Library of Congress's Blog, page 177

National Book Festival: Save the Date, Take the Survey

There’s news on two fronts for you book-lovers out there: first, the 13th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held on the National Mall between 9th and 14th Streets on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on Sunday, Sept. 22, 2013 from noon to 5:30 p.m., rain or shine. The event is free and open to the public.

Crowds enjoy fine weather at the Library of Congress National Book Festival

Part two: Festival fans and other lovers of the printed word are invited to take a “Books That Shaped the World” survey on the Library of Congress National Book Festival website. The Library, which invited public comment on “Books That Shaped America” in 2012 (spurring a lively dialogue) will continue its multi-year Celebration of the Book with a look at “Books That Shaped the World” in 2013.

“Last year’s Festival drew more authors and more readers than ever before” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “The excitement is building once again as we invite a public conversation about the power of books to change the world.”

We’ll reprise the features fans have come to know and love about the Festival – scores of authors presenting in pavilions and signing their books, plus rewarding literacy- and Library of Congress-related activities for people of all ages.  In addition, there are plans to broaden the reach of the popular “A Book That Shaped Me” essay contest for rising 5th- and 6th-graders. Schoolchildren in the Mid-Atlantic region – the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware and Pennsylvania – will be invited to submit essays. Keep an eye on the Library of Congress National Book Festival website for updates and the launch of this year’s essay contest …

Check out the survey at the Library of Congress National Book Festival website and tell us which books you think shaped the world, and why!

 

The Feminine Mystique at 50

(The following is a guest post by Audrey Fischer, editor of the Library of Congress Magazine.)

It’s been 50 years since pioneering women’s rights activist Betty Friedan stunned the nation with her controversial book, “The Feminine Mystique.”

In what became known as a manifesto, Friedan urged women to eschew the cult of domesticity and address “the problem that has no name”—the feeling among many 1950s housewives that something was lacking in their lives. Offering an antidote—the pursuit of higher education and meaningful work—she raised the consciousness of her generation and those that followed over the past half-century. (Note: The 50th Anniversary Edition of “The Feminine Mystique” has just been published by W.W. Norton).

My mother was one of those women. Friedan’s words sent her back to college in 1964 to finish what she started before she dropped out to marry and start a family. At 42, she became a New York City teacher, a career that fed her soul—and her family—and afforded her a comfortable retirement 25 years later.

Multiply my mother’s experience a million-fold over the past five decades (during which time 3 million copies of Friedan’s book were sold) and you have a seismic change in society—women entered the workforce in record numbers, men began to help with housework and child care, and, just a few weeks ago, the ban was lifted on women in combat.

Friedan’s book can’t be credited with all of these changes, but it certainly deserves to be one of “The Books That Shaped America” as it was recently designated by the Library of Congress, along with 99 other titles.

In what was one of her last public appearances, Friedan spoke at the Library on March 10, 2005, to mark Women’s History Month. She died on Feb. 4, 2006, her 85th birthday.

In her talk, the founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus and co-founder of NOW (National Organization for Women) lamented that “although women comprise 51 percent of the population they constitute only 12 percent of Congress.” With a record number of women in the Senate (20), the recently sworn-in 113th Congress has 101 women in its ranks (or about 19 percent) so progress continues to be made.

During her appearance at the Library, Friedan graciously signed my 1972 paperback copy of her book—purchased for $1.25 for a women’s studies class—thereby helping to shape me and another generation of women.

Last Word: Author Robert Caro on LBJ

(The following is an article from the January-February 2013 issue of the Library’s magazine, LCM, featuring an excerpt from an interview with historian and author Robert Caro about Lyndon Baines Johnson.)

LCM: You’ve spent more than 30 years researching and writing about Lyndon Johnson, with a final volume yet to be published. What aspects of Johnson’s character or career most fascinate you and how do they relate to today’s congressional climate?

Caro: The thing that fascinates me most about Johnson is his absolute genius in the use of political power. … Conditions are different today. But Johnson always found a way to get power for himself out of the conditions in some institution, and make the institution work. I think he had such a genius in acquiring and using power that he would become a legislative force no matter what the conditions were.

LCM: In this election season, one thinks about the extraordinary conditions under which President Johnson was inaugurated following Kennedy’s assassination. How do you think he felt about his second inaugural considering the tragic circumstances of his first one?

Caro: Johnson’s key words in his first speech, to the joint session of Congress, four days after Kennedy is assassinated, are, “Let us continue.” First, he pushes through Kennedy’s stalled legislation, the civil rights bill, the tax cut bill. Then he tells friends, “Now it’s time to make the presidency my own.” In his inaugural speech in January 1964, he sets out a new course, a new policy—the War on Poverty—which is his great initiative. And he follows that up with the Great Society so we see a transition from continuity to making the presidency his own.

