News from the Library of Congress

December 2019

November 2019

  • November 20, 2019  (19-114)
    The AIDS Memorial Quilt Moving to San Francisco Under the Stewardship of the National AIDS Memorial; Library of Congress to Preserve Quilt's Vast Archival Collections The NAMES Project Foundation (NPF) today announced that the National AIDS Memorial will become the new caretaker of the AIDS Memorial Quilt and NAMES Project programs. As part of the transition, the NAMES Project and the National AIDS Memorial have agreed to jointly gift care and stewardship of The Quilt’s archival collections to the prestigious American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, making...
    • Date: 2019-11-20
  • November 19, 2019  (19-102)
    Library of Congress, National Park Service Announce 2019 Holland Prize Winner The Library of Congress and the National Park Service (NPS) announced today that the 2019 Leicester B. Holland Prize will be presented to an architectural team at Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., led by Christopher Howard, an assistant professor of architecture and planning. The prize honors an outstanding historic building, structure or landscape drawing.The top prize went to a drawing featuring the...
    • Date: 2019-11-19
  • November 19, 2019  (19-A04)
    Jefferson Building Access Changes - Nov. 20 On Wednesday, Nov. 20, public access to the first floor (including the Great Hall) and West Main doors of the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress will be restricted from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. due to a special event. The public may enter through the West Basement (Carriage) doors and may access public spaces on the ground and second floors of...
    • Date: 2019-11-19
  • November 18, 2019  (19-113)
    Hip Hop and Human-Computer Interaction Focus of 2020 Innovators in Residence The Library of Congress today announced the arrival of its 2020 Innovators in Residence, who will break new ground at the intersections of technology and hip hop, historic newspapers and classic illustrations. Established in 2017 to invite creative people to develop research concepts and projects that connect the American people with the Library’s vast collections, the Innovator in Residence program brings some of the...
    • Date: 2019-11-18
  • November 14, 2019  (19-112)
    "L.A. Murals" Exhibition Documents Street Art through Photography, Now on View at The Music Center's Walt Disney Concert Hall in LA “L.A. Murals,” a new photography exhibition from the Library of Congress, documents murals painted on the streets of Los Angeles, an epicenter of the world’s street art scene.The photographs are now on view in Los Angeles at The Music Center’s Walt Disney Concert Hall in the Library of Congress Ira Gershwin Gallery. The exhibition, which is free and open to visitors of the Concert...
    • Date: 2019-11-14
  • November 13, 2019  (19-108)
    Conversation with Martha Nussbaum at the Kellogg Biennial Lecture in Jurisprudence NOTE: This event has been canceled.The Law Library of Congress will present a conversation with philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum for the 2019 Frederic R. and Molly S. Kellogg Biennial Lecture in Jurisprudence at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 4, in the Mumford Room of the Library of Congress, located on the sixth floor of the James Madison Building. The program is free and open...
    • Date: 2019-11-13
  • November 13, 2019  (19-111)
    Author to Discuss Former Congressman's Experience in World War II Internment Camp The 10th annual Jonah S. Eskin Memorial Program will feature award-winning writer Andrea Warren and her book “Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II” (Holiday House).The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 19, at 10:30 a.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium, ground floor...
    • Date: 2019-11-13
  • November 12, 2019  (19-110)
    New, Vivid History of Pre- and Post-Columbian Art Featured in 'Collecting for a New World' A new book explores the history of the early Americas — a story of before and after, defined and divided by the pivotal moment of contact, in 1492, between Europeans and the indigenous cultures of the New World — told through the collection of early American treasures in the Library of Congress.On the European side, this is a tale of exploration, high-stakes treasure seeking...
    • Date: 2019-11-12
  • November 8, 2019  (19-105)
    Library of Congress Seeks Applicants for the 2020 Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program The Library of Congress is seeking applicants for its 2020 Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program. This is a 10-week paid fellowship for undergraduate and graduate students interested in learning more about the work done at the largest library in the world. For more information or to apply for the program, visit https://www.loc.gov/item/internships/junior-fellows-program/. The deadline to apply is Friday, Dec. 20. From exploring new ways...
    • Date: 2019-11-08
  • November 8, 2019  (19-109)
    Newly Digitized Veterans History Project Collection Showcasing Veteran Artists Researchers, veterans and their families now have access to “Veterans and the Arts,” an online “Experiencing War” website feature highlighting the stories of veterans who pursued the arts during their post-military lives. This new feature includes nine digitized collections from the Veterans History Project (VHP) archive, each of which holds the first-person narrative of a veteran who used artistic endeavors – such as music,...
    • Date: 2019-11-08
  • November 5, 2019  (19-107)
    "Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words," a New Exhibition, Offers Intimate View of Seminal Figure's Life Rosa Parks, the civil rights icon made famous for her refusal to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama, in December 1955, is often mischaracterized as a quiet seamstress, with little attention paid to her full life story. A new Library of Congress exhibition, “Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words,” will reveal the real Rosa Parks...
    • Date: 2019-11-05
  • November 4, 2019  (19-106)
    Newly Digitized Collections Now Online Include History of Women's Suffrage, Civil War, Landscape Architecture and Monetary Policy Researchers and students have gained access to seven newly digitized collections of manuscript materials from the Library of Congress, including records of one of the most important women’s suffrage organizations, the papers of President Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary and collections on the history of federal monetary policy. The availability of these collections added more than 465,000 images to the Library’s already vast online resources.One...
    • Date: 2019-11-04

