Archive for the Acquisitions Category (16 posts)

New Year, New to See

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The following is a guest post by Hanna Soltys, Reference Librarian, with contributions by Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, and Micah Messenheimer, Curator of Photography, all of the Prints and Photographs Division.

To kick off the New Year, the Prints & Photographs Virtual Orientations for January 2022 look at newly processed, acquired, and/or digitized collections. While we often discuss and share new collections and acquisitions, this orientation will also highlight resources such as finding aids to help with research projects.

One of the newly processed collections you can expect to learn about is the William Kennoch Collection. This collection includes over 1,200 photographs from the U.S. Secret Service of counterfeiters, criminals, and others accused of federal crimes from 1865-1886. These photographs include names of sitters, aliases, and arrest dates.

[Mrs. Julian Elizabeth Brittan, half-length portrait, facing slightly left]. Photo, circa 1874. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.75271

Verso of [Mrs. Julian Elizabeth Brittan, half-length portrait, facing slightly left]. Photo, circa 1874. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.75272

You may recall the Library collections have the famous “selfie” of Robert Cornelius. In 2021, the Library acquired another image by Cornelius of Professor Henry Hope Reed. Reed was an educator working at the University of Pennsylvania.

[Professor Henry Hope Reed, half-length portrait, facing slightly left]. Daguerreotype by Robert Cornelius, between circa June and July 1841. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.73894

During the last year, the Library also acquired a variety of photographs from three Native American contemporary photographers: Zig Jackson, Brian Adams, and Russel Albert Daniels. These photographs depict Native communities throughout North America.

The Diana Denny Illustration drawings collection was described this past year, complete with an online finding aid. A Cold War caricaturist, Denny captured political and civic leaders, celebrities, and even the Nuremberg trials. This collection includes original drawings as well as newspaper clippings.

Grace Kelly and Prince Rainier. Drawing by Diana Denny, circa 1955-1956. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.31374

 

MacArthur. Drawing by Diana Denny, 1946 May 10. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ppmsca.31872

Join us for the January orientations to learn about more collections newly available. Two curators will offer these sessions and host a Q&A at the end. Sessions will not be recorded.

Learn More:

Ready for Research: Contemporary Photography Donated by the Annenberg Foundation

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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 […]

Geppi Gems Exhibit: Highlights from the Stephen A. Geppi Collection at the Library of Congress

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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 Pentagon: Newly Acquired Construction Photos by Harold Lang

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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 […]

An Acquisition Adventure: “Loco Foco Witches Laying a Spell Over the Country”

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The following is a guest post by Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, Prints and Photographs Division. “Exceptionally rare and believed to be previously unknown,” in the seller’s letter intrigued me. On offer, an 1836 anti-Martin Van Buren woodcut print, depicting Van Buren as a witch and riding the coattails of […]

Flickr Commons: A 13th Anniversary and the COVID-19 American Experiences

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The following is a guest post by Adam Silvia, Curator of Photography, Prints & Photographs Division. Thirteen years ago, on January 16th, 2008, Flickr announced The Commons, a space where libraries and museums can share photographs with the public, and the public, in turn, can share its collective knowledge with these cultural heritage archives. The […]

Music City, 1970s: JD Sloan’s Nashville Photographs Recently Acquired

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The following is a guest post by Micah Messenheimer, Curator of Photography, Prints & Photographs Division. Who is the woman in this photograph? JD Sloan’s portrait offers an aura of mystery while commenting on both the glamour and the tedium of celebrity culture. Country singer Tammy Wynette stands on a dark Opryland stage facing away […]

Art Chosen by Artists: Library of Congress National Exhibition of Prints (1943-77) – a New Research Guide

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The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints, Prints & Photographs Division. As the Library of Congress marks its 220th year of serving the nation, the publication of a new guide tells two stories: how staff have for decades worked with art professionals to build the collections and how by […]