Library of Congress's Blog, page 180

A Global Toast to the Book

(The following is an article written by David A. Taylor, external relations and program development officer in Library Services, for the November-December 2012 issue of the Library of Congress Magazine. The article takes a look at an event this Thursday and Friday that will celebrate one of the most powerful and crucial forms of information transmittal: the book.

The book—arguably the greatest container of knowledge in history—will be celebrated at the Library of Congress, Dec. 6 and 7, on the occasion of the first-ever International Summit of the Book. Legislators, policymakers, educators, authors, publishers, technologists and librarians will come together to discuss the value of books in expressing our humanity and promoting cultural understanding. They will also explore the history of the book and how the book is changing and, in the process, revolutionizing knowledge and culture throughout the world.

The summit will celebrate the role of libraries as temples of knowledge and their role in preserving what societies have learned and transmitted. It will explore how technology can be harnessed to preserve the values of the book culture, provide access to knowledge that has been preserved in libraries and engage citizens and schools in taking full advantage of the knowledge resources available to them through their libraries.

This free, public event will feature a diverse group of distinguished speakers and a compelling display drawn from the Library’s collections.

The Library has selected a group of highly respected speakers who will analyze the book from a variety of essential perspectives. They will include authors, educators, legislators, historians, rare-book experts, legal scholars, librarians, digital-media specialists, publishers, copyright attorneys, members of Congress and other policymakers. Two keynote addresses, three lectures and three moderated panels comprise the symposium. Topics will range from the history of book publishing to the future of the book in a digital world.

A new Library exhibition, “Books that Shaped the World,” will be on view at the summit. The display builds on the Library’s recent exhibition, “Books That Shaped America.”

The summit will be the first in a periodic series of international summits, held in different cities around the world, which will examine the revolution in knowledge and culture through the book, whatever its forms. The 2012 event at the Library of Congress—and subsequent summits in other cities—will address reading and writing at a time when language, thinking and communication are dramatically changing. The 2013 Summit will be held in Singapore.

“It is an honor for Singapore to host the Second International Summit of the Book following the inaugural summit organized by the prestigious Library of Congress,” said Elaine Ng, CEO of the National Library Board of Singapore.

“We look forward to an insightful debate on the evolving concept of the book from an Asian perspective. We are privileged to have Professor Tommy Koh, Singapore’s Ambassador-At-Large and former Ambassador to the United Nations, as chairman of the organizing committee. We warmly welcome everyone to the summit.”

MORE INFORMATION:

International Summit of the Book

A download of  November-December 2012 issue of the LCM will be available in its entirety here this week. You can also view the archives of the Library’s former publication from 1993 to 2011.

Gordon Parks Remembered

Gordon Parks once called his camera a “weapon against poverty and racism.” His poignant photographs documented all walks of life, from the poor and impoverished of Chicago, to the gangs of Harlem, to the fashions of Paris.

Gordon Parks, FSA/OWI photographer. 1943. Prints and Photographs Division.

Today would have been his 100th birthday. Parks was born on Nov. 30, 1912, in Fort Scott, Kansas. He died of cancer at the age of 94 on March 7, 2006. Over the course of his professional life, he produced substantive photography for the likes of the Farm Security Administration, Life Magazine and Vogue, wrote books and poetry, composed music and directed movies, two of which – “The Learning Tree” (1969), based on his autobiographical novel, and “Shaft” (1971) – will be preserved for all time as part of the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress.

Not bad for a teenager who was kicked out of his home at age 15 and forced to live by his wits. He worked in brothels, as a singer, a semi-professional basketball player and as a traveling waiter, among other things, all to survive – and to learn.

The photographs he produced for the FSA under the direction of Roy Stryker (1942-1943) and later for the Office of War Information, also under Stryker’s direction (1943-1945), were his first major projects. His images can be found in the Library’s FSA/OWI Black-and-White Negatives collection.

The Gordon Parks volume of the Library’s “Fields of Vision” book series featuring images from the FSA collection is one of the most popular.

One of Parks’ most famous and enduring photos is of Ella Watson, government charwoman.1942. Prints and Photographs Division.

In 1995, the Library acquired his personal collection, including papers, music, photographs, films, recordings, drawings and other products of his long and creative career.

“I wanted all of my work to be under one roof, and I know of no roof I respect more,” he had said when making the donation.

Maricia Battle of the Prints and Photographs Division had the privilege of working with Parks on several occasions while helping to process his collection.

His body of work made him seem “larger than life,” she said. “But he was a real person. He made everyone feel like they belonged.”

Battle said it was vital to Parks to have his work freely available to everyone.

