Library of Congress's Blog, page 173

Story Time Returns at the Young Readers Center

The author Pat Mora has a word for it: Bookjoy.

Kids get into Story Time at the Young Readers Center

If you’re a lover of books, you won’t have to look that up in a dictionary – you’ll just know, instinctively, what it is.  But where were you when you first experienced the joy of books?

Odds are it was on your mom’s, dad’s or a grandparent’s lap, having a book read to you – or at your local library, having a lively adult bring a storybook to life for you.

The Library of Congress Young Readers Center, in Room G29 of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street S.E. in Washington, D.C., is again starting up its popular Story Time program for infants and toddlers.

The stories will be read on Fridays from 10:30 am. to 11:15 a.m.  There is no charge, but space is limited, so tickets are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis beginning half an hour before the scheduled start time.

The Friday program is for little ones who come with parents, grandparents, caregivers, babysitters and even older siblings. The sessions are based on themes (this month’s theme is animals) and future story times may be tied to holidays, literary forms such as poetry, or events at the Library such as “Take Your Child to Work Day.”

The storytelling gets the children involved – in addition to the telling of the story, kids participate in rhymes, songs, and movement, including finger play and larger motor activities.

For more information on Story Time, see the Library’s website at www.read.gov.  And don’t forget that the Young Readers Center is for youthful readers from very young children to teens, and offers onsite access to a variety of excellent books.

Library in the News: May Edition

Let’s take a look back at some of the headlines from last month. The Library had several celebrity visitors in May, including lots of musicians and even Swedish royalty. Making the biggest headlines was singer-songwriter Carole King accepting the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. She was feted at both the Library and the White House May 21-22.

King told the Associated Pressthat it’s a tremendous honor to be recognized at such an historic place in history that she never would have expected. “It is yet another of the many important messages to young women that women matter, women make a difference,” she said. “That popular music is recognized by the Library of Congress as being worthy of a place in history is especially significant to me.”

Bloomberg News noted that a flag in King’s honor would be flown over the Capitol, according to Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper.

UPI ran several pictures from the White House concert.

USA Today, Washington Post, Washington Examiner, NPR, salon.com and national and affiliate stations of CBS, NBC and ABC ran stories.

A writer in his own right, composer John Adams – who Anne Midgette of the Washington Post calls “the face of new music” – was in residency at the Library at the end of May, presenting and conducting a series of concerts.

“I particularly love the people at the music department at the Library of Congress,” Adams told Washington Times reporter Matthew Dicker. “The archives there are lovingly cared for. It’s just a joy to be at the Library of Congress.”

In other celebrity sightings, media picked up news of a visit from the King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden, who took a tour of the Library while visiting Washington, D.C.

The Library’s Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation continues to regularly make the news. In May, PBS Newshour ran a piece on the conservation efforts done by the facility.

“Today, the treasure being protected is cultural, an effort born of a growing concern that audio and visual recordings were disappearing, in some cases misplaced, ignored or forgotten, in others due to film and tape literally disintegration,” said reporter Jeffrey Brown. “At the Conservation Center, technicians work on those that have managed to survive, however damaged, in an effort to ring them back to a form that can be copied, preserved and shown once more.”

Trending: Juneteenth

More than 40 states celebrate the day that Texans learned of Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

The news came late—two-and-a-half years late—and in the form of an official pronouncement. Known as “General Order No. 3,” the edict was delivered by U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger from the balcony of a mansion in Galveston, Texas on June 19, 1865.

But to the African-American population of the Texas territory, it might have come direct from heaven out of the mouth of an archangel: President Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing them from slavery.

The widespread joy in Galveston and other Texas towns nearby as the news spread—and commemorative celebrations in other places around the U.S., held over many years and today in virtually all states—became known as “Juneteenth,” a day observed by African Americans and their fellow citizens in memory of that date of glad tidings (the name combines “June” and “nineteenth”). Today more than 40 states officially recognize Juneteenth as a state observance, and there is a movement to have it declared a national day of observance, similar to Flag Day and Mother’s Day.

The Library of Congress holds Lincoln’s handwritten first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation, and displayed it early this year in its “The Civil War in America” exhibition in Washington, commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.

