(The following is a guest post by the Library’s Director of Communications, Gayle Osterberg.) I have been reading with enthusiasm recent interviews with the screenwriter/director Wes Anderson about his forthcoming film “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” not only because I am a fan of Mr. Anderson’s work, but because he has been talking about the Library […]...
Between winter and the winter olympics, the Library of Congress blogosphere offered up a variety of posts during February. Here is a sampling: In The Muse: Performing Arts Blog ASCAP on the Occasion of its 100th Birthday with Jimmy Webb and Paul Williams The Library celebrates ASCAP. From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at […]...
News in February brought word of several Library of Congress collection resources. Here are a few headlines. On January 30, the Library launched an online collection showcasing selected items from the Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan Archive, along with elements from other important science-related collections at the Library. Gizmodo highlighted eight of the most fascinating items from […]...
The World Digital Library – a website of world cultural treasures offered free of charge in seven languages to anyone on the planet with access to the Internet – has put up its 10,000th offering. It was part of a package, actually – a group of rare manuscripts from the collections of the Walters Art […]...
The Library of Congress is an incomparable resource for research into women’s history and studies, which is especially appropriate in March, Women’s History Month. This year’s theme is “Celebrating Women of Character, Courage and Commitment.” Spanning all time periods, classes, races and occupations, the Library’s women’s history resources are among the finest and most comprehensive...
" Thought Catalog invites authors to submit proposals for a new book on the culture-shaping series (HBO's Girls )." Sounds like a good book. Read more...
(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.) Manuella Meyer is the David B. Larson Fellow in Health & Spirituality at the Library’s John W. Kluge Center and assistant professor of history at the University of Richmond. Her research examines the socio-political and medical terrain […]...
(The following is a guest post by Holly Krueger, head of the Paper Conservation Section of the Library of Congress Preservation Directorate.) Last December, the Library of Congress unveiled a remarkable drawing by the “outsider artist,” Martin Ramirez. The drawing depicts a Madonna figure standing on a blue globe surrounded by canyons filled with anthropomorphic […]...
(The following is a guest post by Julie Miller, specialist in early American history in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division.) Think of all the things your household buys and uses. Now think of George Washington. He was the commander of the Continental Army, first president of the United States and the father of our […]...
Karen Keninger, director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped in the Library of Congress, discussed new technological developments in the interview excerpted below. What are your responsibilities as the Director of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped? The National Library Service (NLS) program has approximately 120 […]...
Even if you are a famous author published by a top publishing house and celebrated in rarefied literary circles, you will never write anything better than the description of a self-published author's book. Read more... ...
(Trevor Owens, digital archivist with the Library’s National Digital Information and Infrastructure Preservation Program and special curator for the Library of Congress science literacy initiative, contributed to this blog post.) “We are a way for the cosmos to know itself,” once said American astronomer Carl Sagan. Profoundly interested in the universe and our place in it, […]...
(The following is an article written by Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library of Congress staff newsletter, The Gazette.) Jazz’s greatest drummer once earned D’s in music in school, once wrote an essay entitled “I Hate Jazz” and once even launched a venture to break into the soft-drink market. The Library of Congress on Monday […]...
At risk of being somewhat reductionist, here is a bit of advice: Russians love poetry. Fuck with that at your own risk. If, for example, you tell a learned Russian that "the only real literature is prose," don't be surprised when he shivs you in the face. Read more... ...
Folk singer, activist and friend of the Library of Congress Pete Seeger passed away Monday in Manhattan. He was 94. The Library’s American Folklife Center and the Music Division are home to multiple collections documenting Seeger and his family’s extraordinary musical accomplishments. (The following is a repost from the American Folklife Center blog, Folklife Today.) Pete […]...
Distinguished architectural photographer Carol M. Highsmith began donating her work to the Prints and Photographs Division at the Library of Congress in 1992. She has photographed landmark buildings and architecture in Washington, D.C. — including the Library of Congress and many monuments — and throughout the United States. Starting in 2002, Highsmith provided scans or photographs she...
An interesting discourse is going on among Africans and Africa-descent persons. They are asking the very pertinent question of who they are. Friends, this can only be called great. I'm loving it. "This piece is an attempt to refocus an exciting conversation going around the blogosphere which could benefit from an open-minded discourse on the term “Afropolitan.” I believe this is a conversation we...
(The following is a guest post written by Gene DeAnna, head of the Recorded Sound Section at the Library of Congress Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation.) With this year’s Grammy Awards event coming this weekend, it seems a good time to talk about recorded sound preservation. While you may not be on the edge […]...
Unlike Tveit, when I first heard “Afropolitan” I was excited. I am always looking for language that expresses my position as an Irish/Nigerian woman who is deeply connected to her Nigerianness. I’d rather refrain as describing myself as half anything, and I detest the word mixed-race . I thought perhaps Afropolitan presented an alternative to this terminology and, interestingly, positioned me with...
More than 25 years ago, retired music executive Joe Smith accomplished a Herculean feat – he got more than 200 celebrated singers, musicians and industry icons to talk about their lives, music, experiences and contemporaries. In 2012, Smith donated this treasure trove of unedited sound recordings to the Library of Congress. In an effort to […]...