“He understood how important it was not to be housed in a box that no one would see,” she said. “And it’s important that young people and students have an idea that a man with simple beginnings achieved so much. It’s something anyone can do.”

Inquiring Minds: An Interview with Astrobiologist David H. Grinspoon

(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, a program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center, as part of the blog series, “Inquiring Minds.”)

Photograph by Henry Throop

American astrobiologist David H. Grinspoon began on November 1 as the inaugural Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at the Library’s John W. Kluge Center. This unique position was established through an interagency agreement between the Library of Congress and the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) for research into the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe, and the societal and humanistic implications of such inquiry. The chair is named for Baruch S. Blumberg, late Kluge Center Scholars Council member, Nobel Laureate and founding director of the NAI.

Grinspoon is curator of astrobiology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, adjunct professor at the University of Colorado, widely published writer, and currently serves on the Science Team for the Curiosity Rover mission to Mars. 

Q: Tell us about what you’ll be researching at the Library of Congress.

A: My intention is to study the Anthropocene Era from an astrobiology perspective. The Anthropocene is the phrase that some scientists are using to refer to the geological era that is defined by human activity. It’s still controversial among geologists, as it acknowledges that we are having a global-scale impact on the Earth and looks at humans as a geological force. I intend to apply the perspective of astrobiology, which is a deep time way of looking at life on Earth, towards the question of the Anthropocene. What does the human phenomenon on Earth look like viewed from an interplanetary perspective?

Q: Can you explain astrobiology and deep time a bit?

A: Astrobiology is the science of life in the Universe. It’s an attempt to scientifically deal with the question of whether or not we’re alone in the universe, looking at the past of life, the present of life and the future of life. It’s an interdisciplinary study incorporating astronomy, biology and the Earth sciences. We’re studying our own history, but over a timescale of billions of years and including not just Earth but the other planets as well, which gives us more perspective on the possible stories and fates of worlds like our own.

Q: How does one become an astrobiologist?

A: Astrobiology is a new field. It draws on the heritage of exobiology. People come from a wide range of scientific backgrounds. My particular background is planetary science. I study how planets work. There’s been a growing sense of the need to include biology as an integral part of the way planets evolve. More recently I’ve been folding biology into my research about planetary history

Q: Were you always interested in outer space?

A: I was. I’m a child of Apollo. I was thrilled by the astronauts landing on the moon when I was in fourth grade. I was a science fiction geek from an early age, enthralled by the questions of life in the universe. As I got older I learned that space exploration was real. I wanted to get involved in that. I knew I wanted to be a scientist.  Now I’m on the science teams of spacecraft that are currently operating at Mars and Venus.  Living the dream!

Q: What are you most excited to look at in the Library of Congress collections?

A: I’m very excited to explore the papers of notable scientists. I’m going to integrate the history of science into my research, and so it’s exciting to be able to find primary material. Beyond that, astrobiology is such a multi-disciplinary field with elements of philosophy, history, theology and spirituality that can be folded into this study. I feel so incredibly fortunate to have the resources of the Library at hand.

Q: Part of your role will be to organize public events. What are the ways that the public can get involved in astrobiology?

A: Astrobiology is a great point of contact for science outreach. The public is naturally interested in extra-terrestrial life. Astrobiology provides an accessible point of access that leads to deeper questions. In the museum where I work in Denver, astrobiology has been a great way to bring the public interest into scientific questions. Here at the Library, through workshops and colloquia I hope to explore the boundaries of science and the humanities. How do we illuminate the meaning of human existence through our science and its philosophical and spiritual dimensions? Collaboration with others at the Library and in Washington makes this an ideal place to do that.

Let’s Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is just a day away, and I’ve been noticing on Facebook, friends posting what they are thankful for this holiday season. Those statuses certainly have given me pause to count my own blessings.

First and foremost, I am thankful for my family, who, no matter how far away I am from them, help me stay grounded in where I came from. You can take the girl out of Mississippi, but you can’t take Mississippi out of the girl!

I’m thankful for roller derby. Yes, that may be a strange thing to say, but it’s through participation in this sport that I have not only found lifelong friends but also strength and courage to stick with something very challenging and really live up to the “never give up” mantra. There’s definitely a life lesson in that.

Last but certainly not least, I’m thankful for having the opportunity to really learn something new every day. Part of the mission of the Library of Congress is to further human understanding by providing access to knowledge through its amazing collections. I can honestly say that I really do take advantage of that. And, so can you. Currently, the Library makes freely available on its website more than 31 million items, from manuscripts and newspapers to films, sound recordings and photographs.