In addition to being the name of the time-honored celebration, “Juneteenth” is also the title of African American writer Ralph Ellison’s novel, published posthumously. The Library of Congress holds the papers of Ralph Ellison—best-known for his classic novel “Invisible Man”—in its Manuscript Division and Ellison’s library in its Rare Book and Special Collection Division.

MORE INFORMATION

Finding Aid to Ralph Ellison Papers

View webcasts (here and here) of Library programs about Ralph Ellison

This article, written by Jennifer Gavin, is featured in the May-June 2013 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, now available for download here. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.

InRetrospect: May Blogging Edition

The Library of Congress blogosphere was blooming with great posts. Here are a selection.

In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog

To Richard Wagner on His 200th Birthday: A Textilian Tale Retold

Letters reveal insight into the composer’s private life.

Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business

The Aeronauts

Jennifer Harbster writes about Civil War aeronautics.

In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress

Certain baby names are banned every year in New Zealand.

The Signal: Digital Preservation

Fifty Digital Preservation Activities You Can Do

Susan Manus presents a list of ways to get involved in digital preservation.

Teaching with the Library of Congress

June in History with the Library of Congress

Danna Bell-Russel looks ahead at some important dates in June.

Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos

A Window on Heritage and Home

A shop window honors Jewish heritage in its display.

From the Catbird Seat: Poetry & Literature at the Library of Congress

Mona Van Duyn and the Women of the Catbird Seat

Caitlin Rizzo pays homage to the first female Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library.

Experts Corner: The Art of Collecting

(The following is an interview from the May-June 2013 edition of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM.)

Martha Kennedy, curator of “The Gibson Girl’s America: Drawings By Charles Dana Gibson,” discusses illustration art with Richard Kelly, curator of his collection of American illustration.

Martha Kennedy: You have developed a remarkable collection of illustration art along with a library that supports research in the field. Could you tell us a little about how and when you began building your collection?

Richard Kelly: The Kelly Collection of American Illustration got its start in 1987 when I bought a Mead Schaeffer painting from a friend of mine. Later that year, I bought a painting by Howard Pyle from an auction and the seeds were sown. Soon after that my focus changed—my taste “matured” entirely toward the older works and from then on my collecting centered entirely on Golden Age Illustration (1880-1930).

MK: What special subject interests, themes, and principles have guided you in the process of developing your collection?

RK: I was fortunate in that very early on I set some guidelines that gave the collection a more manageable focus. The collection is entirely American, and from the Golden Age time period. We don’t collect what is known as “pulp” or “pinup art” and have only a few children’s book illustrations or western-themed paintings. Within those parameters, we have tried to collect all of the important illustrators in both breadth and depth. We consistently focus on quality, trying to get the very best that each artist was capable of throughout his or her career.

MK: Could you share some thoughts on the impact of illustrators’ images of the “ideal woman” on the market economy at the turn-of-the-19th century?

RK: The improved printing technology of the 1890s began a boom in publishing periodicals in America, and images of the “ideal woman” quickly played a major role in decorating their pages. These idealized women graced the pages of American magazines and books and dominated our advertisements well into the 20th century.

MK: Have you found it useful to consult and view parts of the Library’s Cabinet of American Illustration as a resource over the years as you developed your collection? If so, how has it been useful?

RK: While I was an intern at the Library in the late 1990s, I was introduced to the Cabinet of American Illustration. I was astounded at the number of pieces in the collection and quickly realized it could help me in my own collecting. The quality of a piece can only be determined by a careful comparison within a broad range of an artist’s work. By comparing works that came up at auction with the vast holdings of those artists at the Library, I was able to more easily determine if they deserved a place in the Kelly Collection.

MK: What would you consider the strengths of the Cabinet of American Illustration?

RK: The major strength of the Cabinet of American Illustration is its enormous scope and size. With over 4,000 works, it is a major repository for this type of art. Additionally, almost all of the works were executed between 1890 and 1940, so virtually every illustrator working on paper during that period is represented here, most with multiple examples. As a result, the cabinet represents the major archive for important illustrators such as Gibson, Elizabeth Shippen Green, Joseph Pennell and Edward Penfield, as well as its extensive holdings of many other artists’ work.

MK: What are some of the ways you think American illustration art has contributed to America’s artistic legacy?