LCM: You’ve recently said that Barack Obama is Lyndon Johnson’s legacy. Can you elaborate on that?

Caro: Johnson passes the Voting Rights Act in 1965, which really brings black Americans fully into the American political process. Forty-three years later, in 2008—which really is just a blink of history’s eye—there is an African-American in the White House. That’s what I mean by saying that Barack Obama is Lyndon Johnson’s legacy.

LCM: The nation will be marking the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War. Like Lincoln, Johnson’s true motives on promoting racial equality have been questioned. Have you come to any conclusions about that?

Caro: The reason it’s questioned is that for no less than 20 years in Congress, from 1937 to 1957, Johnson’s record was on the side of the South. He not only voted with the South on civil rights, but he was a southern strategist, but in 1957, he changes and pushes through the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction. He always had this true, deep compassion to help poor people and particularly poor people of color, but even stronger than the compassion was his ambition. But when the two aligned, when compassion and ambition finally are pointing in the same direction, then Lyndon Johnson becomes a force for racial justice, unequalled certainly since Lincoln.

MORE INFORMATION

Listen to a podcast of the full interview.

Download the January-February 2013 issue of the LCM in its entirety here. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.

A Very Special Kaye

The following is a guest post from Mark Hartsell, editor of the Library’s staff newsletter, The Gazette.

Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine arrive in London for a royal command performance in 1948. Kaye/Fine Collection, Music Division

Danny Kaye was many things and, at the same time, a one and only: a live performer who combined comedy, song and dance in an utterly unique way; a celebrity humanitarian, one of the first; an actor with big box-office hits; a conductor of classical music who couldn’t read a note.

A Library of Congress exhibition that opens today explores the legacy of Kaye and his wife, songwriter Sylvia Fine, who managed his career and helped make him one of the biggest stars in the world during the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s.

Kaye appeared in hit films such as “White Christmas” and  “Hans Christian Andersen” and sold out live performances around the planet. Tongue-twisting tunes and dialogue were a hallmark of his work in movies and onstage – in “Tchaikowsky,” a high-speed staple of his live act, he sang the names of 50 Russian composers in 38 seconds.

The quick tongue, the quirky bits and the personal connection he developed with audiences made him so popular that fans would queue up for days for tickets to his shows. “I’m supposed to be a master of oratory and yet cannot cast a spell over audiences like you do,” Winston Churchill told Kaye after a performance at the London Palladium in 1949.

Kaye devoted much of his life to humanitarian causes. In 1954, he was named the first good will ambassador for UNICEF, a position he held until his death in 1987. Kaye, who couldn’t read music, also developed a side career conducting symphony orchestras to raise funds for charitable causes – in his own comic fashion, of course. Kaye would direct the orchestra with his feet or conduct “Flight of the Bumblebee” with a flyswatter. The orchestras and audiences loved it.

You might love his work, too: Watch a clip of one of Kaye’s best-known bits – the tongue-twisting “flagon with the dragon” scene from “The Court Jester.” Check out the Library’s online exhibition, “ Danny Kaye and Sylvia Fine: Two Kids from Brooklyn.”

Save the Sounds

The following is a guest post by the Library’s Director of Communications, Gayle Osterberg.

During one of my first visits to the Library of Congress’s Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, one of the division chiefs there pointed out  the 35 mm projector in the theater. He commented that the sound of 35 mm film being fed through a projector is an “endangered sound.” My furrowed brow and quizzical look prompted him to expand on that thought by explaining that the Library has in its collections recordings of many sounds that are scarce if not entirely extinct – steam engine whistles, dial telephones and manual typewriters.

It had never occurred to me to think of sound that way.

Fast forward to today’s sound preservation challenges – including variations in quality of compressed mp3 files to born-digital materials that are not consistently procured by national libraries or archival institutions, and it could be that the sounds of today are even more endangered than those of yesterday.

Such questions have been the business of a team of experts assembled by the Library of Congress to write the National Recording Preservation Plan (PDF, 1.7MB), a historic blueprint for saving America’s recorded sound heritage for future generations. The congressionally mandated plan, introduced today by the Library and the National Recording Preservation Board, spells out 32 short- and long-term recommendations involving both the public and private sectors. These recommendations cover infrastructure, preservation, access, education and policy strategies.

As Librarian of Congress James Billington explains, “our collective energy in creating and consuming sound recordings has not been matched by an equal level of interest in preserving them for posterity. Radio broadcasts, music, interviews, historic speeches, field recordings, comedy records, author readings and other recordings have already been forever lost to the American people.”

No one alive today remembers a time before recorded sound, but as a medium it is only about 150 years old (timeline, PDF 180KB) — still a young format when one considers that the first book published in the west on a printing press is nearly six centuries old. And while the basics of a printed book haven’t changed much in all that time, the devices used to record and listen to sound have evolved almost continuously since the earliest recording. So the mission of collecting and preserving sounds starts out at a tremendous disadvantage when compared to a medium like the book.

