News from the Prints & Photographs Division

Flickr Project: Photochrom Travel Views of Canada, Wales, Belgium and The Netherlands

The "Photochrom Travel View" set in Flickr now features more than 750 prints, including scenes in Canada, Wales, Belgium, and (most recently) The Netherlands photographed at the turn of the twentieth century. The Belgian scenes, in particular, feature people at work and recreation, in addition to the striking landscapes and landmark buildings characteristic of the photochroms in general.

Webcast: Historic American Buildings Survey 75th Anniversary

Webcasts provide access to the wealth of information exchanged at the November 14, 2008 symposium held on the 75th anniversary of the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), America's first federal historic preservation program. A morning session, "Celebrating the Past and Present," featured four speakers who highlighted the origins and development of HABS. Two speakers in the afternoon session, "HABS: Planning for the Future," discussed opportunities and challenges, particularly in light of new technologies.

Research Aid: Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building Art and Architecture

The Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress, constructed between 1888 and 1897, houses murals and mosaics designed by a number of artists and featuring a variety of allegorical figures and references to classical mythology. This overview provides guidance for resources and search strategies for exploring the art and architecture of this historic building.

Upcoming Event: Herblock Gallery Talks

Everything's coming up Herblock!

The Library of Congress celebrates Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Herb Block with a look at his remarkable seventy-two-year career. The Herblock! exhibition includes eighty-two original cartoon drawings, primarily selected from the Library's extensive Herbert L. Block Collection.

On Wednesday, November 4, Sara Duke and Martha Kennedy, co-curators of the Herblock! exhibition, will lead a tour of the WWII section. Subsequent Gallery Talks will focus on other sections of the exhibition.

If the exhibition just whets your appetite for Herblock, a growing proportion of the more than 14,000 drawings in the Library's collection are represented by online descriptions and, in some cases, digital images in a new category in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Also, you might enjoy the Herblock Collection Image Sampler -- an online slide show available from the Prints & Photographs Home Page.

Wednesday, November 4
Herblock! exhibition, 2nd Floor, South Gallery, Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

Upcoming Event: Patricia Fanning to Discuss New Book on Photographer F. Holland Day

Patricia Fanning will discuss and sign her new book, "Through an Uncommon Lens: The Life and Photography of F. Holland Day." (Massachusetts University Press, 2009). The event is co-sponsored with the Center for the Book.

Thursday, October 29, 2009, noon
Dining Room A, Madison Building 6th floor

Research Aid: Middle East Images in the Prints and Photographs Division: Subject Overview

An overview and set of search tips for finding images of the Middle East have recently been added to the Prints & Photographs Web site. An in-depth look at Turkish holdings indicates the kinds of materials that can be found for many countries in the Middle East.

Exhibition and Book Talk: Herblock!

Opening on the hundredth birthday of the four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, the exhibition displays 82 of Herbert Block's drawings. The drawings span a 72-year career during which Block influenced public opinion and jarred the lives of many elected officials.

Published in conjunction with this exhibition is a new book: "Herblock: the Life and Work of the Great Political Cartoonist." Authors Haynes Johnson and Harry Katz will speak in an event sponsored by the Center for the Book.

Exhibition
Oct. 13, 2009 - May 1, 2010
Jefferson Building, 2nd floor, South Gallery

Book Talk
Thursday, October 15, 2008, noon-2 p.m.
Dining Room C, Madison Building 6th floor

Upcoming Event: Photographer Philip Trager to Speak

Renowned for his architectural and dance photography, Philip Trager will discuss his work in an illustrated lecture, sponsored by the Library of Congress Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering.

The Library of Congress is the home of the Philip Trager Photographic Archive, an ongoing body of work which contains images, negatives, contact prints, unpublished pieces and manuscript materials. The collection will be available sometime in the future—after cataloging—to researchers in the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division.

Thursday, October 8, 2009, 1 pm
Dining Room A, Madison Building 6th floor

Upcoming Event: Flickr Featured at National Book Festival

Flickr aficionados are invited to join the thousands who will be in attendance at the National Book Festival. Inside the Library of Congress Pavilion there will be demos of the Library of Congress Flickr pilot and other new Library initiatives in social media, as well as the opportunity to meet staff from the Prints and Photographs Division who will be available to chat about photos, Flickr . . . and more. Come on down, take some photos, and remember to tag them with "2009nbf" so that we can share and enjoy them after the event.