October 2019

  • October 30, 2019  (19-103)
    Library of Congress Hosts GIS Day 2019 The Library of Congress will celebrate GIS (Geographic Information Science) Day on Nov. 13 with an all-day series of talks on the use of GIS technology and 3D mapping in cultural heritage preservation and disaster response.The discussions will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 13, in LJ-119 on the first floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street....
    • Date: 2019-10-30
  • October 22, 2019  (19-104)
    Library of Congress and U.S. Government Publishing Office Digitizing U.S. Congressional Serial Set The Law Library of Congress, in collaboration with the U.S. Government Publishing Office, has started a large multi-year effort to digitize and make accessible volumes of the U.S. Congressional Serial Set dating back to the first volume published in 1817.The U.S. Congressional Serial Set is an official, bound collection of reports and documents of the House and Senate of the U.S. Congress. First published...
    • Date: 2019-10-22
  • October 18, 2019  (19-101)
    Librarian of Congress Names New Copyright Royalty Judge Librarian of Congress Carla D. Hayden today announced her appointment of Steve Ruwe to the position of copyright royalty judge on the Copyright Royalty Board. Effective Oct. 13, Ruwe will serve an interim appointment through Dec. 7, 2019, followed by a six-year appointment.Ruwe is filling a vacancy created by the appointment of Judge Jesse Feder as Chief Judge. He will serve on the Copyright...
    • Date: 2019-10-18
  • October 16, 2019  (19-100)
    Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film Awarded to "Flannery," Directed by Elizabeth Coffman and Mark Bosco The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation today announced that the first Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film has been awarded to “Flannery,” a new film directed by Elizabeth Coffman and Jesuit priest Mark Bosco that documents the life of Georgia writer Flannery O’Connor. “Flannery” is a feature-length documentary that explores the life and writings...
    • Date: 2019-10-16
  • October 4, 2019  (19-098)
    Library Receives $1M Mellon Grant to Experiment with Digital Collections as Big Data The Library of Congress has been awarded a $1 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for the Computing Cultural Heritage in the Cloud (CCHC) project, which will pilot ways to combine cutting edge technology and the collections of the largest library in the world, to support digital research at scale. “As technology advances, we envision a future in which all users —...
    • Date: 2019-10-04
  • October 3, 2019  (19-092)
    Library of Congress to Hold Annual Fall Main Reading Room and Packard Campus Open Houses in October Twice each year, the Library of Congress opens its magnificent Main Reading Room to share information about how the public can access the Library’s resources year-round. The Main Reading Room will be open to the public on the federal Columbus Day holiday, Monday, Oct. 14, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Main Reading Room is located on the first floor of the Library’s...
    • Date: 2019-10-03
  • October 2, 2019  (19-097)
    Garth Brooks to Receive the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced that country music titan Garth Brooks is the next recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. The multiple hall of famer is the youngest recipient of the prestigious prize.“Garth Brooks’ appeal as a performer, songwriter and humanitarian has brought many new fans into the world of country music,” said Librarian of Congress Carla...
    • Date: 2019-10-02
  • October 1, 2019  (19-096)
    Kluge Center Welcomes Chairs and Distinguished Visiting Scholars The John W. Kluge Center has announced the arrival of several scholars-in-residence at the Library of Congress.Andrea Campbell holds the Kluge Chair in American Law and Governance. Campbell is the Arthur and Ruth Sloan professor of political science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She works on American politics, political behavior, public opinion and political equality, particularly their intersection with social welfare policy, health...
    • Date: 2019-10-01

