Library of Congress's Blog, page 52

Mystery Photo Contest: You Solved Four of Them!

Cary O’Dell at the Library’s National Recording Registry runs our Mystery Photo Contest. He most recently wrote about twelve of our most difficult to identify entries. Readers solved four of them.

Well, we never said that it would be easy. We recently posted a dozen of Library’s last unidentified photos from a huge show biz cache we received a couple of years ago and once again asked readers to take a crack at identifying them. We had started with more than 800, whittled it down to 38, and this array from that group might have been enough to make even the most hardcore TCM fan turn off the TV and call it a day.

But you guys rose to the challenge, identifying four of the twelve, a stunning thirty-three percent success rate. In baseball, that’s a Hall of Fame performance. Nearly miraculous, too, considering how tough these last ones are.

Let’s see our success stories!

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Over the years, the most common guesses for this lady were Phylicia Rashad and her equally famous sister, Debbie Allen. Readers also thought she looked like actress Anna Maria Horsford, British athlete Denise Lewis or supermodel Beverly Johnson.

Instead, alert reader Collin Larsen took a look and had no doubt, posting: “Number 5 is April Washington Chandler.”  I went to Google. It turns out Chandler is a media personality and head of HBK Multimedia, a Maryland-based entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency, specializing in producing live concerts and special events. She sure did look like the lady in the picture.  I reached out to her via her company, sending our photo. She replied, “Yep, that’s me.” Bingo! Thank you, Collin!

That’s not our only thanks to Collin, though.

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I had long thought that this casually-dressed gent was a film producer, director or screenwriter and this headshot had been misplaced from a larger press kit.  Who was he? Well, let’s cut back to Collin. His second comment on the blog asked, “Is #4 Larry Brezner?”

Brezner produced films such as “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Throw Mama from the Train” and, shortly before his death at age 73 in 2015, “Ride Along” with Ice Cube and Kevin Hart. He produced 31 films or television shows or specials during a 35-year career, according to his credits on the Internet Movie Database. I was able to track down one of his daughters, Lauren Azbill. She was thrilled and touched to see this photo of her late dad, a picture she had never seen before. That my email arrived a few days before the anniversary of his passing, she said, made this out-of-the-blue missive from the Library all the more meaningful. Thanks again, Collin!

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After we published our recent Mystery Photo array, it got reposted to various threads on Reddit. Someone saw it there and wrote, “This is SO BIZARRE!  That is some of my extended family!  That’s Jean and James Cantrell and some of their 12 children.  They were from Pleasant Hill, Oregon, most of the family still lives around there.”

At first, I thought this was a hoax. The writer was really detailed, I thought. Maybe a little too detailed. This sort of attempted trickery has happened before. Still, I figured, if this family really did have 12 kids, I should be able to track down at least one of them.

And I did. I reached Shawn (Cantrell) Williams after first phoning the realty company she co-owns with some of her sisters.  I asked for two of them before she said, “Can I help you?  I’m related to them.”  Indeed, she could! I introduced myself and what I had, photo-wise.

To my great surprise, she seemed to know exactly the picture I was describing even before I emailed it to her.

This shot was taken when Shawn, the youngest of the family, became and latest and last to graduate from the local high school. The local newspaper did a story on the family. Woman’s World magazine picked up the tale and this photo for their June 1986 issue.

Shawn is the sassy-looking one in front. “The photographer told me to make a funny photo, so I tried,” she says. Shawn’s dad is up in the upper right corner.  Her mom is next to him and her brother James, Jr. is on the end. The other brother, Joe, is not pictured; the family were farmers and Joe was in the field when the camera guy came by. The girls (left to right):  Shelley, Connie, Chris, Kerry, Willie, Molly, Gail, Holly, and Kathy.

I told Shawn that we had had quite a time trying to “solve” this photo.  I said, “We thought you were an ‘80s comedy.” She replied, “Oh, it was!”

