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Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The summer road trip is a rite of passage for many Americans. And the ultimate road trip is the coast-to-coast journey. Today’s driver has many tools to make the trip easier: GPS systems, road maps, and miles of interstate highway. Between 24 hour gas stations, fast food and cell phones, we are never far from …
Posted in: Cartoons, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
Every summer we can rent a cottage, in the Isle of Wight, if it’s not too dear –“When I’m Sixty-Four,” John Lennon & Paul McCartney Since we’re in the midst of Washington, D.C.’s first genuine heat wave this summer, my mind turns to imagining cooler climes. And, naturally, these daydreams often involve cooling waters. Real travel is not in …
Posted in: Prints
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. The Battle of Gettysburg was fought on July 1-3, 1863, at a small town in Pennsylvania. The fierce fighting was a major turning point in the American Civil War, with an estimated 50,000 casualties—dead, wounded, and missing Union and Confederate soldiers. …
Posted in: Drawings, Flickr, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Ask any American to identify the Washington Monument or the U.S. Capitol, and it is likely they could. But would they recognize – or be surprised by – those structures as they looked in the first century of the nation’s capital? A newly expanded reference aid provides glimpses of the city as it evolved: Washington, …
Posted in: Architecture, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Jeff Bridgers
Some people contend that great art is distinguished in the attention the artist paid to the most minute details. Artist James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903) may be a good case in point in that he even turned his creative energy to the way in which he signed his work. H. Barbara Weinberg of the Department of American …
Posted in: Drawings, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
The following is a guest post by Gay Colyer, Digital Library Specialist, Prints & Photographs Division. While reviewing Civil War photographs of the Union’s Mississippi River Fleet (LOT 4183), I came across a type of ship that I hadn’t seen before. I’ve long admired the efficient design of the single or double turreted ironclads. In …
Posted in: Drawings, Photographs, Prints
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. What tends to be 3.5 inches tall and 10 inches long? Postcards created in a panoramic view format. More than 400 oversize postcards are “new for you” in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. The Library received most of the postcards …
Posted in: News & Events, Photographs, Postcards, Prints
Posted by: Barbara Orbach Natanson
The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. How do the delicate blossoms of a cherry tree represent the strength found in friendship? A new video from the Library of Congress suggests many answers in an engaging gallery tour of the exhibition Sakura: Cherry Blossoms as Living Symbols of …
Posted in: News & Events, Prints
Posted by: Kristi Finefield
Everyone who knows me knows I love snow. If there is even the slightest chance for a snowfall here in the D.C. area, I am always glued to the weather forecast. I study the Doppler radar, scrutinize the predictions, and listen with bated breath to every watch, warning and advisory. It looks like my ever-dwindling …
Posted in: Photographs, Posters, Prints, Series: Caught Our Eyes