Library of Congress's Blog, page 53

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!

[image error]

#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.)

 

 

 

 

[image error]

#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.

 

 

[image error]

 

#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?

 

 

 

 

 

[image error]

 

#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.

 

 

 

 

[image error]

 

#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.

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe  to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

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.

[image error]

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.

Subscribe  to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

We’re Open! National Book Festival 2020

[image error]

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!

[image error]

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

{mediaObjectId:'AFDA863CD7D5203FE053CAE7938CD971',playerSize:'mediumStandard'}

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.

Subscribe  to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

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.

Darkness and Light: The European World of 15th-Century Woodcuts

[image error]

Detail from Albrecht Dürer’s The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, from “The Apocalypse” (series) c. 1496/1498 (published 1511). Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

This is a guest post by Stephanie Stillo, curator of the Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press in 15th century Europe spawned a rich variety of typefaces that fostered regional differences in woodcut illustrations. These represent one of the most exciting eras in the history of books.

To start, let’s consider the dark gothic typeface employed in Northern Europe at the time. It paired well with the thick and pronounced lines of German and Netherlandish woodcuts. For example, in 1483 printer and publisher Anton Sorg of Augsburg printed the “Concilium zu Constanz” (Council of Konstanz), which documented papal-sponsored meetings and festivals in the city of Konstanz, Germany, between 1414 and 1418. The events in Konstanz aimed to unify the Catholic Church after the election of three separate popes, a remarkable historical episode known as the Great Schism.

[image error]

“Concilium zu Constanz,” Augsburg, Anton Sorg, 1483. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

The Konstanz festivities were documented by Ulrich of Richental, who attended the festivities and, quite possibly, church committee meetings. Likely working from Richental’s manuscript copy, Sorg printed an illustrated edition of the events in 1483.  Sorg’s “Concilium zu Constanz” employed a dark gothic type to accompany the heavy subject matter of the woodcuts illustrating everything from jousting tournaments to the execution of Bohemian Catholic dissenters Jan Hus and Jerome of Prague.

A little over a decade later, the great Venetian publisher Aldus Manutius released the “Hypnerotomachia Poliphili,” one of the finest, most unusual books of the 15th century. The two works demonstrate the often remarkable difference between Northern and Southern European woodcuts. The light and airy typeface of the “Hypnerotomachia” strikes a perfect balance with the elegant and enigmatic woodcuts that visualize the journey of young Poliphilo through a bizarre, dream-like landscape. The harmony between text and image can be credited most directly to type designer Francesco Griffo of Bologna, who created the crisp Roman-inspired type that paired seamlessly with the thin, delicate lines of 171 woodcuts. Despite the enduring fame of Manutius’ illustrated masterpiece, the identity of both the author and illustrator of the “Hypnerotomachia” is still a subject of intense debate. The list of leading suspects is august. Venetian Dominican priest and poet Francesco Colonna has been widely credited with writing the lyrical (and somewhat impenetrable) prose, while the illustrations have often been ascribed to famed Italian artists Andrea Mantegna and Raphael.

[image error]

Detail from “Hypnerotomachia Poliphili.” Printed by Aldus Manutius, 1499. Author and illustrator unknown. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

The graphic differences between Northern and Southern woodcuts fused in painter and printmaker Albrecht Dürer. Dürer apprenticed under German woodcut artists Michael Wolgemut and was son-in-law to Nuremburg’s powerhouse publisher Anton Koberger. At the same time, the artist was singularly captivated by the linear perspective of Italian artists such as Mantegna, Gentile Bellini and Leonardo da Vinci.

Throughout his career, Dürer created masterful graphic works that fused the natural, well-proportioned Italian style with the bold, gothic form of his native Northern Europe. For example, immediately upon his return from his first sojourn in Venice, Dürer released what would become one of his most famous woodcut series, “Apocalipsis cum figure” in 1498.

Like much of his work, Dürer’s visionary illustrations for the “Apocalypse” were a product of his Northern roots and Southern exposure. The artist used Koberger’s 1483 illustrated Bible (printed with woodcuts from Heinrich Quentell’s famous 1478 Cologne Bible) as a graphic template for his “Apocalypse” series. Perhaps influenced by his Germanic exemplar, these woodcuts assert an undeniable Northern gothic flavor.

