and historians G. Derek Musgrove and Kyla Sommers. A performance by the D.C. Go-Go band Mambo Sauce will follow the panel discussion.