Lafayette in America
Join author Ryan L. Cole for a discussion of the Marquis de Lafayette and the bicentennial of his Grand Tour of America. Cole’s new book “The Last Adieu” details the tour and how Americans two hundred years ago remembered the American Revolution and imagined their nation’s future. Kluge Center Director Kevin Butterfield will interview Cole on Lafayette’s tour and, joined by Charles Schwam of…
Contributor:
Ryan, L. Cole - Schwam, Charles - Butterfield, Kevin
Date:2026-02-18
Film, Video
Love Is a Renaissance
Love is an anchor in times of change. Bestselling novelists Isabel Ibañez and RaShonda Tate take us on a journey into the Italian and Harlem Renaissances to explore the power of love in times of uncertainty and innovation. Join us to hear from the authors behind “Graceless Heart” and “With Love From Harlem.”Moderated by Destinee Hodge. Book signing to follow. Enjoy the display of…
Marmen Quartet: Preconcert Conversation
Members of the Marmen Quartet are joined by the Library’s David Plylar for a conversation about their concert at the Library. They spoke about their program, which included quartets by Haydn, Debussy, and Bartók alongside a recent work by Cassandra Miller.Participants: Johannes Marmen, violin Laia Valentin Braun, violin Bryony Gibson-Cornish, viola Sinéad O’Halloran, cello David Plylar, Music Division
Contributor:
Marmen, Johannes - O'Halloran, Sinéad - Gibson-Cornish, Bryony - Plylar, David - Valentin Braun, Laia
Date:2026-02-11
Film, Video
Keynote Talk for the 18th Annual Mongolian Studies Conference
The 2026 keynote talk is by Dr. Christopher P. Atwood, “The Secret History of the Mongols’ Little Brother: The Campaigns of Chinggis Khan, Its Tangled Fate and Its Significance”.The Secret History of the Mongols is one of the literary wonders of the world. It was written in the thirteenth century by an unknown author. The book combines history and verse to chronicle the life…
Contributor:
Atwood, Christopher P. - Qiu, Kay - Meinheit, Susan
Date:2026-02-06
Film, Video
Rare Mesoamerican Maguey Paper: Botanical Origin, Regional Manufacture, & Use
This presentation will serve as Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Haude’s capstone lecture for her 2025 Kluge Staff Fellowship. Haude’s presentation will focus on maguey paper, which was made by Indigenous Mesoamerican artisans from the inner fibers of agave leaves. Only ten manuscripts have been identified in the world as being made of maguey paper, and all ten are from 16th century Mexico. The inspiration for…
Contributor:
Haude, Betsy - Butterfield, Kevin
Date:2026-02-04
Film, Video
Pre-concert conversation with Broadway conductor Ted Sperling
Music director, host, and pianist Ted Sperling speaks with Mark Horowitz of the Music Division about a special celebration of Frederick Loewe’s music held at the Library of Congress. Sperling and Horowitz developed the program, showcasing unknown and classic works drawn from the Frederick Loewe Collection.
Contributor:
Sperling, Ted - Horowitz , Mark
Date:2026-02-02
Film, Video
National Film Registry Public Nomination Process
Actor, and National Film Preservation Board member Richard Masur discusses how the public can participate in nominating films for the National Film Registry.