[image error]

Albrecht Dürer. Detail from the Apocalypse [Apocalypsis] (series) c. 1496/1498 (published 1511). National Gallery of Art. Rosenwald Collection. 1980. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

However, the series also reveals Dürer’s fascination with the major tenets of Italian Renaissance art. The flat, fixed image of Koberger’s Bible are replaced by effusive and dimensional figures whose freedom of movement demand deeper inspection and contemplation. Additionally, Dürer crowded both background and foreground with vivid detail, extending the same care and consideration to the Horsemen of the Apocalypse as those being trampled under the harbingers of war, pestilence and death.

Taken together, these divergent woodcut designs demonstrate the profound experimentation in book production during the first 50 years after Gutenberg’s invention. Nowhere was this experimentation more apparent than in the illustrated books of the late 15th century. From the spectacular graphics of early block books to the metal cuts, paste prints, and woodcuts of the same period, experimentation in early printed books is a rich, liminal and exciting moment in the history of the book.

Subscribe  to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

2020 National Book Festival: Hearing Black Voices

The “Hearing Black Voices” topic thread at the 2020 all-online National Book Festival brings nearly 30 authors to speak about some of the most pressing issues in American life, from police brutality to social injustice to soaring literature about the way we live now.

It’s the second of three threads we’ll be showcasing – the other two are “Fearless Women” and “Democracy in the 21st Century” – and like the others, it ranges from children’s books to complex non-fiction, from poetry to fantasy. The festival, running Sept. 25-27, is entirely online this year due to COVID-19, but you can plop down in front of your screens – instead of at a single stage – and spend each day watching some of the world’s biggest names in publishing. You’ll also get the chance to talk with authors via interactive chats throughout each day. At the close of the festival, the live Q&A sessions will be available if you missed any.

[image error]

Colson Whitehead. Photo: Madeline Whitehead

There are 26 presentations in “Black Voices,” headlined by Colson Whitehead, the two-time Pulitzer winner and this year’s Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction honoree. The 50-year-old native of Manhattan will be talking about how his identity – as an American, a Black man, a New Yorker – shapes his literary vision and what he chooses to write about.

Two of his heroes as a teenager, he says, were the musician David Bowie and the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. He approximated their gifts for reinventing new styles and personas from project to project and, so, shaped a unique approach to novel writing, which varies from genre to genre, from voice to voice and from era to era. “The Underground Railroad,” is a surreal slave narrative, “Zone One” is a zombie novel, “Sag Harbor” is a coming of age story and so on.

“You can definitely say something is Philip Roth-esque and you can definitely say ‘I hear Toni Morrison, that must be Toni Morrison,’ ” said Marie Arana, the Library’s literary director, naming two previous PAF winners. “But you cannot really say ‘I hear Colson Whitehead’ because there’s nothing Colson-esque about Colson. He’s the essence of reinvention every time.”

The science fiction and fantasy category is a marvel this year, with N.K. Jemisin discussing her novel “The City We Became,” Marlon James talking about his “Black Leopard, Red Wolf” and YA author Tomi Adeyemi talking about her sensational West African fantasy epics, “Children of Blood and Bone,” and “Children of Virtue and Vengeance.”

National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature Jason Reynolds, always a crowd favorite, will talk about “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You,” which he wrote with Ibram X. Kendi. The latter will also be in conversation with Saeed Jones, author of “How We Fight For Our Lives,” discussing their work combating racist beliefs across American society.

Finally, James McBride and Walter Mosley, two long-time masters of the form, will be here to talk about their latest works.

McBride is a chameleon, like Whitehead. He’s a professional musician who’s worked with jazz greats, written (among others) a best-selling memoir, “The Color of Water,” and won the National Book Award for “The Good Lord Bird,” a fanciful retelling of the raid on Harpers Ferry by abolitionist John Brown. He’ll be discussing “Deacon King Kong,” his newest novel, a darkly comic take on Brooklyn in the 1960s.