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For curious reader Mike Nozzi, this photo stirred up a memory of a production that he saw of “Knickerbocker Holiday,” in New York in 1975 at the Hotel Dixie. Talk about a memory! Armed with that info, I reached out to the Kurt Weill Foundation For Music, which documents all productions of all of Weill’s works, and confirmed that this was so.  At far left, that’s actor Tom Sminkey (leaning over); at far right, with the thick mustache, is Otto Walberg. We’re hoping to identify the other actors.

Meanwhile, stay tuned! We’re down to 34 unidentified photos, and we’ll post another round next month.

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A Soundtrack of World War II

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A vintage illustration shows the recording project in the field. U.S. Marine Corps.

This story appears in the July/August copy of the Library of Congress Magazine.

On Okinawa, Marines chat about the weather as machine-gun rounds zip overhead. On Iwo Jima, tanks clank ashore under heavy fire. In Nagasaki, an American general instructs Japanese officers to honor the terms of surrender.

These are the sounds of the Marine Corps at war, preserved in thousands of hours of recordings made on battlefields of the Pacific Theater during World War II, then stored away for decades. In recent years, the Library has given them new, digital life and made them accessible in its Recorded Sound Research Center.

The Marines — using Library training and recording equipment — sent two-man teams into combat during the war to document the experiences of troops and provide real-time accounts of some of the toughest fights in Corps lore: Kwajalein, Saipan, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, Okinawa.

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Correspondent Art King interviews two Marines. U.S. Marine Corps.

During lulls in the fighting, the correspondents would talk to Marines: What did you do in the fight? Anything you’d like to say to the folks back home? Many of the recordings were quickly transferred to vinyl, sent to the States and broadcast on radio to Americans anxious for news about loved ones serving on faraway shores.

All of the recordings — made at first on wire and later on film stock — were transferred to vinyl by the Marines after the war, then sent to the Library for safekeeping. During the 1960s and ’70s, Library technicians transferred the vinyl records to reel-to-reel tapes.

Then the tapes just sat, mostly unused.

Beginning in 2010, the Library and the Marines jointly undertook a project to give the recordings a digital format — and a new audience. Audio engineers at the Library’s Packard Campus digitized the tapes, and interns broke the digitized recordings into segments and created a descriptive record for each. The digital files were ingested into the Library’s archive and copies sent to the Marines.

Interns at Quantico then created detailed summaries of the contents and linked the recordings to photos, articles and records from the Corps archives — documents of the war as Marines heard it and lived it on far-flung battlefields across the vast expanses of the Pacific.

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My Job: Andrew Huber — Helping Veterans Tell Their Stories

Andrew Huber, a liaison specialist in the Veterans History Project, tells us what it’s like to help veterans tell their stories.

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Andrew Huber. Photo: Shawn Miller.

Describe your work at the Library.

My work is really a microcosm of all the work the Veterans History Project (VHP) does. Ultimately, what I and my fellow liaison specialists do is introduce people to VHP and teach them how to participate and create collections materials. Our processing team catalogues and preserves those collections, and our librarians and archivists make them available to Library patrons.

This takes many forms and is almost never a solo effort. One day we may be briefing a congressional office so they can do VHP interviews in their district. The next, we might be behind a table at a local veterans resource fair or leading online workshops teaching volunteers how to do oral history. Some days we are in our studio conducting interviews. Many are spent entirely on the phone or writing emails, chasing leads and making arrangements to make all those things happen.

My colleagues and I all have our own strengths and specialties. Lisa Taylor oversees the production of our award-winning public service announcements, Owen Rogers is a board member for oral history in the mid-Atlantic region, and Kerry Ward works with Gold Star families, helping them tell the stories of those who gave their lives in service to our country. I love helping student veterans organize on-campus interview events. But really everyone does a little bit of everything — nothing in VHP is done in a vacuum.

How did you prepare for your position?

I studied anthropology in college, but my previous job helped the most. I worked for a trade association organizing volunteers from member companies to create projects that would help promote the industry. It’s easier to convince someone to spend their weekend recording war stories than it is to convince a materials engineer to spend their weekend in a trade show booth.

What have been your most memorable experiences at the Library?