RK: In the late 19th century, illustrators in this country made the transition directly from easel painting to illustration. As a result, they devised a style that was more robust than that of their European counterparts, both powerful and distinctly American. Throughout the Golden Age of American Illustration, there were tens of thousands of quality works produced, all of which aesthetically conveyed the emotional impact of the stories and advertisements they illustrated. They provided countless Americans with an introduction to art available nowhere else in their everyday lives. Now those same illustrations give the visual detectives of today a clear window into the culture and values of this very exciting period in American history.

This article is featured in the May-June 2013 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine, LCM, now available for download here. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.

Hollywood Mermaid

You know the old saying, “they don’t make them like they used to” – which is perhaps why I’ve always been a fan of classic movies. I’m more prone to get excited about one of them on the television than brand-new ones at the movie theater.

Esther Williams. 1945. Prints and Photographs Division.

The passing of a beloved actress, who I grew up watching, reminded me of this. Screen siren Esther Williams passed away last Thursday in Beverly Hills, Calif. She was 91.

I can see her scenes now: synchronized swimmers, fountains of water spraying everywhere, and her — center — coming up and out of the water, replete in gilded swimming suits, flowers in her hair. I was always fascinated by the fact that there were movies built around such swimming extravaganzas. And, yet, I was completely mesmerized and delighted.

Williams turned to Hollywood after failing to win the Olympic gold medal in 1940. She was only 17 when she won three gold medals and earned a place on the United States Olympic team. Unfortunately, the games were canceled with the onset of WWII.

She ended up becoming one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1940s and 50s. She appeared in more than 20 films, including “Bathing Beauty,” “Neptune’s Daughter,” “Million Dollar Mermaid” and “Ziegfeld Follies,” in which she played herself.

“I always felt that if I made a movie, it would be one movie,” Williams once said. “I didn’t see how they could make 26 swimming movies.”

“Ziegfeld Follies.” 1945. Prints and Photographs Division.

Over the course of her career, Williams ruptured her eardrums seven times –  “I gave my eardrums to MGM” – broke her back taking a dive and nearly drowned, all because she did her own stunts.

Following her film career, she went on to lend her name to a retro line of swimwear and a swimming-pool company, among other things. In 1966, Williams was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.

All in all, Williams believed she was “just a swimmer who got lucky.”

 

 

 

 

Inquiring Minds: An Interview with Marie Arana

(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center.)

Photo by Clay Blackmore.

Author Marie Arana is a writer-at-large for the Washington Post and former editor-in-chief of Book World, as well member of the Library of Congress Scholars Council. Her latest book, a biography of Simon Bolívar, was extensively researched and written at the Library of Congress.

Q.  Tell us about your new book, “Bolívar: An American Liberator,” and how you came to be interested him.

I have always been fascinated by Simón Bolívar. Two of my ancestors fought on opposite sides of the Battle of Ayacucho, which was the defining struggle—the Yorktown, the Waterloo, if you will—of the Latin American wars for independence. But quite apart from that personal connection, I was looking for a way to capture who Americans of Latin origin are, how we think, where we’ve been. The story that could deliver that history best, I became convinced, was the life of Bolívar. He was the quintessential Latin American hero, the founder, the visionary, and yet he died impoverished and despised. Along the way he liberated a vast, unruly territory that became six independent republics. His life touches on so much of South America and is representative of so many aspects—good and bad—of our character that I decided it was the perfect vehicle to explain South America to English-speaking readers.

Q.  Where is scholarship on Bolivar currently and how does your book support or depart from it?

The scholarship depends on where you’re from. In Venezuela, Bolívar is idolized, and a biographer needs to pick her way through the hagiography. In Peru, he is despised and she’ll have to work her way in the opposite direction. Ecuador and Bolivia feel at once saved and injured by Bolívar: he had rough things to say about Ecuadorians, and he thought Bolivians were so disorderly that they needed a president for life. Colombia, on the other hand, has a very divided opinion: Colombia made heroes of his rivals, yet managed to exalt him, too. My greatest challenge—and, perhaps, accomplishment—is to have parsed through the partisanship carefully, relied on Bolívar’s words more than anything else, studied the world around him and made it past the tendentiousness.