Mosley, likewise, has written prolifically over the years in multiple genres. He started out with a mystery series set in Los Angeles (“Devil in a Blue Dress” was the first title) but has gone on to write science fiction, erotica, non-fiction essays and screenplays. He won a Grammy for his liner notes to a Richard Pryor collection and has half a dozen credits as a television or film producer. For his crime novels, he was recognized with the Grand Master Award by the Mystery Writers of America (also known as the Edgars), and the National Book Foundation will award him the 2020 Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters later this year. He’ll be talking about his newest collection of short stories, “The Awkward Black Man.”

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.

Follow the festival on Twitter @libraryofcongress with hashtag #NatBookFest, and subscribe to the National Book Festival blog at loc.gov/bookfest.

The Taft Papers and a Titanic Tragedy

[image error]

The Titanic, 1912. Photo: Acme Newspictures, Inc. Prints and Photographs Division.

This is a guest post by Margaret McAleer, a historian in the Manuscript Division.

Major Archie Butt, a friend and aide to two presidents, stood on the deck of the sinking RMS Titanic in the early morning hours of April 15, 1912. He and Frank Millet, his close friend and perhaps more, would not survive the next few hours, although exactly how they died has been a source of Titanic conjecture for more than a century.

The story of Butt’s death is one of the most touching moments in the Library’s newly digitized William H. Taft Papers. Taft, a Republican and native of Ohio, was born on this day in 1857. He came of age in the era of American inventions that changed the world — the telegraph, electricity, lights, recordings, film, automobiles, planes and, of course, massive steam-powered ships. His is the largest of the Manuscript Division’s 23 presidential collections, comprising approximately 676,000 documents covering his personal life and public career, including his term as U.S. president, 1909-1913, and his tenure as chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, 1921-1930. As with many of the Library’s presidential collections, the Taft Papers reveal with touching intimacy the humanity of the president, his family and staff.

Few moments are more moving than his devastation at the death of Butt, a man he regarded as a “younger brother.” Taft wept so openly at one of his memorial services that he had to be led from the podium.

“Never did I know how much he was to me until he was dead,” Taft eulogized.

Beginning in the early 1890s, Archibald Willingham Butt succeeded in making Washington, D.C., his own. The affable Georgia native was well-liked in the city from the moment he arrived as a newspaper correspondent. In 1898, Butt signed up with the military when war broke out with Spain. His military uniforms became his signature look, as he was quite the dandy: “A flash of bewild’ring dazzle,” the poet William J. Lampton wrote.

Butt became President Theodore Roosevelt’s friend and military aide in 1908, taking to the White House whirl with “boyish delight,” according to a former aide.

[image error]

Archie Butt, at left, and President Taft, right, reviewing a parade. Photo: Bain News Service. Prints and Photographs Division.

In 1909, Taft asked Butt to stay on when he succeeded Roosevelt as president. He had known Butt since he was governor general of the Philippines and Butt was stationed there. The transition was easy, as Roosevelt and Taft were political allies and friends.

Butt purchased a large house in Foggy Bottom, sharing the place with Francis Davis Millet, an esteemed artist who was at least 17 years his senior. Millet also served on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts. The pair, with another housemate, often entertained, hosting parties that included Taft, Roosevelt and other members of Washington’s elite.

Historians debate the nature of their relationship. Butt was a lifelong bachelor. Millet frequently lived apart from his wife and family as he pursued far-flung commissions. He was known to have same-sex relationships. Their friendship deepened when Millet offered to paint Butt’s portrait in his Georgetown studio, a portrait Butt described as an incredible act of generosity. According to a mutual friend, it was “a labour of love.” Yet another friend commented, after their deaths, that they had “shared a sympathy of mind which is most unusual.”

[image error]

Archie Butt in 1909. Photo: Bain News Service. Prints and Photographs Division.

Still, Washington can destroy even those who love it.

The happy Roosevelt-Taft orbit in which Butt flourished became toxic by 1912. The former and current presidents turned against one other in a heated contest for the Republican nomination; Taft felt betrayed and doomed.

Butt was wrecked by this bitter rivalry between two men he adored. Travel and stress caused him to drop nearly 20 pounds. “If I am to go through this frightful summer,” Butt wrote to his sister-in-law, Clara, two days after Roosevelt announced his intention to run, “I must have a rest now.”