National Book Festival
Saturday, September 26
10 a.m - 5:30 p.m.
Library of Congress Pavilion
National Mall
Washington, D.C.

Upcoming Event: Baseball Americana Symposium

Friday, October 2 and Saturday, October 3, 2009
Thomas Jefferson Building, Library of Congress

The Baseball Americana Symposium will celebrate America's national pastime and the publication of a new illustrated book: Baseball Americana: Treasures from the Library of Congress. Items from the Library's baseball collections, the largest in the world, fill the pages of the book, to be published by HarperCollins on September 29, 2009. The symposium will examine baseball from a number of perspectives, particularly the viewpoints of people who experience the game at home, in the stands, and on the field. Speakers will include former players, others who make their living through the game, and experts on baseball cuisine, the language of baseball, and baseball memorabilia. Registration is required for some symposium events.

Featured Acquisition: Daguerreotype of Edwin McMasters Stanton and Son

Recently added to the Library's substantial collection of daguerreotype portraits is a unique half-plate daguerreotype of American lawyer and politician Edwin Stanton formally posed with his son, Edwin Lamson Stanton. The portrait captures their likenesses a few years before Stanton became U.S. Attorney General for President Buchanan (1860-61) and subsequently Secretary of War for Presidents Lincoln and Johnson (1862-68). Purchase and gift from the James Madison Council and George S. Whiteley, IV.

Indicommons Blog Spreads Word of Flickr Participation

The Library of Congress continues to enjoy great interactions with Flickr members who engage with the Library's images posted on Flickr. The Indicommons blog, started by Flickr enthusiasts, helps to spread the word and to provide outreach for cultural heritage institutions that participate in the Flickr Commons. Postings include interviews with individuals involved with The Commons, news of contributing repositories, and comments on content found in The Commons.

Research Aid: Pembroke Album

An overview and checklist of the 90 prints and 1 drawing English collectors Philip and Thomas Herbert, the 5th and 8th Earls of Pembroke, assembled between ca. 1683 and 1733. The prints are primarily chiaroscuro woodcuts by Italian printmakers active in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Featured Acquisition: Charles Randall Dean Collection

This exceptional collection of 125 Abstract Expressionist prints from the 1940s to the 1960s includes work by such noted American artists as James Budd Dixon, Sonia Gechtoff, Philip Guston, Grace Hartigan, James Kelly, Lee Krasner, Frank Lobdell, and Hedda Sterne.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Korab Collection

Interior and exterior views by master architectural photographer Balthazar Korab document nineteen sites by renowned architect Eero Saarinen. Included are corporate headquarters, airports, university facilities, embassies, private residences, churches, a museum, and a monumental arch.

Research Aid: Marjory Collins - Photojournalist

An overview of the life and work of Marjory Collins has been added to the Women Photojournalists Web pages. This research aid summarizes her career in photojournalism, provides examples of her work for the Office of War Information, and includes resources for further research.

FSA/OWI Favorites on Flickr

"FSA/OWI Favorites" features 10 of the most frequently requested photos plus 15 staff selections to introduce the vast archive of about 170,000 negatives and 107,000 prints from the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection. The FSA/OWI Collection, which shows life in America during the Great Depression and World War II, ranges from Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother," the most famous photo in the Library of Congress, to pictures of a soda jerk, a juke joint, and wigwam tourist cabins.

Exhibition: "Form and Movement: Photographs by Philip Trager"

July 11, 2009 - January 3, 2010
National Building Museum, Washington, D.C.
"Form and Movement: Photographs by Philip Trager"

This National Building Museum exhibition features large-format black and white photographs selected from Philip Trager's forty-year career. The exhibition brings together his extraordinary depictions of architecture, from Italian Renaissance villas to views of Paris and New York City streetscapes, with his later explorations of dance and the body. Related archival material is held by the Library of Congress.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Postcards

You expect scenic vistas. But postcards found in the Library range from baseball to zeppelins, and from political wisecracks to giant fruit. The Library's 2008 Junior Fellows selected more than 60 cards to indicate the wide variety of subjects and styles available in this visual format. Bon voyage!