It’s too hard to choose just one. The most rewarding experiences are when we get to see how our work affects people. I helped a Student Veterans of America chapter at a community college organize an event to interview local veterans, and every business in town had their flyer posted right in the window.

People were so proud to come and tell their stories and so moved that someone cared enough about their service to interview them. There were a lot of hugs and tears. The most satisfying experiences are when a big collaborative effort comes together, like in November when we all worked together to put on a full week of live programming showcasing veterans in the arts. The most unique experience I had was spending a week in the Yakima Nation, learning traditional healing methods for PTSD and interviewing Native veterans.

What are your favorite collection items and why?

Again, there are just too many to pick just one. The very first interview I did was my father, an Air Force veteran, so obviously that one is very special to me. Another is the Wendy Cram collection. Wendy was a skier who qualified for the 1940 Olympics, but when the games were canceled due to the war he was drafted and sent to Colorado to train 10th Mountain Division officers how to ski. He donated a whole photo album documenting his service, which included some very intense fighting in the Italian Alps.

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Jason Reynolds: Grab the Mic October Newsletter

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This is a monthly guest post by Jason Reynolds,  the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His last column was about the National Book Festival.

And just like that, summer is over. The weather is beginning to break. The morning air is crisp, and suddenly there are pumpkins everywhere. And though the seasons are transitioning, which means we’re about to experience the strange time warp that comes from consecutive holidays, all I can seem to think about is you. Because you are in school. At least, a form of school. Most of you are at home sitting in front of your computers learning from a distance. Your kitchen tables now classroom desks, your refrigerator now the cafeteria. And because I know all this is going on, it’s hard to discuss my plans to carve my face into a pumpkin and leave it on my older brother’s doorstep as a joke. Or how I’m so curious about what it’ll be like to attend a Halloween party over Zoom. Maybe I should figure out how to be Zoom for Halloween! I don’t know. The point is, I haven’t had the energy to really think about any of that, because I can’t stop thinking about … you.

So, here are five things I want you to know as you continue on this strange journey of distance learning:

This isn’t awesome for anyone, so be easy on yourself. I talked to some young people recently about this, and they were expressing how sometimes it’s harder to grasp the concepts being taught, because the teacher may be moving too fast (we all learn differently) or the Wi-Fi at home isn’t strong enough (all signals aren’t created equal) or there are distractions in the home that are sometimes hard to avoid (Grandma, please turn “Let’s Make A Deal” down!). Listen, as someone who also uses Zoom all day every day, I feel you. It’s brutal. And it’s not just you. We’re all having a hard time. So be gentle with yourself and do the best you can.
And speaking of us all having a hard time, your teachers are also struggling. Have you ever tried to talk to someone through a window? Like, with the window down? I mean, down when you’re in the house, up when you’re in the car. You get what I’m trying to. … You ever tried to explain something to someone through a thin piece of glass? You would think it wouldn’t be so hard, but the fact is, as humans, we communicate best without filters between us. Oh, there’s a great joke about social media that I should put right here, but I’m trying to stay focused, even though it’s just so hard to stay focused during these times. Ugh. But anyway, your teachers are trying to communicate with you through a filter. And the trippy part is, it doesn’t sound muffled, but it is. It’s the difference between a song on the radio and a live show. At the live show, even if you know all the words to a song you’ve been singing for years, it feels different when you’re right there in front of the singer. Also, more importantly, your teachers are teaching for six hours a day and most of that time is spent just talking to a black screen. Which is wild. And hard. And exhausting. So, yeah … we’re all doing our best.
If you have friends who live around you, and you feel like it would be better to work with them than to do all this by yourself (and you’re sure everyone is safe and healthy), distance learn with them. I think we’re calling these “pods.” Basically, a study group. It creates a silo of human energy and provides multiple sets of eyes and ears to weigh in on the same things so that if one person misses something, someone else may have it. I’ve been preaching this idea that collaboration is key. Right now, it’s never been more necessary. Plus, there’s more space for jokes. A little laughter changes the temperature of things. Seriously, it’s important. Find a pod, so you can laugh … and learn.
This one is tricky. If — and I want to stress this — IF you are comfortable having your camera on, which means you don’t mind the weirdness of people looking into your home (which, by the way, I totally get if you do), then turn it on. You know why? Because there’s something about a teacher seeing you that helps you pay attention. Accountability works in strange ways, and this is one of them. As a matter of fact, maybe just turn it on during the classes you’re having a hard time in. It’s the equivalent of choosing to sit in the front of the class because you need to concentrate. Again, I know we all live in different environments with all sorts of things going on around us. So, if you can’t, don’t. But if you can, do. I think it’ll help. It’ll help the teacher tighten up too.
And this is the one I want you to take seriously. Well, I want you to take them all seriously, but this one I want you to really take seriously. If you think there’s a way to make this better, if you think there are cool and interesting ways to engage through the screen, PLEASE suggest it to your teacher. Or have your parent suggest it. The truth is, we’re in unprecedented times, which means there have been, and will be, growing pains. But what it also means is that there’s room for creativity. Which means there’s space for your voices. Say something. If you heard of a cool game that could help with the learning process, suggest it. This goes for the teachers, also. Why not ask your students if there’s a way to add some energy to this experience? A way to ensure that we’re all still connected around education and still excited about the opportunity to learn. We have to push ourselves a bit, but that’s OK. We’ll be OK. We are OK.