Millet was concerned about Butt and insisted that he accompany him to Italy while he attended to business at the American Academy in Rome and then travel elsewhere on the continent for a few weeks. Taft urged him to go, too, and Butt sailed for Europe with Millet on March 1. Once at sea, he wrote to Taft’s secretary, asking him to book return travel for him on the maiden voyage of the most elite liner ever built: “I want to come back by the Titanic.”

Those who saw him in Europe during the next six weeks reported mostly that he was downcast and apprehensive. “He came to us in a depressed and sad state of mind,” reported relatives in England. Marian Longstreth Thayer, the socialite and fellow Titanic passenger, observed that he “did not know how he was going to stand the rushing life he was returning to.”

Butt’s mood reportedly lifted as he left London to meet the Titanic in Southampton. Millet joined the ship in Cherbourg, and they settled into their first-class accommodations.

Disaster struck four days later at 11:40 p.m., Sunday, April 14. Butt and Millett were playing cards with several others when the ship struck the iceberg.

[image error]

Butt’s death was deeply felt in Washington, as evidenced by coverage in The Washington Times on April 19, 1912.

Later, survivors told many different stories of Butt’s final hours.

Some said he coolly played cards until nearly the end. Thayer wrote Taft that he rushed unseeing past her on the way to his stateroom. Mostly there was the press’s heroic take that Butt took charge, ushering women and children into lifeboats and threatening to kill any man who tried to take their place. It’s never been clear which, if any or all, are true. One heartbreaking anecdote — which had him helping Marie G. Young into the last spot in the last lifeboat, then gallantly tipping his hat as they were lowered away — was debunked by Young in a letter to Taft, saying she did not see him at all that night. Millet, it was reported, was last seen helping women into lifeboats.

[image error]

Excerpt from Taft’s official diary of April 15, 1912.

Meanwhile, in Washington, President Taft waited late into the night on April 15 for updates on the disaster and then into the next day. A telegram at 4:20 p.m. on April 16 said Millet was saved, but there was no word on Butt.

Within days, the bitter truth emerged. Millet’s body was recovered, floating among the wreckage. He was 63. The body of Butt, 46, was never found. Newspapers devoted pages of coverage to Butt’s passing.

[image error]

“Oh, Mr. Taft, is there any chance of seeing either my Husband of him [Butt]  here again …” distraught letter from Marian Longstreth Thayer, who dined with Butt on Titanic’s final night. Manuscript Division.

To another, he confessed to seeing Butt in “every place I walk, every man I meet, every woman I meet. . . . The sweet flavor of his presence is with me always.” On May 5, while speaking at Butt’s memorial service in D.C., Taft broke down and could not continue.
[image error]

Butt-Millet memorial. Photo: Jacob Dinkelaker, National Park Service

He soon supported the construction of a memorial fountain to Butt and Millet — the only two federal officials lost in the disaster — in President’s Park on the White House Ellipse. Sculpted by the famed Daniel Chester French, it depicts an allegorical male figure (Butt) who holds a shield and sword as symbols of military valor. A female figure (Millet) holds a brush and palette evoking the arts.

Taft’s instincts about his reelection chances were accurate.

In the general election in November, he and Roosevelt split votes, allowing the Democrat, Woodrow Wilson, to claim an overwhelming victory of 435 Electoral College votes. Roosevelt, by then running as a Progressive, had 88 and Taft, the Republican incumbent, won just 8.

Taft was not finished in public life. He would go on to become one of the nation’s most consequential U.S. Supreme Court chief justices. Still, there is little doubt that the Titanic, and the loss of Archie Butt, never truly left his mind.

Subscribe  to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

The 2020 National Book Festival: Fearless Women

[image error]

It’s not every poet who blows a mean sax, but U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo does. She’ll be at the virtual 2020 National Book Festival. We’re hoping she’ll bring the sax. Photo: Shawn Miller.

The 2020 National Book Festival will feature three major threads – “Fearless Women,” “Hearing Black Voices” and “Democracy in the 21st Century” – that will anchor the Library’s 20th festival and its first virtual one. The festival’s theme is “Celebrating American Ingenuity” and, as always, the ideas, inspiration and conversations will flow from an array of some of the nation’s biggest names in publishing.

