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Category: Drawings

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Celebrating the 110th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Gift and U.S.-Japan Friendship

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is a guest post by Mari Nakahara, Curator of Architecture, Design, and Engineering, and Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints, Prints & Photographs Division. The year 2022 marks the 110th anniversary of the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from the city of Tokyo to Washington, D.C. in 1912, an enduring symbol of the …

2. REAR FACADE AND GARAGE FACADE - Arthur L. Rule House, 11 South Rock Glen, Mason City, Cerro Gordo County, IA. Photography by Robert Thall, 1977. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ia0104/photos.066309p. From HABS IOWA,17-MASCIT,8-.

Women Architects and Designers in the HABS/HAER/HALS Collections

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Librarian, Prints & Photographs Division. Preparation for an upcoming virtual orientation (details below) led me to explore the HABS/HAER/HALS (HHH) Collection with an eye towards finding women in the role of architect or designer. The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), …

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

New Research Guide: Cartoons and Caricatures

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

We are pleased to announce the publication of a new guide describing the Prints & Photographs Division’s large and varied collection of cartoon and caricature art. Martha H. Kennedy, now retired Curator of Popular & Applied Graphic Art and author of the guide, describes the appeal of this collection material: “The Library’s vast, diverse collections …

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

New Year, New to See

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

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 …

Documenting Historic American Landscapes – Challenge Accepted!

Posted by: Kristi Finefield

The following is a guest post by Ryan Brubacher, Reference Librarian, Prints & Photographs Division.  In late November, the winners of the 2021 HALS Challenge were announced. The announcement offers a good opportunity to highlight the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) collection, including the historical reports found within this collection, as well as the National …

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Women at Work: Glimpses through Time

Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson

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 …

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

Rediscovering Drive-Ins with the Vogel Collection

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

The following is a guest post by Gillian Mahoney, Technical Services Technician in the Prints & Photographs Division. Are drive-in theaters making a comeback? Because of the current pandemic, many are seeking socially distant yet still sociable activities, and drive-in movie theaters offer a perfect combination. In the 1950s and 60s drive-ins were wildly popular, …

Miss Janette [i.e., Jeannette] Rankin. Photo by National Photo Company, between 1909 and 1920. //hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.20183

Jeannette Rankin: First Woman Elected to Congress

Posted by: Melissa Lindberg

On November 7, 1916, nearly four years before the Nineteenth Amendment gave American women the right to vote nationally, Jeannette Rankin was elected to represent Montana in the United States House of Representatives. Images of Rankin in the Prints & Photographs Division’s collections portray her both in her role as congresswoman and as activist for …