Contributor:
Masur, Richard
Date:2026-01-30
Film, Video
Tambuco Percussion Ensemble Preconcert Conversation
Music Division’s Claudia Morales speaks with Ricardo Gallardo, artistic director of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble. The Grammy-winning Mexican contemporary classical percussion ensemble returns to the Library of Congress concert series. With more than 32 years of international touring, Tambuco is known for its versatility, playful approach and innovative use of diverse percussion instruments that define the ensemble’s distinctive sound. “What mesmerizing creativity! A tour…
Contributor:
Gallardo, Ricardo - Morales, Claudia
Date:2026-01-29
Film, Video
2025 National Film Registry Announcement
The Library of Congress has selected 25 films worthy of preservation in the National Film Registry for 2025, based on their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance. The selections date back to the silent film era with six silent films dating from 1896 to 1926 – a significant number of films in this class. The newest film added to the registry is from 2014 with…
Contributor:
Stoeltje, Rachael - Taymor, Julie - Burns, Ken - Anderson, Wes - Masur, Richard - Macchio, Ralph
Date:2026-01-29
Film, Video
African Sufi Poetry with Oludamini Ogunnaike
Join us for a poetry reading and conversation with Oludamini Ogunnaike, a Nigerian-American poet and academic. Ogunnaike’s work, especially his essay and podcast series “The Logic of the Birds” and his poetry collection, The Book of Clouds reflects on spiritual, philosophical, and social themes, drawing on a long tradition of thinking and speaking lyrically through West African Islamic poetic forms, especially the Sufi Qasida…
Isidore String Quartet with Misha Amory, viola, and Nina Lee, cello
The Isidore String Quartet’s meteoric rise to acclaim began with their formation at Juilliard in 2019 and continued with a win at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022 and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023. A portion of the concert was dedicated to arrangements of music by J.S. Bach and Johannes Brahms by Isidore’s violist Devin Moore. They then celebrated a…
Contributor:
Lee, Nina - McClendon, Joshua - Moore, Devin - Isidore String Quartet - Avalon, Phoenix - Steele, Adrian - Amory, Misha - Brown-Cáceres, Nicholas A.
Date:2025-12-19
Film, Video
Pre-concert conversation with the Isidore Quartet, Misha Amory and Nina Lee
Violist Misha Amory, cellist Nina Lee, and Kenneth Slowik (Curator of Musical Instruments, National Museum of American History) are joined by the Music Division’s Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford to discuss their performance with the Isidore Quartet featuring a sextet of rare Stradivari instruments.
Pre-concert conversation with the Isidore Quartet
Members of the Isidore Quartet talk about the experience of playing the Library’s rare Stradivari instruments in a conversation prior to their concert at the Library.The Isidore String Quartet’s meteoric rise to acclaim began with their formation at Juilliard in 2019 and continued with a win at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022 and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023. A…
Contributor:
McClendon, Joshua - Moore, Devin - Avalon, Phoenix - Steele, Adrian - McLean, Anne
Date:2025-12-18
Film, Video
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze Opening Reading
Award-winning poet Arthur Sze gave his inaugural reading as the 25th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress. The historic reading marked the beginning of Sze’s laureateship.
Contributor:
Sze, Arthur - Fernández, Rep. Teresa Leger - Newlen, Robert Randolph
Date:2025-12-11
Film, Video
Build Your Travel Log with Anywhere Adventures
Vivian Li is a comics artist, creative coder, and the 2025-2026 Library of Congress Innovator in Residence. Li created and illustrated a mobile experience that includes local items and stories from the Library of Congress and a travel log where users can create collages of their site visits. Travelers can choose between sites in Seattle, Southeastern Wyoming, and Chicago.
Contributor:
LI, Vivian
Date:2025-12-11
Film, Video
The Water Test and Witch Trials
This event serves as the capstone lecture for Nathan Dorn’s Kluge Staff Fellowship. This presentation follows the differences of opinion among Scribonius’ supporters as well as his detractors in order to highlight the way learned men of that time worked out the interplay of folk belief, natural philosophy, demonology and law in what was a brief, but revealing, chapter in the history of the…
Contributor:
Butterfield , Kevin - Dorn , Nathan
Date:2025-12-10
Film, Video
Arthur Sze with Kimiko Hahn
U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze participated in an event at the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library of Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) on Monday, December 8, 2025. Sze chose Queens College specifically because of their first-generation immigrant population and multitude of languages spoken on campus, as well as their MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation. At the event Sze and…
Contributor:
V. Matos Rodríguez, Félix - Hahn, Kimiko - Sze, Arthur
Date:2025-12-08
Film, Video
Mac Barnett and Jennifer Garner Consider the Picture Book
Bestselling children’s book author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett joins actress Jennifer Garner, a passionate advocate for children’s literacy, for a conversation about great literature hiding in plain sight: the children’s picture book. The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is a partnership between the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader.