There’s no number six, but if there were one, it would simply be to remind yourself that you are more than grades. You’re a person, whole and complex. A vessel of imagination and fear and possibility and potential. There’s pain there. But there’s purpose there too. You are big. Way too big to be whittled into a single alphabet meant to qualify your brilliance. So, try as hard as you can. I repeat, TRY AS HARD AS YOU CAN. And after that, smile.

OK?

Seriously, OK?

Cool.

Jason Reynolds: Drop the Mic October Newsletter

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This is a monthly guest post by Jason Reynolds,  the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. His last column was about the National Book Festival.

And just like that, summer is over. The weather is beginning to break. The morning air is crisp, and suddenly there are pumpkins everywhere. And though the seasons are transitioning, which means we’re about to experience the strange time warp that comes from consecutive holidays, all I can seem to think about is you. Because you are in school. At least, a form of school. Most of you are at home sitting in front of your computers learning from a distance. Your kitchen tables now classroom desks, your refrigerator now the cafeteria. And because I know all this is going on, it’s hard to discuss my plans to carve my face into a pumpkin and leave it on my older brother’s doorstep as a joke. Or how I’m so curious about what it’ll be like to attend a Halloween party over Zoom. Maybe I should figure out how to be Zoom for Halloween! I don’t know. The point is, I haven’t had the energy to really think about any of that, because I can’t stop thinking about … you.

So, here are five things I want you to know as you continue on this strange journey of distance learning:

This isn’t awesome for anyone, so be easy on yourself. I talked to some young people recently about this, and they were expressing how sometimes it’s harder to grasp the concepts being taught, because the teacher may be moving too fast (we all learn differently) or the Wi-Fi at home isn’t strong enough (all signals aren’t created equal) or there are distractions in the home that are sometimes hard to avoid (Grandma, please turn “Let’s Make A Deal” down!). Listen, as someone who also uses Zoom all day every day, I feel you. It’s brutal. And it’s not just you. We’re all having a hard time. So be gentle with yourself and do the best you can.
And speaking of us all having a hard time, your teachers are also struggling. Have you ever tried to talk to someone through a window? Like, with the window down? I mean, down when you’re in the house, up when you’re in the car. You get what I’m trying to. … You ever tried to explain something to someone through a thin piece of glass? You would think it wouldn’t be so hard, but the fact is, as humans, we communicate best without filters between us. Oh, there’s a great joke about social media that I should put right here, but I’m trying to stay focused, even though it’s just so hard to stay focused during these times. Ugh. But anyway, your teachers are trying to communicate with you through a filter. And the trippy part is, it doesn’t sound muffled, but it is. It’s the difference between a song on the radio and a live show. At the live show, even if you know all the words to a song you’ve been singing for years, it feels different when you’re right there in front of the singer. Also, more importantly, your teachers are teaching for six hours a day and most of that time is spent just talking to a black screen. Which is wild. And hard. And exhausting. So, yeah … we’re all doing our best.
If you have friends who live around you, and you feel like it would be better to work with them than to do all this by yourself (and you’re sure everyone is safe and healthy), distance learn with them. I think we’re calling these “pods.” Basically, a study group. It creates a silo of human energy and provides multiple sets of eyes and ears to weigh in on the same things so that if one person misses something, someone else may have it. I’ve been preaching this idea that collaboration is key. Right now, it’s never been more necessary. Plus, there’s more space for jokes. A little laughter changes the temperature of things. Seriously, it’s important. Find a pod, so you can laugh … and learn.
This one is tricky. If — and I want to stress this — IF you are comfortable having your camera on, which means you don’t mind the weirdness of people looking into your home (which, by the way, I totally get if you do), then turn it on. You know why? Because there’s something about a teacher seeing you that helps you pay attention. Accountability works in strange ways, and this is one of them. As a matter of fact, maybe just turn it on during the classes you’re having a hard time in. It’s the equivalent of choosing to sit in the front of the class because you need to concentrate. Again, I know we all live in different environments with all sorts of things going on around us. So, if you can’t, don’t. But if you can, do. I think it’ll help. It’ll help the teacher tighten up too.
And this is the one I want you to take seriously. Well, I want you to take them all seriously, but this one I want you to really take seriously. If you think there’s a way to make this better, if you think there are cool and interesting ways to engage through the screen, PLEASE suggest it to your teacher. Or have your parent suggest it. The truth is, we’re in unprecedented times, which means there have been, and will be, growing pains. But what it also means is that there’s room for creativity. Which means there’s space for your voices. Say something. If you heard of a cool game that could help with the learning process, suggest it. This goes for the teachers, also. Why not ask your students if there’s a way to add some energy to this experience? A way to ensure that we’re all still connected around education and still excited about the opportunity to learn. We have to push ourselves a bit, but that’s OK. We’ll be OK. We are OK.

There’s no number six, but if there were one, it would simply be to remind yourself that you are more than grades. You’re a person, whole and complex. A vessel of imagination and fear and possibility and potential. There’s pain there. But there’s purpose there too. You are big. Way too big to be whittled into a single alphabet meant to qualify your brilliance. So, try as hard as you can. I repeat, TRY AS HARD AS YOU CAN. And after that, smile.

OK?

Seriously, OK?

Cool.

Mystery Photo Contest, Super Difficult Edition

Cary O’Dell at the Library’s National Recording Registry is the maestro of our Mystery Photo Contest. He recently wrote about the early film actress Florence McFadden. He’s back with another round.

Hello All!

Need a project to work on? The Moving Image, Broadcast and Recorded Sound Division is back with some super obscure photographs that need identifying. We’ve had a run of successes of late, identifying everyone from silent film director Charles Brabin to modern-day actress Wendy Phillips, and we’re looking to continue the trend.

To review: We found each of these photos within a much larger collection of film, TV, music and stage stills.  But while the majority of those photos were ID’ed, some 800 were not. With your help, we’ve identified all but 38. That’s amazing — roughly 95 percent solved — but there’s still the last few.

So let’s get cracking! Below is a selection of 12 of the last 38. Please take a glance to see if anyone looks familiar.  I’m happy to follow up on any reasonable suggestion.  As always,  we’ll post updates as solutions (hopefully) are found!

Many thanks and happy hunting!

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#1. We thought the man at left was American actor Michael Murphy, who often plays morally dubious characters. He was in Woody Allen’s “Manhattan,” Robert Altman’s “Nashville,” and in Marvel’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” among dozens of  television appearances. The only problem with this theory is that we asked Murphy and he said it wasn’t him. Rats.

So who is this dapper, thoughtful gent? He’s got a swell bow tie and a sensible haircut.  Character actor? Television weatherman?  (FYI, his lapel pin is generic and doesn’t offer any clues.)

