The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. Do you need ideas for fixing up an old house? Close-up views of the Statue of Liberty? The dimensions of a Spanish mission? All that information and more is ready for you in the HABS/HAER/HALS Collection with 450,000 drawings, photographs, and …
On April 24, 1800, President John Adams authorized the spending of $5000 for "such books as may be necessary for the use of Congress." This act was the beginning of the Library of Congress. Look back over 225 years of the Library's history through architectural drawings, prints and photographs.
In a recent post, we introduced a slew of newly processed or digitized collections. This week we are highlighting a newly available and graphically fun collection, the U.S. Patent Office Trademarks—brands, logos, and images registered between 1869 and 1911. We will do this through a selection of whimsical images featuring magical and mythical creatures such as fairies, dragons, mermaids, and gnomes.
We celebrate National Pencil Day on March 30. This post in our occasional series, Profiling Portraits, focuses on portraits where the subject has a pencil in hand, and it is connected to their identity as writer, journalist, and artist.
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division, with excerpts from the Richard Morris Hunt Research Guide. How do you breathe life into a valuable but under-appreciated and complicated collection from the 1800s? The Prints & Photographs Division was fortunate to earn the attention of Sam Watters—an exceptional historian of …
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, and Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, Prints & Photographs Division. Politically independent and a champion of the little guy, Herbert L. Block (1909–2001)—better known as “Herblock”—spared no one from the wrath of his art. His pointed commentaries offer an opportunity …
The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. I recently returned from an information-soaked conference in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, where I toured and learned about structures related to the fascinating history of the copper mining industry in the Keweenaw area. When I came home, the experience …
The following is a guest post by Kara Chittenden and Katherine Blood in the Prints & Photographs Division about a special new gift of valuable drawings. During World War II, over 120,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated in concentration camps. Engaging in creative activities was a way for prisoners to endure significant hardships. Since photography …
One hundred and thirty-five years ago today, a devastating flood swept through Johnstown, Pennsylvania and neighboring communities. On May 31, 1889, the South Fork Dam failed following torrential rain, releasing a massive volume of fast-moving water from Lake Conemaugh. The resulting flood led to the loss of more than 2,200 lives. Photographers and artists did …
