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Archive: 2020 (53 Posts)

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Reflecting on Roland Freeman’s African American Expressive Culture in Philadelphia Project

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

The following is a guest post by Victoria Bankole, an Archives, History, and Heritage Advanced Intern in the Prints & Photographs Division in spring 2020. “Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself.” — Octavia E. Butler Just as author Octavia Butler created herself through writing, photographers such as Roland Freeman use their …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Celebrating a Voting Victory

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the 19th Amendment, reaching the threshold of state approval required to extend the vote to women across the United States. Below, National Woman’s Party co-founder Alice Paul is shown at the organization’s headquarters unfurling a completed ratification banner, which sported a star to represent each …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Tennis Pictures, Anyone?

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

I was delighted to see this picture as the lead image in a “Free to Use” set of images focusing on tennis that was recently added to the Library’s Web site. I remember printing out the image years ago for my own personal folder of favorite “mid-air views.” Not only do I admire the energy and …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

One Hundred Fifty Years of Copyright at the Library of Congress

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The year 1870 is significant for copyright and the Library of Congress. Prior to that year, copyright registration was administered by the U.S. District Courts. Starting in 1870, the copyright registration and deposit system was centralized in the Library of Congress. One of the requirements for protecting your creation with copyright was to send in …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

A Look Inside Creative Spaces and Studios

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The studio of an artist–the place that allows an artist’s creativity to bloom–always raises so many questions. Is it chosen for some magical combination of the lighting, the location, the size of the artwork involved or types of tools needed? Is it messy, or tidy? Bare bones or full of luxurious decoration? Is it purely …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Behind the Scenes: an Archivist Draws on Myriad Experiences

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

Below is an interview with Kristen Sosinski, Archivist in the Prints & Photographs Division at the Library of Congress. Melissa: Can you tell us about your background, and how you came to work as an archivist in the Prints & Photographs Division? Kristen: Yes, I got my start in college where I had a work-study …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Keystone State Photographs Now Available

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints and Photographs Division. What do the Golden Triangle, horse-drawn buggies, Oil City, and the Mummers’ Parade have in common? They can all be seen in a new set of photographs of The Keystone State–Pennsylvania. We are grateful for the generous grant from The Pew …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

Armchair Travel: Watching the Signs Along the Way

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

Many of us may be focusing on stay-cations and armchair travel this summer. One of my favorite modes of seeing the world through others’ eyes is to try searching phrases and word combinations in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog (PPOC). Although it yields a different kind of experience than one might encounter traveling in …

Smiling woman dressed in outdoor winter clothes holds a large, old-style camera

COVID-19 Artworks: Toni Lane’s Pandemic Drawings

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints, Prints & Photographs Division. Riveting drawings by artist Toni Lane are among the first COVID-19 acquisitions by the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division (P&P). Seniors First is part of a series of drawings that Lane began in mid-March and is …