 

 

 

 

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#2. I always thought the woman in the photograph at right looked like she was an opera singer. That bouffant, the upward gaze, the hand at the chest…it’s the mid-century “I am a sensitive artiste” head shot. It’d look swell on a theater program.

Alas, that’s just a guess. It could be as wrong as the theory on Michael Murphy. So far, we can’t put a name to the face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[image error]#3.  No, we don’t quite know what is going on in this photo, either. Nor do we have any idea of who, or what, this trio might be out to accomplish.  A band?  Acrobats?  Comic trio? Chippendales dancers?

Okay, probably not Chippendales. But, unless you guys have a clue, we’re stuck.

 

 

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#4.  This gentleman might be a behind-the-scenes type (photos of a few have been found in this collection).  Could he be a director, producer, screenwriter? Although, it has to be said, he could have played the George Costanza role if “Seinfeld” had been shot in the ’70s or early ’80s (with apologies to Jason Alexander, who played the actual George).

 

 

 

 

 

[image error]#5. This lady with the hoop earrings is NOT Phylicia Rashad (although that’s an excellent guess, which many people have already made). Nor is it Debbie Allen or Anna Maria Horsford.  We’ve checked with all of them and they said, “Not me.”  She looks so familiar, though. Maybe a television reporter/anchor, or played one on TV?

 

 

 

 

 

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#6.  Another gentleman who might be a behind-the-scenes player or maybe a movie or music exec.  (It is not the late Dave Thomas of Wendy’s fame; we checked.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[image error]#7. This photo has reminded many of an ‘80s comedy but who knows?  The charm hanging from the grad’s cap does say “’86,” if that helps.  If we can ID any of these women—or any of the men behind them—we can probably solve the whole thing.

[image error]#8. This photo has proved particularly difficult.  The code on the film indicates that it was taken circa 1998.  So far we know it is NOT any of the following men (because we checked with each):  Thomas Jane, Ben Thompson, Christopher Lambert, Jack Noseworthy, Thomas Haden Church, Taylor Sheridan, Jon Bon Jovi, Ben Mendelsohn, Nicholas Farrell or Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.  So…who is it?

[image error]#9. We assume this is a music group of some sort.  It just sort of screams late ’80s indie rock, doesn’t it? Moody, dark stuff, and the lead singer screams a lot? Or plays violin solos? Maybe they never quite broke through but they must of have played someplace.  Anyone know them individually or as a unit?

[image error]#10. The above seems to be some sort of production of “Knickerbocker Holiday” but it does not sync up with the 1938 Broadway version, the 1944 film version, or the 1950 TV version.  Based upon the minimal set, might this be a sort of play-within-a-film?  If we could ID any of these actors, it might be the key to ID-ing the entire production.

[image error]#11.Who is this man, at left, behind the camera?  He has looked vaguely familiar to several readers, who have ventured guesses that, alas, have not panned out. We can confirm that he is not the prolific screenwriter Ben Maddow; CBS News president Fred Friendly; or the French film director Rouben Mamoulian.  An interesting, identifying detail of this gentleman, by the way, is his utter lack of earlobes. Also, that coat/jacket thing looks totally hip.

 

 

 

 

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#12. As shown at right here, we have a series of shots of this charming young woman — an actress? –  showing her various “looks” and versatility.  She seems the good-natured girl-next-door type. What we don’t have is a name.

And that’s it! Guesses in the comments, please. I’ll report back with any solved mysteries.

 

 

 

 

 

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Researcher Stories: Jennifer Ashley Tepper

This is a guest post by theater historian Jennifer Ashley Tepper. It ran in the Library of Congress Magazine April/May 2020 issue.

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Jennifer Ashley Tepper. Photo: Shawn Miller.

I grew up inspired by Jonathan Larson’s musicals. Even as a teenager, I identified deeply with his ideals — his dedication to art made from the heart, his passion for bringing musical theater to new generations, his devotion to friendship and community, and, of course, the undeniable genius with which he channeled all this into characters, stories and songs that changed the world.