Q.  You spent a lot of time at the Library of Congress researching and writing this book. What items did you find in the Library’s collections that were most illuminating?

I spent almost a year at the Kluge Center. The great discovery for me was that everything I needed—documents that would have had to be hunted down separately and with some difficulty in South America—were in the Library’s remarkably rich and deep collection. Of course, I’m from South America, so I was well acquainted with Bolívar’s stomping grounds and had done early research in South America’s libraries, but I quickly found that much of what exists scattered in various places was sitting tidily in the stacks of the Library of Congress. Staring long enough at Caracas court documents from the late 1700s (Bolívar had a criminal record from the tender age of 12) to a street grid of his neighborhood, to a graphic of every kilometer Bolívar had ever traveled, I felt I was seeing and understanding aspects of his life that I hadn’t read anywhere else.

Q.  You’ve spoken widely on the book since its release in April, on CSPAN and at book signings. What’s been the general reaction? Has any of the reaction been surprising in any way?

I’ve been fortunate in that the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. I’ve also been pleased that there has been so much praise for the book’s liveliness and accuracy, the two aspects I cared about most in the writing. I wanted to bring the man alive, but I also wanted to say some important things about how history has shaped South America and made us different from Americans of the North. What surprised me, I think, was that one or two critics took me to task for making as much as I did of the Inquisition and Spain’s harsh colonial system. Some recent scholarship has questioned the “Black Legend” of Spain’s colonial rule. But to deny the Inquisition, the evidence of Spain’s violent conquest and spoliation of Latin America, not to mention the crippling Laws of the Indies . . . well, that struck me as intellectually unsound. But, as I say, Bolívar’s story can be polarizing. What amazed me is that, 200 years after the fact, the gloves are still on for some Spanish intellectuals.

Q.  You’re very involved with the Library of Congress and the Kluge Center, from serving on the Scholars Council to helping with the National Book Festival and International Summit for the Book. What caused you to get involved with the Library, and how do you see the Library’s contributions to scholarship and promotion of “the book?”

The Library is one of the great wonders of the world. I don’t say that lightly. As a book professional all of my life—an editor at two New York publishing houses; editor-in-chief of a major, national literary review; and, finally, author of my own books—I have stood in awe of the institution. More than that, I am in awe of the wisdom of the American founders, librarians and public servants who built the Library with such a broad, generous sense of what knowledge should mean to a democracy. The Library of Congress may have started as an establishment meant to serve the United States of America, but it quickly became a library to serve the world. I was honored to be invited by the Kluge Center to do my research under its auspices, and I have always seen it as a sacred mission to take my love of reading and books to a wider world. So, you see, it was only natural that I would want to become involved in the vital work that goes on at this Library. I’m very glad to be a small part of it.

“Bolívar: An American Liberator” is published by Simon & Schuster and is currently available in bookstores. Marie Arana discusses the book on Thursday, June 6, at 4 p.m. at the Library of Congress John W. Kluge Center, co-sponsored by the Library’s Hispanic Division.

A Special Recording to Celebrate Casey’s 125th

This is a post by Gayle Osterberg, the Library’s Director of Communications.

Herblock political cartoon referencing “Casey at the Bat”

There is joy in Mudville today, as we mark the 125th anniversary since “Casey at the Bat” was first published on June 3, 1888, in the San Francisco Examiner.

The poem, dubbed the “single most famous baseball poem ever written” by the Baseball Almanac, has inspired everything from political cartoons to entire operas.

Written by Ernest L. Thayer – pen name Phin – “Casey at the Bat” has also been recorded multiple times, including this classic 1909 recording by De Wolf Hopper in the Library’s National Jukebox.

In honor of this momentous occasion we invited our friend Dave Jageler, a radio announcer for Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals, to record his own interpretation of this poetry classic. We love the result, which will be archived in the Library’s Recorded Sound section, to be enjoyed by generations of baseball fans to come.

 

Civil War Chic

When looking at some clothing trends of today, with their bright colors and patterns, daring necklines, couture price tags and sometimes general wackiness, it’s hard to imagine how far fashion has actually come.

Silk Ikat dress, ca. 1855. Ikat is a dyeing technique that makes the pattern in fabric. Photo by Mary D. Doering.