YouTube Videos about Pictures

Tired of watching clips of The Monkees on YouTube?

Presentations featuring the Library's pictorial holdings are among the videos gaining popularity in the Library of Congress YouTube channel. "Journeys & Crossings" presentations on Daniel Jenks's drawings of his westward journey in the mid-nineteenth century and representations of "Rosie the Riveter" have received high ratings.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Japanese Prints & Drawings

The Prints and Photographs Division houses more than 2,500 Japanese woodblock prints and drawings, dating from the seventeenth to the twentieth centuries, by such artists as Hiroshige, Kuniyoshi, Sadahide, and Yoshiiku. They have been online for some time, but searching them was challenging because of the lack of description. All images now have titles (Japanese and English translation) and subjects, enhancing searching and identification of these woodblock prints and drawings.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: National Photo Company Image Sampler

Some staff favorites provide a sampling of the flavors to be savored in the National Photo Company Collection. The image sampler is available as a slide show or as a Web page.

Research Aid: Also Rans: Losing Presidential Candidates

Sure, you know that Truman actually defeated Dewey, but would you recognize Thomas Dewey's face if you saw it? A new research aid gathers together portraits of "also rans" -- the losing United States presidential candidates from the collections of the Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress.

Recent Acquisition: Ukiyo-e print by Toyohara Kunichika

Made in 1878, this color woodblock print shows a beautiful woman looking at photographic portraits, possibly of her admirers. This print highlights an early use of photography in Japanese culture and represents two strengths of the Library’s visual collections—Ukiyo-e prints and carte de visite photographs.

Photochrom Travel Views of Scotland on Flickr

The Library of Congress has added 182 travel views of Scotland to its set of photochroms on the photo-sharing site Flickr. Flickr members have responded enthusiastically with many "then-and-now" comparisons. Thousands of additional photochrom travel views of Europe and the Middle East are currently available via the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

Exhibition: With Malice Toward None: The Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial

Closing Day: May 10, 2009
Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, Second Floor

This exhibition marks the greatest assemblage of objects from the Library's Lincoln collections in history. Items from the Prints & Photographs Divsion are well-represented in the exhibition.

The Library is extending both the closing date and the weekend public hours. On Monday through Thursday, the exhibition will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The exhibition will remain open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. On Sunday, May 10, its closing day, the exhibition will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Recent Acquisition: Spiderman Drawings

Extra! Extra! Spiderman sparks unabated interest at the Library of Congress!

The word has been out for a while, so it may come as no surprise to learn that the Library acquired 24 pages of original 1962 drawings from "Amazing Fantasy #15," which marked the first time the world's most famous web-slinger, Spider-Man, would appear in print anywhere. The Spider-Man origin story in "Amazing Fantasy" was created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko; the pages are Ditko originals, complete with pencil erasures and white-out opaquing fluid.

Research Aid: Researcher's Toolbox

A new reference aid lists resources that provide information and methods for exploring image history, processes, content, and meaning.

Webcast: "Journals of a Pioneer Argonaut, Daniel Jenks"

Through unique drawings and other archival materials, Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular & Applied Graphic Art, tells the story of Daniel Jenks, one of thousands of educated, literate, middle-class men who migrated west during the 1859 gold rush in Colorado. The Prints & Photographs Divison has twenty of Jenks's drawings. The Webcast and supplementary materials are presented as part of the Library of Congress "Journeys and Crossings" series.

Acquisition: Daguerreotype of Edwin McMasters Stanton and Son

The Library of Congress recently acquired a unique half-plate daguerreotype of American lawyer and politician Edwin Stanton formally posed with his son a few years before Stanton became U.S. Attorney General for President Buchanan (1860-61) and then Secretary of War for Presidents Lincoln and Johnson (1862-68). The purchase and gift are from the James Madison Council and George S. Whiteley, IV.

Upcoming Event: "The Artist as Translator: Thomas Nast and French Art"

Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at 12 noon
West Dining Room, James Madison Building, 6th floor
Co-sponsored by the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon and the Prints and Photographs Division

Swann Foundation grantee Marie-Stephanie Delamaire will present an illustrated talk examining American cartoonist Thomas Nast's appropriation of the visual language used in prints and photographs of grand manner and history paintings in his political cartoons of the Civil War and Reconstruction eras.