September 2019

  • September 30, 2019  (19-078)
    Library Announces Grant Recipients for Teaching with Primary Sources The Library of Congress today announced the selection of four organizations that will receive more than $1.1 million through its Teaching with Primary Sources (TPS) program to support the effective use of digitized primary sources in K-12 classrooms. The selected organizations will focus their efforts on creating teaching materials and professional opportunities for teachers using Library of Congress online resources.The Library received 35 proposals...
    • Date: 2019-09-30
  • September 27, 2019  (19-094)
    Library's Koussevitzky Foundation Awards 2019 Music Commissions The Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation in the Library of Congress has awarded commissions for new musical works to four composers. The commissions are granted jointly by the foundation and the performing organizations that will present the world premiere performances of the newly composed works. Award winners and the groups co-sponsoring their commissions are Erin Gee and JACK Quartet; George E. Lewis and PUBLIQuartet; David...
    • Date: 2019-09-27
  • September 24, 2019  (19-093)
    Library of Congress Hosts Events Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month Hispanic Heritage Month runs between Sept. 15 and Oct. 15. The Hispanic Division and the Hispanic Cultural Society at the Library of Congress will host workshops, displays and readings that celebrate Hispanic identity, civilization and culture inside the Hispanic Reading Room. The reading room is located on the second floor of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street, S.E., Washington, DC 20540. Highlighting the...
    • Date: 2019-09-24
  • September 24, 2019  (19-095)
    Library to Mark 150th Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's Birth with Display of Special Collections A special display at the Library of Congress will mark the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth on Oct. 2, featuring a letter written in Gandhi’s hand, a rare copy of the Indian Constitution and other items exploring Gandhi’s influence on Martin Luther King Jr. and the U.S. civil rights movement.The one-day display from the Library’s collections will be presented Oct. 2 from 11...
    • Date: 2019-09-24
  • September 18, 2019  (19-091)
    Library of Congress Crime Classics Bring New Life to American Suspense in Publishing Collaboration with Poisoned Pen Press Classic American crime novels will see new life in a new publishing collaboration between the Library of Congress and Poisoned Pen Press, an imprint of Sourcebooks. The Library of Congress Crime Classics series will feature a rich and diverse selection of books originally published between the 1860s and the 1960s, the Library announced today.Titles are drawn from the Library’s collection of hard-to-find and out-of-print...
    • Date: 2019-09-18
  • September 16, 2019  (19-090)
    New Website Makes the U.S. Constitution Searchable with Supreme Court Interpretations Throughout History In celebration of Constitution Day, the Library of Congress is launching a new website – constitution.congress.gov – for the Constitution Annotated, the authoritative source for how the Supreme Court has interpreted the nation’s governing document over the years.With advanced search tools and a modern user-friendly interface, the new website makes the 3,000 pages of the Constitution Annotated fully searchable and accessible for the first...
    • Date: 2019-09-16
  • September 12, 2019  (19-089)
    New Exhibition "Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages" Explores Comics from Early Newspapers to Famous Characters A new exhibition at the Library of Congress explores the fascinating evolution of visual storytelling styles in comic art – from panels in early newspapers to contemporary images of some of the most famous and funny characters in print. “Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages” opens Sept. 12 and will be on view for a year in the Graphic Arts Galleries of...
    • Date: 2019-09-12
  • September 10, 2019  (19-082)
    Kluge Center Announces a Fall Lineup of Public Events The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress is pleased to announce its schedule of fall conversations featuring renowned scholars and authors. All events will be held in the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. The events are free and open to the public. However, tickets are suggested and available via Eventbrite.Tuesday, Sept. 17, 4 p.m. John W....
    • Date: 2019-09-10
  • September 9, 2019  (19-087)
    Library Goes Back to School with Teachers of Science and Civics The Library of Congress kicked off the 2019-20 school year by welcoming two teachers to its Capitol Hill campus who will work closely with the Library’s learning and innovation team to help make primary sources from the Library’s collections more accessible for teachers throughout the United States.Jen Reidel, a civics teacher from Bellingham, Wash., has been named the 2019-2020 Teacher-in-Residence at the Library of...
    • Date: 2019-09-09
  • September 6, 2019  (19-088)
    Mission Medevac: Library's Veterans History Project Hosts Changemakers Panel on Medical Evacuations The advent of medical evacuations by air has saved the lives of countless American soldiers. From the Vietnam War to Iraq and Afghanistan, medevac aircraft and crews have provided rapid medical evacuations enabling crews to rapidly move wounded soldiers out of the front lines and into hospital facilities for treatment.On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the Library of Congress Veterans History Project will bring together a...
    • Date: 2019-09-06
  • September 5, 2019  (19-085)
    Library of Congress Crowdsourcing Effort Challenges People to Explore Folk and Music Traditions From hot summer days in Mississippi to windy nights in the Caribbean, the Library of Congress’ latest crowdsourcing campaign, launched today, challenges virtual volunteers to explore folk and music traditions through the eyes and writings of one of America’s most famous 20th century folklorists, musicologists and oral historians: Alan Lomax.The new campaign — “The Man who Recorded the World: On the Road with Alan...
    • Date: 2019-09-05

