Top of page
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Senior Music Specialist Loras John Schissel shares the backstory of how composer Carl Engel, then-Chief of the Library of Congress Music Division, participated in the Library of Congress' acquisition of its Gutenberg Bible, one of the Library's most renowned treasures.
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Music Division history, Staff, World War II
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Film music and musical theater buffs can now explore the scores and papers of composer-arranger Marvin Hamlisch in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room. Archivist Janet McKinney describes the range of materials, which include photographs, programs, scrapbooks, staging lists, and even Hamlisch's entertainment trophies.
Posted in: Composers, Conductors, Film Music, Guest bloggers, Musical Theater, New finding aid
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Guest blog author Jane Cross highlights the music careers of Ada Richter, Anna Priscilla Risher, Louise Stairs, and Lily Strickland, four women composers found in the Theodore Presser Company Archive, available in the Music Division, Library of Congress.
Posted in: Composers, Music publishing, New finding aid, Women in Music
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Rockettes dancer Ann Murphy (born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1942) danced with the precision tap dance company from the 1960s through the 1970s. Now her photographs, programs, and other Radio City Music Hall memorabilia are available to the public in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room, thanks to Murphy's generous gift of her legacy materials.
Posted in: Dance, New finding aid, Special Collections, Women in Dance
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Choreographer Michio Itō had a profound impact on the development of modern dance in the United States, with collaborations and friendships with Martha Graham, Lester Horton, and Ted Shawn, among many others. Selected images from a recent gift of materials documenting Itō’s career in the United States are shown here alongside other images available in the Library of Congress to highlight the Japanese-born artist’s legacy during Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.
Posted in: Asian American History, Dance, New Acquisitions, Pacific Islander History, Special Collections, World War I, World War II
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Editor, publisher, and contributor Lee Mergner shares the history of JazzTimes, which went from a marketing circular to an award-winning music magazine. The collection, which arrived in late March 2024, contains publicity photographs as well as the work of photographers noted for their distinctive style.
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Drawing from the recently processed Barry Sisters Papers housed in the Library of Congress Music Division, archivist Maya Lerman introduces the Barry Sisters vocal duo and their artistic contribution to the development of "Yiddish Swing."
Posted in: Guest bloggers, Jazz, Jewish American History, Special Collections, Vocalists, Women in Music
Posted by: Libby Smigel
Stephanie Akau, the music archivist who processed the Shirley Horn Papers for the Library of Congress Music Division, contributes a brief biography of Horn, illustrated with materials from the collection: scrapbook, jazz performance program, and photographs.
Posted in: African American History, Guest bloggers, Jazz, Musicians, New finding aid, Special Collections