Commemorating International Women's Day on Flickr

A set of photographs related to women's history commemorates International Women's Day (March 8) in the Library of Congress's Flickr pages. The twenty-three photographs highlight the many arenas in which women have striven individually and collectively not only for their own betterment, but for better conditions and greater justice in the world at large.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Tuskegee Airmen Photographs

These photographs by Toni Frissell of the 332nd Fighter Group were taken at an air base in southern Italy during World War II. The 29 images (selected from more than 200) include scenes showing the African-American squadron officers, pilots, and ground crew preparing for active duty and members of the group engaged in leisure activities at the Officer's Club.

Case Study: Solving a Civil War Photograph Mystery

A new reference aid explores the question: Is this photo fact or fiction? Using clues from the photograph's content, physical characteristics, source, and connections to other photographs, this case study examines whether the photograph actually portrays "General Grant at City Point."

Lincoln Photos on Flickr

In honor of the two-hundredth anniversary of his birth, the Library of Congress has recently added a set of twenty-two photographs relating to the life of Abraham Lincoln to the photo-sharing site Flickr. Lincoln lived in the era when photography was introduced to the world and then became a mass communication tool. Lincoln was the first U.S. presidential candidate to tap the new technology frequently and has been called the most photographed man of his day.

Photochrom Travel Views on Flickr

Inviting viewers to take a century-old "grand tour," we recently added color photochrom prints to the sets of photos featured on the photo sharing site, Flickr. The first group of more than 160 photochroms shows scenes in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Flickr members have responded enthusiastically and informatively. We will gradually add images of more countries to Flickr from the total holdings of 6,500 photochrom prints of Europe and the Middle East that are currently available in the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Popular Graphic Arts Large Size Prints Scanned

High resolution scans for more than 3,000 large prints (approx. 24" x 36" or larger) are now available via the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog. Published primarily between 1800 and 1890, the work of Currier & Ives dominates the collection, with publishers such as Bufford, Duval, Prang, and E. Sachse & Co. also represented. Subject matter ranges from battle scenes and cityscapes to portraits, religious iconography, and technology, with cartoons, advertising, and political campaign material among the diverse forms represented in these once widely distributed prints.

Research Aid: Vice Presidents: A Select List of Portraits

We've recently added an illustrated list of Vice Presidents of the United States, a companion to Prints & Photographs' lists of Presidents and First Ladies.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Harris & Ewing Glass Negatives

More than 9,500 scans of glass negatives from the Harris & Ewing Collection now appear online. The photography firm of Harris & Ewing documented people, events, and architecture, particularly in Washington, D.C., during the period 1905-1945. As P&P has no prints corresponding to many of the negatives, this is the first time that many of the images can be easily seen.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: More Subject Access for Lewis Hine Child Labor Photographs

Thanks to the work of volunteer interns, these evocative photographs of working and living conditions of children in the United States during the early part of the twentieth century are more readily retrievable by their subject matter. Students from the Catholic University of America, the University of Michigan, and other colleges and universities trained in subject indexing with Karen Chittenden, P&P cataloger, over a period of four years and added subject headings to more than 5,000 catalog records.

Library Releases Report on Flickr Pilot Project

Nine months into the Library of Congress's pilot project placing Library photos on the Web site Flickr, the photos have drawn more than 10 million views, over 7,000 comments and more than 67,000 tags, according to a new report from the project team overseeing the project. Following the Library's lead, museums and libraries from around the world are sharing selections from their photo archives and inviting the public to contribute information on Flickr.

Upcoming Event: Model City: Buildings and Projects by Paul Rudolph for Yale and New Haven

Tuesday, December 16, 2008, 12 noon
Whittall Pavilion, Thomas Jefferson Building

Kluge Fellow Timothy M. Rohan, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, discusses the exhibition he curated, "Model City: Buildings and Projects by Paul Rudolph for Yale and New Haven." Paul Rudolph (1918-1997) was one of the most innovative American architects of the post-World War II period. The exhibition draws upon works from the Paul Rudolph Archive in the Prints and Photographs Division.