Contributor:
Barnett , Mac - Garner , Jennifer
Date:2025-12-05
Film, Video
2025 Literacy Awards Recipients
The Library of Congress Literacy Awards honor nonprofit organizations that have made outstanding contributions to increasing literacy in the United States or abroad. This short video highlights the 2025 Library of Congress Literacy Awards winners and honorees. Learn more about the inspiring and innovative work of the Literacy Partners (2025 David M. Rubenstein Prize recipient), Literacy Mid-South (2025 Kislak Family Foundation Prize recipient), Louisiana…
Date:2025-12-04
Film, Video
Susan H. Vita Memorial Concert
The Library of Congress Music Division presented a concert in memory of former Chief Susan Vita, who led the Music Division from 2005-2025. The program featured performances of repertoire representative of Sue’s legacy and impact at the Library with artists Rosanne Cash, the Borromeo String Quartet, violist Roberto Díaz, and vocalist Shereen Ahmed. Remarks were delivered by Acting Librarian of Congress Robert Newlen, ASCAP…
Contributor:
Hayden, Carla - Strunsky, Lj - Wiggins, Beacher - Richie, Lionel - Brooks, Garth - Newlen, Robert Randolph - Kalbfleisch, Jon - Ahmed, Shereen - Williams, Paul - Yearwood, Trisha ...
Hayden, Carla - Strunsky, Lj - Wiggins, Beacher - Richie, Lionel - Brooks, Garth - Newlen, Robert Randolph - Kalbfleisch, Jon - Ahmed, Shereen - Williams, Paul - Yearwood, Trisha - Díaz, Roberto - Cash, Rosanne - Kitchen, Nicholas - Mitchell, Joni - Brown-Cáceres, Nicholas A. - Weaver, Thomas - Borromeo String Quartet - Eliason, Giulia
Date:2025-11-24
Film, Video
Preconcert conversation with Beatrice Berrut
Beatrice Berrut (piano) sits down with Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres for a pre-concert discussion. The fantastical imagination of composer-pianist Beatrice Berrut draws from the innumerable possibilities of the piano’s sound. Highly regarded for her 2021 recording of Franz Liszt’s late works, Berrut has released a number of revelatory accounts of Liszt’s music, alongside her latest album that features some of her own music and transcriptions.…
Contributor:
Berrut, Beatrice - Brown-Cáceres, Nicholas A.
Date:2025-11-22
Film, Video
Beatrice Berrut, pianist
The fantastical imagination of composer-pianist Beatrice Berrut draws from the innumerable possibilities of the piano’s sound. Highly regarded for her 2021 recording of Franz Liszt’s late works, Berrut has released several revelatory accounts of Liszt’s music, alongside her latest albums that features some of her own music and transcriptions. The Library holds essential primary source materials for Liszt’s first elegy and his three funeral…
Contributor:
Berrut, Beatrice
Date:2025-11-22
Film, Video
Pre-concert conversation: Théotime Langlois de Swarte
In this preconcert conversation, Anne McLean sits down with French violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Augusta McKay Lodge, violinist with the eminent French ensemble “Les Arts Florissants.”
Contributor:
Langlois De Swarte, Théotime - McLean , Anne - McKay Lodge, Augusta
Date:2025-11-21
Film, Video
Tiny Creatures, Big Impact: Bugs and American Science
Discover how the study of insects helped establish American science on the global stage. From Thomas Jefferson’s defense of American nature to Thomas Say’s groundbreaking American Entomology, this video explores how bugs shaped U.S. history and identity in the 19th century.
