The following is guest post by Micah Messenheimer, Assistant Curator of Photography, Prints and Photographs Division. Over the span of nearly forty years, John Margolies took more than eleven thousand color slide photographs of vernacular structures across America’s highways, byways, and main streets. Traversing the country, he was drawn to the architecture that came to …
Along with my picture-loving colleagues, I’d like to nominate one of our favorite depictions of Minerva, Roman goddess of wisdom, as an appropriate symbol with which to mark the arrival of the new Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden. This mosaic of a studious Minerva greets visitors, researchers and staff in an area overlooking the …
After two years, the U.S. Capitol, or more specifically, its dome, is finally emerging from a scaffolding cocoon. The photo at right, taken in March 2016, captures the partially revealed dome of the Library of Congress’ neighbor across the street. The restoration work started in spring 2014 included new paint, and repairing and replacing damaged, …
The Great Hall in the Library of Congress Jefferson Building echoes with the hubbub of enthusiastic visitors absorbing the ornate details of its salute to knowledge and creativity. Much as I relish those sights and sounds, on a recent afternoon, I enjoyed dipping into a room just off the Great Hall to contemplate a small, …
Among the hardest questions we receive is “Where in the world are the architectural drawings for [fill in the site]?” or “Where are the drawings by architect [fill in the name]?” Although we can establish whether we hold the needed drawings in our collections, discerning the location of drawings not in our holdings has always …
The sight of a single car on the road in traffic-heavy Washington, D.C. was enough to catch my eye, but this photo was intriguing for other reasons as well. The car is front and center, but clearly the U.S. Capitol rising prominently behind it is key to the composition. And the photographer seems to be …
Update in 2024: A new Richard Morris Hunt Research Guide is available. While reading Erik Larson’s The Devil in the White City about events in 1890s Chicago during the World’s Columbian Exposition, I became intrigued by the glimpses Larson provided of architect Richard Morris Hunt, one of the contributors to the exposition’s monumental design. Richard …
The following is a guest post by Gay Colyer, Digital Library Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. We need your help to identify 68 photos of historic structures. They’re posted in a Flickr album called “Mystery Houses,” so that it’s easy to add your notes.* The photographer, Frances Benjamin Johnston, did leave a basic clue for …
Reference specialist Marilyn Ibach caught sight of this photo in the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) documentation for the Cape Saint George Lighthouse, Cape St. George, Apalachicola, Franklin County, Florida. Marilyn remarked: This 1852 lighthouse caught my eye because it’s at such an angle! (275 degrees off north). This November 1998 photo shows the lighthouse …