Upcoming Event: A Colorful Union: The Development of Union Patriotism in Henry Louis Stephens' 1863 Chromolithographs

Monday, December 8, 2008, 12 noon
Dining Room A, Madison Building, 6th floor

Mazie Harris, a 2008-2009 Swann Foundation Grant winner, offers this illustrated lecture on an underappreciated graphic artist and his effort to portray race relations as a motivation for the Union cause during the U.S. Civil War. The program is co-sponsored by the Swann Foundation for Caricature and Cartoon and the Prints and Photographs Division.

Upcoming Event: Presentation on "Public Markets" Visual Sourcebook

Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 12 noon
Dining Room A, Madison Building, 6th floor

Author Helen Tangires, administrator of the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts at the National Gallery of Art, will discuss "Public Markets." The book, the sixth volume in the Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebooks in Architecture, Design and Engineering series, is a richly illustrated compendium of the wide variety of architectural structures devoted to the urban marketplace.

Research Aid: Pictorial Americana Additions

Eighteen more chapters are available for this Web site offering selections originally made for a 1955 publication, Pictorial Americana. Recently added lists feature images relating to: U.S. Congress, Uniforms, Waterworks, and views of locations in the United States, organized by state. Suggestions for locating additional images on the topic are included.

Prints & Photographs Contributes to Armistice Day Remembrance on Flickr Photosharing Site

In commemoration of Armistice Day, the Library of Congress joined other institutions in loading images to the Flickr photosharing site. The Library of Congress has posted fifteen panoramic photographs related to WWI. The Prints & Photographs Division has more than 4,000 panoramas that document cityscapes and group portraits across the United States, with some coverage of foreign countries as well.

Event: American Place: A Symposium Celebrating the Historic American Buildings Survey at 75

Friday, November 14, 2008, 9:00-4:30
Mumford Room, Madison Building, 6th floor

Celebrating the establishment of America’s first federal historic preservation program, the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) of the National Park Service, presenters will discuss its history, art, technology and future. Initiated during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “New Deal” administration, the program, later expanded to include engineering records (HAER) and landscape surveys (HALS), continues through a thriving tri-lateral partnership between The Library of Congress, The National Park Service and the private-sector American Institute of Architects.

Publication: Public Markets: A Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebook

In this richly illustrated compendium of the wide variety of buildings and spaces devoted to the urban marketplace, author Helen Tangires includes more than 800 historical and contemporary photographs, architectural drawings, maps, and posters.

Full citation: Helen Tangires. Public Markets: A Norton/Library of Congress Visual Sourcebook. New York: W.W. Norton, 2008.

Prints & Photographs Online Catalog: Master Drawings

Descriptions for the 5,000 original drawings in the Master Drawings Collection can now be searched in the online catalog. The collection represents drawings in diverse styles and media, primarily dating between 1830 and 1930. Most are by American artist Joseph Pennell, with notable drawings by James McNeil Whistler (1834-1903), Rockwell Kent, Jean Francois Millet, and many other artists. Some records are accompanied by digital images.

Upcoming Event: Adams Scholar To Discuss "Ansel Adams and His Books: Photographs In Ink"

Thursday, October 16, 2008, 12 noon
Mumford Room, Madison Building, 6th floor

Anne Hammond, an expert on the photographer Ansel Adams, will discuss his works that have been published in books. This talk highlights three books by Adams that are representative of the three major forms of ink reproduction of photography: Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail (letterpress halftone); This Is the American Earth (photogravure); and Images, 1923-1974 (offset lithography).

Upcoming Event: Pulitzer Prize Winner To Discuss New Library of Congress Depression-Era Photography Books

"Fields of Vision"
Thursday, October 16, 2008, 6 pm
Montpelier Room, Madison Building, 6th floor

Timothy Egan, Pulitzer Prize winner and writer for The New York Times, will lead a discussion of the photos of the Farm Security Administration focusing on the three photographers: Ben Shahn, Russell Lee and Marion Post Wolcott, which are featured in three Library of Congress-published books in the "Fields of Vision" series.

Webcast: J&R Lamb Studio

Celebrating the oldest decorative arts firm in continuous operation in the United States, this Nov. 28, 2007, event featured illustrated presentations by Elizabeth Terry, curatorial assistant, and Donald Samick, current owner of the studio (Morning session); Tom Seeley, son of archive donor; and Virginia Raguin, professor of art history at the College of Holy Cross (Afternoon session).