Film, VideoLafayette in America Join author Ryan L. Cole for a discussion of the Marquis de Lafayette and the bicentennial of his Grand Tour of America. Cole’s new book “The Last Adieu” details the tour and how Americans two hundred years ago remembered the American Revolution and imagined their nation’s future. Kluge Center Director Kevin Butterfield will interview Cole on Lafayette’s tour and, joined by Charles Schwam of…
Film, VideoLove Is a Renaissance Love is an anchor in times of change. Bestselling novelists Isabel Ibañez and RaShonda Tate take us on a journey into the Italian and Harlem Renaissances to explore the power of love in times of uncertainty and innovation. Join us to hear from the authors behind “Graceless Heart” and “With Love From Harlem.”Moderated by Destinee Hodge. Book signing to follow. Enjoy the display of…
Film, VideoMarmen Quartet: Preconcert Conversation Members of the Marmen Quartet are joined by the Library’s David Plylar for a conversation about their concert at the Library. They spoke about their program, which included quartets by Haydn, Debussy, and Bartók alongside a recent work by Cassandra Miller.Participants: Johannes Marmen, violin Laia Valentin Braun, violin Bryony Gibson-Cornish, viola Sinéad O’Halloran, cello David Plylar, Music Division
Film, VideoKeynote Talk for the 18th Annual Mongolian Studies Conference The 2026 keynote talk is by Dr. Christopher P. Atwood, “The Secret History of the Mongols’ Little Brother: The Campaigns of Chinggis Khan, Its Tangled Fate and Its Significance”.The Secret History of the Mongols is one of the literary wonders of the world. It was written in the thirteenth century by an unknown author. The book combines history and verse to chronicle the life…
Film, VideoRare Mesoamerican Maguey Paper: Botanical Origin, Regional Manufacture, & Use This presentation will serve as Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Haude’s capstone lecture for her 2025 Kluge Staff Fellowship. Haude’s presentation will focus on maguey paper, which was made by Indigenous Mesoamerican artisans from the inner fibers of agave leaves. Only ten manuscripts have been identified in the world as being made of maguey paper, and all ten are from 16th century Mexico. The inspiration for…
Film, VideoPre-concert conversation with Broadway conductor Ted Sperling Music director, host, and pianist Ted Sperling speaks with Mark Horowitz of the Music Division about a special celebration of Frederick Loewe’s music held at the Library of Congress. Sperling and Horowitz developed the program, showcasing unknown and classic works drawn from the Frederick Loewe Collection.
Film, VideoNational Film Registry Public Nomination Process Actor, and National Film Preservation Board member Richard Masur discusses how the public can participate in nominating films for the National Film Registry.
Film, VideoTambuco Percussion Ensemble Preconcert Conversation Music Division’s Claudia Morales speaks with Ricardo Gallardo, artistic director of the Tambuco Percussion Ensemble. The Grammy-winning Mexican contemporary classical percussion ensemble returns to the Library of Congress concert series. With more than 32 years of international touring, Tambuco is known for its versatility, playful approach and innovative use of diverse percussion instruments that define the ensemble’s distinctive sound. “What mesmerizing creativity! A tour…
Film, Video2025 National Film Registry Announcement The Library of Congress has selected 25 films worthy of preservation in the National Film Registry for 2025, based on their cultural, historic or aesthetic importance. The selections date back to the silent film era with six silent films dating from 1896 to 1926 – a significant number of films in this class. The newest film added to the registry is from 2014 with…
Film, VideoAfrican Sufi Poetry with Oludamini Ogunnaike Join us for a poetry reading and conversation with Oludamini Ogunnaike, a Nigerian-American poet and academic. Ogunnaike’s work, especially his essay and podcast series “The Logic of the Birds” and his poetry collection, The Book of Clouds reflects on spiritual, philosophical, and social themes, drawing on a long tradition of thinking and speaking lyrically through West African Islamic poetic forms, especially the Sufi Qasida…
Film, VideoIsidore String Quartet with Misha Amory, viola, and Nina Lee, cello The Isidore String Quartet’s meteoric rise to acclaim began with their formation at Juilliard in 2019 and continued with a win at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022 and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023. A portion of the concert was dedicated to arrangements of music by J.S. Bach and Johannes Brahms by Isidore’s violist Devin Moore. They then celebrated a…
Film, VideoPre-concert conversation with the Isidore Quartet, Misha Amory and Nina Lee Violist Misha Amory, cellist Nina Lee, and Kenneth Slowik (Curator of Musical Instruments, National Museum of American History) are joined by the Music Division’s Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford to discuss their performance with the Isidore Quartet featuring a sextet of rare Stradivari instruments.
Film, VideoPre-concert conversation with the Isidore Quartet Members of the Isidore Quartet talk about the experience of playing the Library’s rare Stradivari instruments in a conversation prior to their concert at the Library.The Isidore String Quartet’s meteoric rise to acclaim began with their formation at Juilliard in 2019 and continued with a win at the Banff International String Quartet Competition in 2022 and an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2023. A…
Film, VideoU.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze Opening Reading Award-winning poet Arthur Sze gave his inaugural reading as the 25th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress. The historic reading marked the beginning of Sze’s laureateship.