To bring it home in celebration of turkey, stuffing, pecan pie, a table full of friends and family and anything else you can think of that makes Thanksgiving special to you, here are some interesting facts I’ve learned about the holiday thanks to working here at the Library.

One could argue the first “thanksgiving” was actually celebrated In May 1541, when Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado and 1,500 men celebrated at the Palo Dur Canyon — located in the modern-day Texas Panhandle — after their expedition from Mexico City in search of gold. In 1959 the Texas Society Daughters of the American Colonists commemorated the event as the “first Thanksgiving.”

The first Thanksgiving, 1621 / J.L.G. Ferris. Prints and Photographs Division.

Another “first Thanksgiving” occurred on June 30, 1564, when French Huguenot colonists celebrated in a settlement near Jacksonville, Fla. This “first Thanksgiving,” was later commemorated at the Fort Carolina Memorial on the St. Johns River in eastern Jacksonville.

The harsh winter of 1609-1610 generated a famine that caused the deaths of 430 of the 490 settlers in Jamestown, Va. In the spring of 1610, the surviving colonists enjoyed a Thanksgiving service after English supply ships arrived with food. This colonial celebration has also beenconsidered the “first Thanksgiving.”

Following the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress recognized the need to give thanks for delivering the country from war and into independence. Congress issued a proclamation on October 11, 1782, which proclaimed the observation of Thursday the twenty-eight day of November next, as a day of solemn Thanksgiving to God for all his mercies.”

Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. But that was not always the case.

When Abraham Lincoln was president in 1863, he proclaimed the last Thursday of November to be our national Thanksgiving Day. Newport native Sarah Josepha Hale had written a to President Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War, entreating him to make Thanksgiving an official national holiday.

Saying grace before carving the turkey. Nov. 1942. Prints and Photographs Division.

In 1865, Thanksgiving was celebrated the first Thursday of November, because of a proclamation by President Andrew Johnson, and, in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant chose the third Thursday for Thanksgiving Day. In all other years, until 1939, Thanksgiving was celebrated as Lincoln had designated, the last Thursday in November. Then, in 1939, responding to pressure from the National Retail Dry Goods Association to extend the Christmas shopping season, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday back a week, to the next-to-last Thursday of the month.

Follow the history of Thanksgiving celebrations in the Thanksgiving Timeline.

 

For our forbears, frontier life in the 19th century offered challenges to pioneers but also provided opportunities to give thanks. To hear remembrances of Thanksgivings past, search on “Thanksgiving” in American Life Histories, 1936-1940.

So, what are you thankful for this holiday season?

Library in the News: October Edition

With the November opening of the new exhibition “The Civil War in America” only a month away, media outlets picked up on the announcement of a new blog featuring historical voices from the war.

The Associated Press wrote an announcement that many outlets ran with, including The Washington Post, WTOP, military.com and various broadcast affiliates of CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox. Also spotlighting the blog with individual coverage was the Daily Kos blog and the Washington Times, which took an in-depth look at one of the voices, Elizabeth Keckley.

“She is finally being remembered at the Library of Congress Civil War exposition next month and restored to her historical place in the Lincoln saga,” wrote Martha M. Boltz.

Continuing to make the headlines in October was news about Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey and the 12th annual National Book Festival.

Trethewey gave her inaugural reading to kick off the Library’s literary season on Sept. 13 and was featured speaker at the National Book Festival, who actually spoke for the first time at the festival in 2004.

Rosalind Bentley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution spoke with Trethewey, detailing her personal journey as a poet.

“[James] Billington believes the time for this kind of poet is right now,” she wrote of Trethewey’s laureateship. “She is only 46 and in the prime of her artistic life. This will signal that the Library is looking forward.”

In an interview with Roll Call, Trethewey told reporter Rebecca Baird-Remba, “I’m always interested in investigating my relationship with the past. I write to make sense of this history we’ve been given, and I write so that we can be a nation that is reckoning with the past, instead of one that has amnesia about it.”

Among countless articles far and wide on the book festival — from The Clarion Ledger to Asian Fortune News — was this gem from philly.com by author Lisa Scottoline, who writes a regular column for the Philadelphia Inquirer titled “Chick Wit.”

“There can be no greater pleasure, as a parent, than watching your child come fully into her own, taking all of her God-given talents and putting them to their most perfect use,” she said of watching her daughter, author Francesca Serritella, giving her presentation. “That feeling? It’s Mom Heaven.”

InRetrospect: October Blogging Edition

Here’s a sampling of some of the highlights in the Library’s blogosphere from October.

Teaching with the Library of Congress

Voting Rights for Women

The Women’s Suffrage primary source set is featured.

In Custodia Legis: Law Librarians of Congress

Welcome to Our New Front Door: A Revamped Homepage

The Law Library of Congress gets a homepage facelift.