The Library will continue working collaboratively with the organizations and individuals involved in putting together this groundbreaking plan to pursue its implementation. But this plan is also a call to action for anyone who agrees sound recordings are important to our cultural heritage – broadcasters, performers, audio engineers, preservationists, archivists, librarians – all have a role to play. And, in fact, many are offering support today (PDF, 164KB).

Broadcaster and member of the National Radio Hall of Fame Bob Edwards says, “Sound recordings offer a rich documentation of the broad scope of America culture. Our national story is incomplete if the audio record of our rich and diverse history is not preserved in the best condition technology allows.”

Tim Brooks, president of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections, says, “We believe this bold new effort represents a major breakthrough in efforts to secure for posterity historical audio recordings, and we will do everything we can to help it succeed.”

Composer Stephen Sondheim says, “As a composer who has been both informed and influenced by sound recordings, I feel passionately that they are a heritage too easily lost, and one which requires all due diligence to preserve. The Library of Congress National Preservation Recording Plan represents our best and most thoughtful chance to preserve the country’s musical creativity.”

Neil Portnow, president/CEO of the Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation, says, “The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation support the objectives of the National Plan and are committed to working in partnership with the Library of Congress and others to implement its important recommendations.”

As the Washington Post’s always-clever Chris Richards wrote today, sounds like a plan.

A Rare Photographic Opportunity

The following is a guest post from Michelle Springer in the Office of Strategic Initiatives.

The Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress. Photo by Carol M. Highsmith

On Presidents Day, Monday, Feb. 18, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m, you’re invited to a special public event. Twice each year, the Library of Congress opens its magnificent Main Reading Room in the Thomas Jefferson Building in Washington, D.C., for a special public open house. This is a unique opportunity to take photographs in one of the most beautiful public spaces in Washington D.C., not normally open to photographers. (Sorry, no tripods.)

In July last year as part of the Library’s Flickr Team, I had the opportunity to participate in the Library’s first Photography Meetup, where we invited photography enthusiasts to come and take pictures of the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Everyone had a lot of fun looking closely at all the decorative elements in the Hall, and it gave all the participants a new way to experience the beauty of this grand public space. Participants were also invited to upload their photos to Flickr with a special tag, which the Flickr team then linked to in galleries on the Library’s Flickr account.

We’re offering a similar opportunity with the Open House. Come and experience a palace of knowledge and try out your own photographic eye on the Main Reading Room. Upload your photos to your Flickr account with the tag LOCspring2013 and we’ll create galleries on the Library’s Flickr Commons account to share your images from the day.

Can’t attend?  You can take an online tour of the Library through this set of photos from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Carol has taken more than 500 photos of the Library buildings! Her great eye will help you enjoy aerial views taken from a helicopter, close-ups ceiling murals shot from tall scaffolds, and perspective-corrected scenes of the grand interior spaces.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Learn More:

On These Walls: Inscriptions and Quotations in the Buildings of the Library of Congress,

by John Y. Cole, 1995.  (original print version)
Virtual Tour of the Library of Congress buildings
History of the Library of Congress over the last 200+ years
Thomas Jefferson Building: Art and Architecture reference aid
Library of Congress photos by Carol M. Highsmith.
“LOC Itself,” a set of Carol M. Highsmith images of the Library on Flickr.

Was Richard “Rubbished?”

The wonders of modern science were used to positively identify a set of human bones found under an asphalt parking lot in England (site of a former church) as those of Richard III – a former king of England and one of Shakespeare’s most memorable villains.

The world was fascinated – it isn’t every day that a set of 500-year-old bones can yield DNA that can be cross-compared with the DNA of two of Richard’s living descendants – and the late monarch even became a trending topic on Twitter.

Actor Richard Mansfield, onstage as Shakespeare’s “Richard III”

But one question remains unanswered. Was Richard “rubbished” (the British equivalent of our informal term “trashed”) by political foes rewriting history, and their scribes, including Shakespeare?

Did Shakespeare smear him ?  Was the man known for orchestrating the death-by-drowning of one foe  (in a barrel of Malmsey, or Madeira wine), and prime suspect in the deaths of two young princes who could block his ascension to the throne unfairly depicted? Was he one of the great “not-nice guys” in all of British history and English lit, or not?

We may never know.  But what we do know is that great actors have reveled in playing Richard III for hundreds of years – and the Library of Congress has a wonderful array of photos, illustrations and broadsides in its Prints & Photographs Division showing various actors playing the man in whose mouth Shakespeare put the phrase, “The winter of our discontent.”