In 2016, I spent a day at the Library, immersed in the Jonathan Larson Collection — an experience that ultimately led me to create “The Jonathan Larson Project,” a song cycle of previously unheard works by the late composer and playwright.

Nothing in my work as a theater historian has knocked me out like his collection did that day — hundreds of hours of audio recordings and hundreds of files of written material, each one incredible.

There was a momentous reading of Jonathan’s unproduced musical “Superbia”; mix tapes filled with songs taped off the radio that inspired the characters of his smash musical, “Rent”; songs from never-produced musicals about presidential elections and the end of the world; an outline for a musical version of “Polar Express”; and original audition notes for “Rent” at New York Theatre Workshop.

I returned to the Library half a dozen times over the next year — the adventure of a theater historian’s wildest dreams. It also was, at times, devastating. With his voice in my ears and his papers in my hands, I could see with a new level of intimacy how hard Jonathan persevered and how ahead of his time he was.

Even though 95 percent of what I discovered wasn’t included in the project, it all was part in a way. I staged a cut song from “Superbia,” having read six drafts of the show. I collaborated with actors on songs about loss, knowing in detail about those friends Jonathan loved and lost. I brought never-performed songs to life, songs that reveal pieces of Jonathan’s life and era I understand profoundly because of all I was able to access.

Now, because of this collection, new audiences can experience songs and ideas of Jonathan’s that were previously only experienced by one woman, wiping away tears at a library desk.

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We’re Open! National Book Festival 2020

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Welcome to the 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival, our 20th annual celebration of American ingenuity — and our first virtual festival!

The special Virtual Festival Platform is now open, where you can watch author talks, engage in scheduled live Q&A sessions and experience a wealth of activities related to reading, authors and literacy. The emphasis for today, Friday, September 25, is children’s and teen’s authors. Live Q&As with authors begin at 11 a.m. and will include Chelsea Clinton, Jessica & Parker Curry, Kwame Mbalia, Pam Muñoz Ryan and Veronica Chambers on the Children’s Stage; and Gene Luen Yang, Becky Albertalli, Aisha Seed and Mike Curato on the Teens Stage. Dozens of author talks can be selected and viewed on demand, as well!

Also, don’t miss the wealth of other great activities and fascinating presentations from our Roadmap to Reading, to a virtual selection of the best of the Library of Congress, to engaging activities from our partners and sponsors.

After our special Children’s and Teen’s day today, come back tomorrow and Sunday for an avalanche of additional talks, presentations, Q&As and activities, from our old-favorite stages like Fiction, Poetry & Prose and History & Biography to new and rebooted stages such as Science, Understanding Our World and Family, Food & Field.

Get ready — get set — go!

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The 2020 Library of Congress National Book Festival will celebrate its 20th birthday this year. You can get up-to-the-minute news, schedule updates and other important festival information by subscribing to this blog. The festival is made possible by the generosity of sponsors. You can support the festival, too, by making a gift now.

Colson Whitehead and the 2020 Prize for American Fiction

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Colson Whitehead, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novels “The Nickel Boys” and “The Underground Railroad,” will receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during this weekend’s National Book Festival.

Whitehead, 50, is the award’s youngest winner, as it recognizes a lifetime of work.

“Colson Whitehead’s work is informed by probing insights into the human condition and empathy for those who struggle with life’s sometimes harrowing vicissitudes,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “In novels such as ‘The Nickel Boys’ and ‘The Underground Railroad,’ he has expanded the scope of historical events, transforming them into metaphors for today’s world.”

The author will take part in a live Q&A event at this year’s festival, Saturday, Sept. 26 at 11 a.m. Visit the festival website and register now for more details.

[image error]Also, five organizations working to expand literacy and promote reading will be awarded the 2020 Library of Congress Literacy Awards.

Top prizes are being awarded to The Immigrant Learning Center, The International Rescue Committee Inc. – Pakistan Reading Project, the National Center for Families Learning, Pratham Books and Room to Read.

The Literacy Awards, originated by David M. Rubenstein in 2013, honor organizations doing exemplary, innovative and replicable work. Collectively, these awards spotlight the great efforts underway to promote literacy and respond to the needs of our time.

