The following is a guest post by Aliza Leventhal, Head, Technical Services, Prints & Photographs Division. When the Annenberg Space for Photography closed in June 2020, they offered the Library of Congress more than 900 high quality prints from ten of their exhibitions. We responded enthusiastically to this rare opportunity to add work by 329 …
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. The portrait of this African American family has such a powerful impact that it has become a widely used representation for many aspects of the Civil War era. Donated in 2010 to the Library of Congress, the photograph is already a …
The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints, Prints & Photographs Division. A longer version will appear in On Paper: Journal of the Washington Print Club (Fall 2021). Like poetry, literature, and music—visual art can reflect history, society, politics, and culture in uniquely powerful ways. Artists’ prints typically exist in …
The world lost an inspired and inspiring researcher last April, when Joe Manning died. Manning devoted many years to researching people depicted in historical photographs, especially those found in National Child Labor Committee and Farm Security Administration collections. He leaves, however, a rich legacy, not only of his findings but also of his techniques for …
The following is a guest post by Jan Grenci, Reference Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. The Prints & Photographs Division uses Flickr to share interesting images with the world. Some of our Flickr albums aim to bring together images on a particular theme, from a variety of collections and time periods. Others ask for your …
The following is a guest post by Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, Prints and Photographs Division. Popeye, Superman, Wonder Woman, Black Panther – some cartoon characters have become both instantly and internationally recognizable, but they didn’t get their start on television or in the movies, but rather on the pages …
The following is a guest post by Gillian Mahoney, Technical Services Technician in the Prints & Photographs Division. On September 11, 2001, terrorists hijacked four airplanes, crashing two into the World Trade Center in New York, one into a field in Pennsylvania, and the fourth, American Airlines Flight 77, into the western side of the …
Recently, while preparing to present a virtual orientation offering a sampling of Prints & Photographs Division collections for representations of work, workers and labor themes, I found myself selecting image after image that showed women working in a variety of industrial and office settings (at the same time recognizing that for centuries women have also …
The following is a guest post by Emma Esperon, Archivist, and Aliza Leventhal, Head, Technical Services, Prints & Photographs Division. Navigating large collections can be so challenging that archivists create finding aids–contextual and structured description documents—to lower barriers to research. We’d like to take you behind the scenes to see the ingredients that go into …