Here’s one of them: Richard Mansfield, who acted in England and the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s.  He was lionized for his Shakespeare, and was a early embracer of the works of George Bernard Shaw.  Mansfield also acted early in his career in the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, playing Sir Joseph Porter, K.C.B. in  Gilbert & Sullivan’s ”H.M.S. Pinafore,” Major-General Stanley in  “The Pirates of Penzance” and title figure John Wellington Wells in “The Sorcerer.”

Paul Wilstach’s book about Mansfield, “Richard Mansfield, The Man and the Actor,” indicates that Mansfield himself felt that Plantagenet Richard was the victim of Tudor spin, as evidenced on page  178 …

What do you think?

 

The Power of Poetry: Natasha Trethewey Comes to the Library

The following is a guest post from the Library’s Director of Communications, Gayle Osterberg.

Chris Wallace of Fox News interviews Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry Natasha Trethewey in the Poetry Room of the Library’s Poetry and Literature Center. Photo by Abby Brack Lewis

It has been a busy first two weeks for the Poet Laureate, Natasha Trethewey, who is working this spring from the Library of Congress Poetry and Literature Center – a first for a laureate.

She visited with fellow poet Richard Blanco about his poem “One Today”, which he read at Barack Obama’s second presidential inauguration. She appeared on NPR’s Diane Rehm Show. She met with Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran. And she was profiled beautifully by the Washingtonian’s Sophie Gilbert in the new February issue.

Then on Wednesday, her first reading of the year drew a standing-room-only audience of several hundred to hear her read from “Native Guard”, her Pulitzer Prize-winning collection that she researched and wrote here at the Library. The Washington Post’s Ron Charles describes it here.

It is no wonder Chris Wallace and the Fox News Sunday team decided to spotlight Natasha as this week’s Power Player of the Week. She will be featured on this Sunday’s program, and I hope you and thousands nationwide have a chance to watch her and hear her talk about poetry and its importance as an elegant form of communication that touches the heart as well as the intellect.

She was asked at Wednesday’s reading what her top three priorities are for her laureateship and she replied to applause, “Bring poetry to a wider audience, bring poetry to a wider audience, bring poetry to a wider audience.” I think it is fair to say even after a few days she will absolutely meet those goals.

Library Signs “Declaration of Learning”

Today, the Library of Congress joined 12 other government agencies and non-governmental organizations in signing a “Declaration of Learning” that formally announces their partnership as members of the Inter-Agency Collaboration on Education.

 The initiative is spearheaded by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who joined representatives at the signing ceremony in the Diplomatic Reception Rooms at the U.S. Department of State. The historic Treaty of Paris desk was used to complete the signing.

Through this partnership, the Library has committed to working together with the other agencies and organizations in utilizing historic artifacts in its collections, as well as its educational expertise, to create digital learning tools that can be accessed from computers, tablets and cell phones.  Non-digital learning tools will also be created for classroom and public use.

Now students, teachers and life-long learners will have the opportunity to explore historic objects and access new learning resources digitally, helping to ensure that tomorrow’s leaders better understand the events, ideas and movements that have shaped our country and the world.  The group has selected “Diplomacy” as the first topic around which learning resources will be created.  A new topic will be selected every two years.

Other institutions participating in the the Inter-Agency Collaboration on Education and signing the Declaration of Learning include the  National Archives, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institutions, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Endowment for the Arts, Newseum, American Library Association, National Center for Literacy Education, National Council of Teachers of English, National Council for the Social Studies and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

More information can be found at the U.S. Department of State website.

First Drafts: Poem for a President

(The following is an article from the January-February 2013 issue of the Library’s magazine, LCM, highlighting “first drafts” of important documents in American history.)

This typescript of Robert Frost’s poem “Dedication” contains Frost’s holograph script corrections in ink and Stewart Udall’s holograph printed clarifications in pencil on the last page. Stewart L. Udall Papers, Manuscript Division

Robert Frost (1874 –1963) was the first poet commissioned to write a poem for a presidential inauguration. His poem, titled “Dedication,” was intended to be read at the inauguration of John F. Kennedy Jr., but the sun’s glare on the snowy January day prevented the poet from reading his most recent work. Instead, he recited “The Gift Outright” from memory. Later that day, Steward L. Udall, Kennedy’s Secretary of the Interior, asked Frost for the original manuscript of the unread new poem. Frost agreed and added the inscription: “For Stewart from Robert on the day, Jan. 20, 1961.” The manuscript came to the Library of Congress when Udall donated his papers in 1969.

Robert Frost served as the Library’s Consultant in Poetry from 1958 to 1959. He recorded readings of his poetry in 1948, 1953 and 1959 for the Library’s Archive of Recorded Poetry and Literature.

Frost’s reading at the Kennedy inaugural was selected for inclusion on the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2003.

MORE INFORMATION

Guide to online resources on Robert Frost

Download the January-February 2013 issue of the LCM in its entirety here. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.