Here’s more on the Literacy Awards and their 2020 recipients.

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National Book Festival: Democracy in the 21st Century

The limits of democracy have been tested both domestically and world-wide during the past two decades, a series of crucibles that will inform the Library’s third major focus of the 2020 National Book Festival, “Democracy in the 21st Century.”

From the changing nature of the American political arena to the “Arab Spring” to Russia under Vladimir Putin – to name a few – the landscape of democracy has proven to be uncertain terrain.

This thread will feature 21 authors in 13 programs, ranging from books for kids and books for readers of current politics and books for history fans who want to examine how we got where we are. The Sept. 25-27 festival is online due to COVID-19, but one of the benefits is that you can range from a variety of programs all without moving from in front of your screen. (This replaces the jostling hustle from stage to stage that you’ll fondly remember from the in-person festivals at the D.C. Convention Center.)

As always, there are big names in history – Eric Foner, Heather Cox Richardson, Jared Diamond and David Rubenstein – and in journalism – Peter Baker and Susan Glasser, Barton Gellman and George Packer. There’s also a delightful set of authors writing for child and teen audiences, including Sophie Blackall, Don Tate and Veronica Chambers. You can talk with authors via interactive chats, but don’t worry if you miss any — the Q&A sessions will be available at the close of the festival, too.

“Are we, worldwide, drifting away from a spoken allegiance to democracy?” says Marie Arana, the Library’s literary director. “Why are governments becoming more authoritarian, and why do citizens sometimes like that they’re becoming more authoritarian? These authors are really getting down to the nitty-gritty of what it takes to uphold a democracy.”

Foner, perhaps the nation’s preeminent historian of Reconstruction, will be here to discuss his latest, “The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution.” Foner has won the Pulitzer, Bancroft and Lincoln prizes, among others, and the professor emeritus of history at Columbia University shows no signs of slowing down, showing us how the nation’s failure to solve the problems of slavery in the 19th century have dogged the country ever since.

Also on that topic will be Boston College historian Heather Cox Richardson. She argues the nation’s westward expansion after the Civil War continued the themes of white male domination over Blacks, Native Americans and Mexican Americans, as personified by the Western cowboy. Her book, “How the South Won the Civil War: Oligarchy, Democracy, and the Continuing Fight for the Soul of America” traces how the defeated South imbued the West with its brutal antebellum racial hierarchies. And in particular, she argues, democracy has always depended on inequalities – one of the central paradoxes of American life.

Two modern-era diplomats, Richard Holbrooke and James Baker III, are up for discussion, too. Holbrooke is the subject of Packer’s “Our Man: Richard Holbrooke and the End of the American Century.” Baker is the focus of “The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James Baker III,” by the husband-and-wife team of Peter Baker (of the New York Times) and Susan B. Glasser (of The New Yorker).

For kids, Tate will be talking about the Underground Railroad and the often-overlooked role of William Still, a Philadelphia clerk who helped as many as 800 enslaved people to freedom. Chambers, author of the memoir “Mama’s Girl,” is here with “Finish the Fight! The Brave and Revolutionary Women Who Fought for the Right to Vote,” a book for readers in grades 3 through 7 about the women of color who are often overlooked as suffrage leaders. She co-wrote it with a number of her colleagues on the staff of the New York Times. Blackall, an author-illustrator and two-time winner of the Caldecott Medal, has a gorgeous picture-book, “If You Come to Earth.” It’s designed for readers between the ages of 5 and 8.

You can pre-register for the National Book Festival here. The full Virtual Festival Platform will open beginning at 9 a.m. ET on Friday, Sept. 25.

Finally, as a reminder, PBS stations will broadcast “The Library of Congress National Book Festival: Celebrating American Ingenuity,” a two-hour program featuring some of the biggest names at the festival, launching on Sunday, Sept. 27, 6-8 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings) and continuing through the fall. It will be hosted by Hoda Kotb of NBC News’ “TODAY” show and the daughter of a long-time Library employee. The program will also be available for on-demand streaming online and through the PBS app.