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Posted by: Lara Szypszak
I find one of the remarkable things about portraiture is the ability to observe individuals just like us in a time so different. A sparkle in the eyes or tilt of the head can feel so familiar. Whether it be the portrait of a family member or of someone with a common cultural heritage, the …
Posted in: African American History, News & Events, Photographs
Posted by: Lara Szypszak
Sometimes I come across a photo in our collections that just tickles me pink, but also makes me want to learn more. One such photo of two dancing dames alongside a congressman led me to pictures of the Charleston dance craze taking the nation’s capitol by storm and sent me digging deeper in the hopes …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The love of reading crosses all boundaries, appealing to people of all ages, races, genders, and walks of life. For hundreds of years, readers have opened books to learn about history or science or to discover new, imaginary worlds. Books have furnished inspiration, excitement, and relaxation. The possibilities are limitless. Within our collections, I found …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs, Posters, Prints
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
The following is a guest post by Katherine Blood, Curator of Fine Prints, who co-curated the exhibition with Sara Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts: When exhorted by Charles Dana Gibson to “draw ‘til it hurts!” hundreds of his fellow artists contributed over 1,400 designs, including some 700 posters, to promote the country’s …
Posted in: Cartoons, Drawings, News & Events, Photographs, Posters
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
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, …
Posted in: Architecture, News & Events, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
If you are interested in learning more about visual literacy and historical thinking and about resources such as historical newspapers and photographs, you are in luck! Join us online for a free two-day event: “The Library of Congress and Teachers: Unlocking the Power of Primary Sources.” The virtual conference will take place October 27-28, 2015 …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs, Visual literacy
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
My initial impression of the jovial sailors pictured below was that a letter “d” must have been left out of the annotated title in the photograph’s upper left corner. This World War I era photo from the Bain News Service is one of more than 15,000 photographs (a hefty subset of the 40,000 available from …
Posted in: Flickr, News & Events, Photographs
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
Okay, you’d think a staff member in the Prints & Photographs Division would be capable of making a photograph with better composition than what I achieved last weekend at the National Book Festival. But my photo does at least reflect the reality of the occasion: We had such a steady stream of enthusiastic visitors stopping …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
When I look at my family photographs, the stories behind them usually come flooding back to me. I recall the occasion–and often people and events I associate with the occasion, even if they aren’t shown in the pictures. But lacking those personal associations, photographs–especially historical photographs–can seem like vast mysteries–or closed storybooks. Now a wonderful …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs, Visual literacy