Top of page
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Today we take to the air with photographer Carol M. Highsmith and journey up and down the Eastern seaboard. Over the last year, photos of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia have come to the Library of Congress to be added to the ever-growing Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Highsmith’s …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Melissa Lindberg
It’s that time of year when many of us are getting ready to head to the airport and hop on a plane en route to family and friends for the holidays. Air travel, like many modern conveniences, is a perk easy to take for granted despite its relatively short history. A visual trip through the …
Posted in: Photographs, Posters
Posted by: Melissa Lindberg
Library of Congress staff members compile subject guides to help researchers get a better sense of the contents of the collections on a particular subject — and to find those resources. The Library of Congress recently launched the first batch of guides in a new format, utilizing the LibGuides platform, which we hope will make …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Research Guides
Posted by: Melissa Lindberg
Halloween provides an opportunity to meditate on — and perhaps to visit — some of the American landscape’s more mysterious tourist destinations. I recently grew curious about these peculiar attractions when I came across a photograph by roadside documentarian John Margolies of a sign for Saint Ignace, Michigan’s Mystery Spot. The Saint Ignace Mystery Spot promises visitors a disorienting sensory experience …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Melissa Lindberg
This Autumn we offer a sequel to a post from this past Spring featuring pictures that cheer Prints & Photographs Division staff. This post’s contributors are all staff members in the Technical Services Section, who work hard to organize, describe, digitize and house for preservation the images in the collections, making it possible for you …
Posted in: Photographs, Posters, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Attending county or state fairs in the summer is a tradition for many Americans. While I did not get a chance to go to county or state fairs as a kid, I’ve now been to county fairs on both sides of the country, and find them fascinating. I’ve seen pony rides, clogging demonstrations, chicken, duck …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Fancy, Romance, and Tragedy. They sound like the plot points for a romantic tearjerker, but they are in fact the titles of three drawings recently donated to the Prints and Photographs Division by the family of the artist, George Randolph Barse, Jr. Barse was one of nearly 40 artists and sculptors charged with decorating the …
Posted in: Acquisitions, Drawings, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
One of the most enduring traditions of Memorial Day is the decoration of the graves of fallen service members with such items as flowers and American flags. This annual day of commemoration was at one time referred to as Decoration Day because of this practice. My grandmother grew up in the deep South, where tradition …
Posted in: Photographs
Posted by: Lara Szypszak
Whenever I leave the urban landscape and go out driving in the country, certain things tend to catch my eye. One particular scene that always makes my head turn is a red barn on a hillside. The pop of color often draws me in. I have always wondered, though: Why red? It turns out, the …
Posted in: Photographs, Posters