Inside Adams: Science, Technology & Business

Creatures of the Night

Jennifer Harbster takes a look at bats.

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

Summit in the Attic

Poetry Center Director Rob Casper talks about a Poetry Out Loud experience.

Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos

From Player Portraits to Baseball Cards

Highlighted are photographer Paul Thompson’s 1910 baseball player portraits.

The Signal: Digital Preservation

If You Can’t Open It, You Don’t Own It

Writer and blogger Cory Doctorow discussed libraries, ebooks and beyond at an October event.

In the Muse: Performing Arts Blog

Five Questions: Xavier Zientarski, Intern

Intern from Montgomery College in Maryland talks about his time working in the Music Division.

Waste Not, Want Not

While the Civil War imposed hardships on both sides, the South found it particularly difficult to adapt to new realities of daily life. The blockade of Southern seaports and the prohibition of trade with the North quickly depleted food supplies throughout the Confederacy. Farmers became soldiers, and a large percentage of crops were used to feed the troops in the field.

However, these deprivations forced Southerners into resourcefulness. Just as they devised new weapons in fighting the enemy, they also developed ways to fight disease, hunger and food spoilage.  Cooks and homemakers were driven to invent substitutes for the most basic foods and beverages.

“Confederate Receipt Book.” Richmond, Virginia: West & Johnston, 1863. Confederate States of America Collection, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress

“The Confederate Receipt Book: A Compilation of Over One Hundred Receipts, Adapted to the Times” (Richmond, West & Johnston, 1863) was compiled from practical receipts (or recipes), which had appeared in Southern newspapers since the beginning of the war. The tome will be on view in “The Civil War in America” exhibition opening Nov. 12.

The only cookbook printed in the South during the war, the “Confederate Receipt Book,” contains recipes for apple pie without apples, artificial oysters, slapjacks, peas pudding and several different ways to make bread.

The book also provided tips for preventing waste, suggestions for substitutions and instructions for economizing and doing without. Those without money or transport would have welcomed suggestions for making bad butter usable or fashioning a lamp wick out of a clean, cotton stocking. Since salt was virtually impossible to buy, a method of curing bacon with precious little salt was extremely useful. In an effort to fend off insect infestation in such cured meats, there was even a suggestion to “prevent skippers,” the nickname of that time for insects such as locusts and grasshoppers.

According to the “Receipt Book,” a substitute for a splendid cup of coffee was described as “ripe acorns, washed and dried, parched until they opened and then roasted with a little bacon fat.” Cream for the coffee was the white of an egg, beaten to a froth, and mixed with a bit of butter.

Ladies, unable to purchase new frocks, appreciated the hints for altering, cleaning and refreshing worn garments, as well the tip of turning petticoats back to front to make them last twice as long.

Home remedies set forth in the “Receipt Book” included cures for such common ailments as chills, corns, warts and asthma.

According to Constance Carter, head of the Science Reference Section in the Library’s Science, Technology and Business Division, one can only assume this compilation was received as gratefully by homemakers in the 1860’s as books on rationing, thrift and wartime meals were during subsequent wars.

The compilation is mentioned more than once in the Science Reference Section’s “Food Thrift: Scraps from the Past” webcast as are many of the trials and tribulations faced by the blockaded South.

You can read about other items in “The Civil War in America” exhibition in these previous blog posts:

Mapping Slavery

Dear Diary

A Presidential Fundraiser

A Letter Home

A Grief Like No Other

The Bull Run of the West

Stop the Presses!

With Election Day upon us and votes soon to be counted, the nation waits with bated breath to see who our next president will be. Here in D.C., crowds gather in local bars and pubs, as if it were Monday Night Football, to catch the news of which candidate won what state and taking bets on who will be elected president.

But history has shown that it might be better to hedge those bets. Case in point: in the 1948 election pitting incumbent President Harry S. Truman against Republican Thomas E. Dewey, most predicted that Dewey would win. In fact, The Chicago Daily Tribune was so sure of his victory, they printed the front-page headline, “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN,” that Tuesday before any polls closed. According to the paper’s website, a printers’ strike on election night forced editors to go to print hours before the normally scheduled time. However, as the night wore on and reports filtered in, it became clear that Truman would again be president.

The photograph with Truman raising aloft the newspaper with its headline has become one of the most famous newspaper photos of that century. The Library holds a copy of that issue, dated Nov. 3, 1948, in its Serial and Government Publications Division.

Truman won the election by winning three big states: California, Ohio and Illinois. Dewey won New York, Pennsylvania and Michigan, but it was too little too late. The president managed to carry 24,105,812 popular votes to Dewey’s 21,970,065.