August 2019

  • August 31, 2019  (19-084)
    19th Annual National Book Festival Attracts Tens of Thousands of Book Lovers Book lovers of all ages came together by the tens of thousands to celebrate reading and meet their favorite authors Saturday at the 19th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival, held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Thousands more watched the festival’s Main Stage streamed live on the Library’s YouTube platform.The festival showcased more than 140 authors, poets and illustrators, who appeared...
    • Date: 2019-08-31
  • August 29, 2019  (19-081)
    Library of Congress Announces Winners of 2019 Literacy Awards Three organizations working to expand literacy and promote reading in the United States and worldwide will be awarded the 2019 Library of Congress Literacy Awards at the National Book Festival gala, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today.Hayden and philanthropist David M. Rubenstein will award the top prizes to: ProLiteracy Worldwide of Syracuse, New York; American Action Fund for Blind Children and Adults of...
    • Date: 2019-08-29
  • August 21, 2019  (19-080)
    2019 National Book Festival Offers Adventures for Families, Readers of All Ages An exciting lineup of more than 140 authors, poets and illustrators – including nearly 50 who write for children and teens – as well as readings, trivia, costumed characters and interactive exhibits will provide a wide variety of family-friendly activities at the 2019 Library of Congress National Book Festival. The 19th festival will be held Saturday, Aug. 31, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m....
    • Date: 2019-08-21
  • August 20, 2019  (19-079)
    Joy Harjo to Give Opening Reading as Poet Laureate, Sept. 19 Awarding-winning poet Joy Harjo will give her inaugural reading as the 23rd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 19. A member of the Muscogee Creek Nation, Harjo is the first Native American to serve as U.S. Poet Laureate.The historic reading marks the beginning of Harjo’s laureateship, which traditionally launches the Library’s 2019-2020 literary season....
    • Date: 2019-08-20
  • August 8, 2019  (19-077)
    Library of Congress Announces 2019-2020 Concert Season The Library of Congress is launching a spectacular and richly diverse 2019-2020 season with a concert by jazz icon and master pianist Chucho Valdés on Oct. 12, 2019. Marking the 95th season of the “Concerts from the Library of Congress” series is an impressive roster of more than 95 free events features classical music, jazz, pop, musical theater and dance. Concerts, lectures, film screenings...
    • Date: 2019-08-08
  • August 1, 2019  (19-A03)
    Library Websites Down August 9-11 Due to a planned power outage, most of the Library’s public websites (loc.gov and others) will be unavailable from 5 p.m. ET, Friday, Aug. 9 through Sunday, Aug. 11. Copyright.gov, Congress.gov and catalog.loc.gov, however, will remain available. On Saturday, Aug. 10, all reading rooms and research areas, the Library Shop, and the Madison and Adams buildings will be closed to the public. The Thomas...
    • Date: 2019-08-01