According to Mary D. Doering, an heirloom-clothing collector, despite the trauma imposed by the Civil War, the mid-19th century witnessed the development of ready-to-wear garments and the growth of urban department stores, both of which were essential contributions to the modern American fashion industry.

Doering delivered a lecture at the Library of Congress last month discussing fashions from the period of 1855 to 1870, with an emphasis on the Northern states. She also addressed the evolution of the garments’ styles, the accompanying foundations, related technology and media marketing.

Technological innovations had much to do with the culture of clothing during the era. The growth of the mill and the Industrial Revolution were essential in providing fabric and democratizing fashion by making it affordable.

“In the 19th century, pricing was based on the volume of textiles used, which allowed for more modest pricing,” said Doering.

Roller printing technology ensured that the replication of patterns could be printed on cotton cloth – a technique that was also less labor intensive than hard woodblock printing. In addition, the invention of the power loom and sewing machine made for rapid production of clothing items.

Much like today, fashion magazines aided in marketing the clothing. Godey’s Lady’s Book, founded in 1830, was a leader in the industry. Almost every issue included an illustration and pattern – like ones from Butterick – with measurements for a garment to be sewn at home.

“Godey’s had a national distribution,” said Doering. “The railroad and improvement of transportation methods evened the playing field in reaching a broad spectrum of the population.”

Godey’s success inspired other publications, including Peterson’s Magazine and Graham’s Magazine, of which Edgar Allan Poe was editor from 1841-1842.

Thanks to the fashion media, designers were coming into their own, as well as retailers.

Godey’s fashions for February 1865. Prints and Photographs Division.

“Fashion advertisements tended to be generic, but you would also see specific retailers referenced,” said Doering.

One of the principal department stores of the time was A.T. Stewart Department Store in New York. According to Doering, A.T. Stewart’s was not only a place to shop but also a travel destination.

“It occupied a whole city block,” said Doering. “Women would make a pilgrimage to visit.”

Mail order sales were also becoming increasingly popular, and Marshall Field’s was an innovative leader.

So, what did fashion of the Civil War era actually look like? Doering brought several examples of dresses, separates and other accessories. One could not talk about this period without highlighting the hoop skirt, which personified the fashion of the time.

“It was innovative because women could reduce the number of petticoats,” she explained.

Style-wise, pagoda-like sleeves, military-inspired details and white-shirt separates were very popular.

“By the time of the Civil War, women’s undergarments also became more decorative and feminine,” said Doering.

One of the garments Doering showcased was a corset that featured an 18-inch circumference, expandable to 20 inches.

“That’s about the circumference of a roll of Bounty paper towels,” she said.

Notes? Check. Words? Check. Pipes? Check!

It’s no great surprise that Carole King has become the first woman to win the prestigious Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song– what a talent.  She was co-writing hits that got huge airplay when she was still a teen in bobby sox: “Will You Love Me Tomorrow,” “Take Good Care of My Baby,” “One Fine Day,” “Up On The Roof.”

Carole King, winner of the Gershwin Prize

But one of the most satisfying things about her storied career is how she wrote song after song and hit after hit for everyone’s voice, it seemed, but her own – and when she finally put her own singing behind her own words, the result was “Tapestry,” an album that blew the doors off the music industry.

That breakout 1971 album remains one of the best-selling record albums of all time.  It became the first solo album by a female artist to reach the Recording Industry Association of America’s “Diamond” status, meaning it sold more than 10 million copies. (Actually, more than 25 million copies.) Packed with hits – “You’ve Got A Friend,” “It’s Too Late,”  “I Feel The Earth Move,” and her own rendition of “Will You Love Me Tomorrow”—“Tapestry” was named to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry in 2003 as worthy of preservation for coming generations.

Tonight her voice was heard once again, as Carole King and a cast of stars celebrated her career and her prize in the Library’s Coolidge Auditorium, closing with rousing collective renditions of “You’ve Got A Friend” and “I Feel The Earth Move.”  Tomorrow night, she’ll sing again at the White House, and President Barack Obama will present her with the Gershwin Prize medal.

Is there a moral to this amazing story? Sure. Something like: Share your gifts, but don’t forget to share them with yourself.

Congratulations to Carole King.