According to political experts, while Truman may have been unpopular in the polls, his aggressive campaign style attributed much to his success, compared to Dewey, who appeared complacent and distant in his approach.

(This is the final post in a series of posts featuring presidential campaign items from the Library’s collections. Read the others here, here and here.)

Protocol for One and All

 

 

Etiquette.  We love to make fun of it – from the character Rose Maybud in Gilbert & Sullivan’s “Ruddigore” who is constantly consulting her tiny etiquette book (“It’s manners out-of-joint, to point!”) to Vincent Price lecturing his creation “Edward Scissorhands” in the movie of the same name: “Etiquette tells us just what is expected of us and guards us from all humiliation and discomfort.”

But it’s no joke if you need access to solid protocol information to accomplish something, whether it’s planning a wedding, making sure the international guests aren’t needlessly offended or writing an appropriate condolence note.

Then it was hats; now, texting and talking in theaters.

This week marked the passing of an etiquette expert who has gotten me through many a vexing question — Letitia Baldrige.

A couple of lifetimes ago, when I did PR for a financial firm headed by a Brahmin who was probably born knowing which fork to use and in what order, I was handed the task of throwing a launch party for a new facility we were opening – three states away.  Lots of honchos were involved. Everything had to be spot-on.

I ran right out and bought my own copy of “Letitia Baldrige’s Complete Guide to Executive Manners.”  It saved me then, and has on several occasions since.  Yes, I’ve committed any number of solecisms since then, but I like to think there have been fewer since I got Tish on my team.

So let me propose a toast: to Letitia Baldrige, who has helped me move through life with a minimum of justified muttering. Remember, when you toast, raise your glass and move it through the air a bit, but don’t clink it against someone else’s …

It’s manners out-of-sync, to clink.

Inquiring Minds: An Interview with John Witte

(The following is a guest post by Jason Steinhauer, a program specialist in the Library’s John W. Kluge Center, as part of the blog series, “Inquiring Minds.”)

Legal scholar John Witte served as the recent Cary and Ann Maguire Chair in Ethics and American History. Author of 220 articles, 15 journal symposia, and 26 books, Witte has turned his attention to faith-based family law systems in the West, and in particular Islamic law, Sharia. His lecture on the topic is still scheduled at the Library of Congress for tomorrow, Nov. 1. You can read more about it here.

Q: Tell us about your lecture on November 1st, and the importance of this topic.

A: I’m exploring issues on the frontier of family law. Of particular interest are faith-based family systems, based on Sharia, Halacha and Canon Law, that are operating quietly in many Western countries, including the United States. The question of the legitimacy and authority of these faith-based family law systems is lurking just over the horizon. It’s a question that is going to explode, especially when an issue regarding Sharia captures public imagination.

Q: What do you mean by ‘explode?’ What is the trend up to now?

A: One of these days, the federal courts will get a hot case of a Muslim polygamist challenging the constitutionality of a state anti-bigamy statute, or an American Imam defending his declaration of fatwa on someone who defies the family norms of Sharia. Eventually one of those cases is going to hit the national and international airwaves. This has happened recently in other common law countries. In the United States, the issue of faith-based family laws, especially the use of Sharia, might soon become as hot a constitutional topic as same-sex marriage, abortion or contraception in decades past.

Q: What can scholarship bring to this discussion?

A: Scholars can and should widen the conversation by encouraging antagonists to look beyond the particularly inflamed issue that’s before the public media.  Scholars can give comparative and historical reflection on what other legal systems past and present have done. What I’m trying to do in scholarship is lay some of those historical and analogical resources on the table and help people think about the issues with those broader matrices in mind.

Q: What role has the Library played in helping you with your scholarship?

A: The Library is a scholar’s paradise. There are resources bundled here in such concentration that you’d be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in the world. I’ve been able to pull out 10 different versions of the Talmud or of a Church Father’s writings, wonderful 12th- to 15th- century canon law texts and learned theological treatises on marriage and the family.  I’ve been able to do really deep primary research on sources that are not accessible through reliable digital means.  I discovered a remarkable diary of a late 12th century monk who had traveled with the crusaders and provided a detailed account of Muslim polygamy and offered his own critical reactions to the practice.  All this has been a wonderful treat.

Q: Who do you hope comes to the Library to hear this lecture on November 1?

A: All people of good will interested in the future of marriage and family, interested in the contest between religious freedom and sexual freedom, and interested in the relationship between Islam and the West will, I hope, find this topic interesting. I hope we can have the kind of serious conversation that the topic deserves, and that is one of the hallmarks of Kluge Center events.