July 2019

  • July 29, 2019  (19-073)
    Rare 2,000-Year-Old Text of Early Buddhism Now Online The Library of Congress has restored and made available online the Gandhara Scroll, a manuscript dating back to around the first century B.C., that offers insight into early Buddhist history. The scroll is one of the world’s oldest Buddhist manuscripts.The scroll originates from Gandhara, an ancient Buddhist region located in what is now the northern border areas of Afghanistan and Pakistan. The scroll tells...
    • Date: 2019-07-29
  • July 25, 2019  (19-076)
    Library of Congress Expands Popular Literary Event to Yearlong Series Known as National Book Festival Presents The Library of Congress National Book Festival has expanded to include a yearlong series of events – known as National Book Festival Presents – featuring high-caliber authors, their books and related Library treasures beginning this fall, following the signature daylong festival on Aug. 31, the Library announced today.Neil Patrick Harris, an accomplished actor, producer, television host, author and magician, will kick off the new...
    • Date: 2019-07-25
  • July 24, 2019  (19-075)
    Papers of President James Garfield Now Online The papers of President James A. Garfield, who was assassinated in the first year of his short presidency, have been digitized and are now available online for the first time from the Library of Congress.The Garfield collection includes approximately 80,000 items, mostly dating from 1850 to 1881. The collection is online at: loc.gov/collections/james-a-garfield-papers/about-this-collection.Garfield’s papers include correspondence, diaries, speeches, records of his Civil War military...
    • Date: 2019-07-24
  • July 17, 2019  (19-071)
    Library of Congress "Anime for All" Returns The exclusive screening of the newly released GKIDS animated film “Okko’s Inn” will highlight the Library of Congress’ “Anime for All” series, which is being presented in conjunction with Otakon, Washington, D.C.’s annual convention celebrating Asian pop culture (anime, manga, music, movies, video games, etc.) and its fandom. “Anime for All,” a celebration of East Asian culture, mythology, pop culture and inspiration, will be...
    • Date: 2019-07-17
  • July 3, 2019  (19-072)
    Summer Programs to Feature Music, Film, Community Day and Gallery Talks with Library's Exhibition "Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote" Music and theatrical performances, an outdoor film screening, tours and gallery talks this summer will accompany the new exhibition “Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight For the Vote” at the Library of Congress, along with a full day of family activities during a Community Day on July 13 and a featured author at the National Book Festival on August 31.The exhibition “Shall Not Be...
    • Date: 2019-07-03
  • July 2, 2019  (19-064)
    Library of Congress Announces Reading-Writing Competition Winners Letters About Literature, a Library of Congress national writing competition, has announced its winners for 2019. The national program, concluding its 27th year, asks students in grades 4 to 12 to write to an author about how his or her work affected their lives.More than 29,000 students from across the country participated in this year’s initiative. The contest is promoted by the Library’s Center...
    • Date: 2019-07-02