Film, VideoBuild Your Travel Log with Anywhere Adventures Vivian Li is a comics artist, creative coder, and the 2025-2026 Library of Congress Innovator in Residence. Li created and illustrated a mobile experience that includes local items and stories from the Library of Congress and a travel log where users can create collages of their site visits. Travelers can choose between sites in Seattle, Southeastern Wyoming, and Chicago.
Film, VideoThe Water Test and Witch Trials This event serves as the capstone lecture for Nathan Dorn’s Kluge Staff Fellowship. This presentation follows the differences of opinion among Scribonius’ supporters as well as his detractors in order to highlight the way learned men of that time worked out the interplay of folk belief, natural philosophy, demonology and law in what was a brief, but revealing, chapter in the history of the…
Film, VideoArthur Sze with Kimiko Hahn U.S. Poet Laureate Arthur Sze participated in an event at the Benjamin S. Rosenthal Library of Queens College, City University of New York (CUNY) on Monday, December 8, 2025. Sze chose Queens College specifically because of their first-generation immigrant population and multitude of languages spoken on campus, as well as their MFA Program in Creative Writing and Literary Translation. At the event Sze and…
Film, VideoMac Barnett and Jennifer Garner Consider the Picture Book Bestselling children’s book author and National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Mac Barnett joins actress Jennifer Garner, a passionate advocate for children’s literacy, for a conversation about great literature hiding in plain sight: the children’s picture book. The National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature is a partnership between the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader.
Film, Video2025 Literacy Awards Recipients The Library of Congress Literacy Awards honor nonprofit organizations that have made outstanding contributions to increasing literacy in the United States or abroad. This short video highlights the 2025 Library of Congress Literacy Awards winners and honorees. Learn more about the inspiring and innovative work of the Literacy Partners (2025 David M. Rubenstein Prize recipient), Literacy Mid-South (2025 Kislak Family Foundation Prize recipient), Louisiana…
Film, VideoSusan H. Vita Memorial Concert The Library of Congress Music Division presented a concert in memory of former Chief Susan Vita, who led the Music Division from 2005-2025. The program featured performances of repertoire representative of Sue’s legacy and impact at the Library with artists Rosanne Cash, the Borromeo String Quartet, violist Roberto Díaz, and vocalist Shereen Ahmed. Remarks were delivered by Acting Librarian of Congress Robert Newlen, ASCAP…
Film, VideoPreconcert conversation with Beatrice Berrut Beatrice Berrut (piano) sits down with Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres for a pre-concert discussion. The fantastical imagination of composer-pianist Beatrice Berrut draws from the innumerable possibilities of the piano’s sound. Highly regarded for her 2021 recording of Franz Liszt’s late works, Berrut has released a number of revelatory accounts of Liszt’s music, alongside her latest album that features some of her own music and transcriptions.…
Film, VideoBeatrice Berrut, pianist The fantastical imagination of composer-pianist Beatrice Berrut draws from the innumerable possibilities of the piano’s sound. Highly regarded for her 2021 recording of Franz Liszt’s late works, Berrut has released several revelatory accounts of Liszt’s music, alongside her latest albums that features some of her own music and transcriptions. The Library holds essential primary source materials for Liszt’s first elegy and his three funeral…
Film, VideoPre-concert conversation: Théotime Langlois de Swarte In this preconcert conversation, Anne McLean sits down with French violinist Théotime Langlois de Swarte and Augusta McKay Lodge, violinist with the eminent French ensemble “Les Arts Florissants.”
Film, VideoTiny Creatures, Big Impact: Bugs and American Science Discover how the study of insects helped establish American science on the global stage. From Thomas Jefferson’s defense of American nature to Thomas Say’s groundbreaking American Entomology, this video explores how bugs shaped U.S. history and identity in the 19th century.
Film, VideoEverything’s Coming Up Sondheim: A Journey Through the Library’s Theatre Collections This event celebrated the Library’s acquisition of the Stephen Sondheim Collection with a conversation between Mark Horowitz from the Library and Bob Mondello of NPR.