The Sept. 25-27 festival is all online this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, marking yet another venue for an event that’s been held on the Library’s grounds, the National Mall and the D.C. Convention Center. The all-digital format will mean that you’ll be navigating events on your screen instead of weaving from one conference room to another – or, as many fans like to do, plunk down in one room and devote the day to a single stage of speakers.

But this year’s major themes, the “Timely Topic Threads,” enable viewers to weave from stage to stage, all while following the overarching themes of women’s history, Black perspectives and the changing nature of democracy. Navigating each thread, you’ll be able to follow the topic from fiction to non-fiction to poetry, for example, and through reading levels from children to adult.

“Instead of a traditional book festival setting, where you limit yourself to a genre meant for a certain age group, we wanted to show that you can go from the history/biography stage to the fiction stage to children’s books, all while following themes that reveal what we’re thinking right now,” said Marie Arana, the Library’s literary director.

At the close of the festival, there will be live interactive chats with authors to discuss the insights gleaned from these threads and their very diverse voices.

“These are subjects that are on peoples’ minds right now, no question about it, from the women’s suffrage centennial, to governments the world over re-evaluating where democracies stand, to the very compelling Black voices that are at the forefront of contemporary consciousness,” Arana said. “I’m seeing publishing being transformed by Black women being put in powerful positions. It’s quite a remarkable and wonderful transformation.”

For now, let’s talk about the first thread, “Fearless Women.” (We’ll feature the others in future posts.) This features 23 authors on 19 programs, all sponsored by the Women’s Suffrage Centennial Commission.

[image error]

Madeleine Albright. Photo courtesy of author.

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will talk about her new memoir, “Hell and Other Destinations,” a recounting of how she’s thrown herself into several different careers since she left office in 2001. She was asked at the time how she wanted to be remembered; she had, after all, been born in Prague, fled the Nazi occupation as a child, eventually settled in the United States and became the nation’s first female top diplomat. When she left the government, she was 63.

“I don’t want to be remembered,” Albright replied. “I’m still here.”

Since then, she’s written numerous books (seven of them New York Times’ bestsellers), lectured, traveled, started a business, played with her grandchildren and stayed active in political circles. She was awarded the presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

Joy Harjo, the U.S. Poet Laureate and the first Native American to hold that post, will discuss her latest book of poetry, “American Sunrise.” The poems tell the story of the forced removal of Harjo’s ancestors, the Mvskoke people (also called the Muscogee or Creek), from east of the Mississippi to present-day Oklahoma, then called Indian territory. Harjo returns to those lands, fashioning poems from both her personal and tribal histories.

Melinda Gates will talk about “The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World,” her 2019 book about her work developing projects for women and girls around the world. The former Microsoft executive is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest philanthropy. She’s also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company that works to drive social progress for women and their families in the U.S. and around the world.

[image error]

Haben Girma. Photo: Sean Fenn.

And there’s the remarkable memoir “Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law,” the story of the first person with her disabilities to graduate from that prestigious institution. Haben Girma, the 32-year-old author and disability advocate, is often called a modern-day Helen Keller for her spirited innovations and achievements, and she’ll be talking about them all.

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. The television special 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.

Subscribe  to the blog— it’s free! — and the largest library in world history will send cool stories straight to your inbox.

Navigating the Virtual Book Festival

[image error]

The 2020 National Book Festival was always going to be special — it’s the 20th year of the much-loved annual celebration of books and reading, after all. But exactly how unique it would be, no one could have foreseen.

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic makes it impossible to hold the festival in its usual venue, the Washington, D.C., convention center, where 200,000-plus book lovers typically come together. It’s vast, but there is no way a crowd of that size could social distance, even in that space. So, the festival will be entirely virtual this year.

[image error]It will take place Sept. 25–27 and culminate in a national television broadcast on PBS stations.

No doubt, many regular festivalgoers may worry they will miss meeting favorite authors in person or navigating the happy chaos of the convention center. Yet, the virtual version of the festival — titled “Celebrating American Ingenuity” — offers unique advantages.

For one, attendees can see every author they wish to — no hard choices have to be made. For another, no queuing is required. For yet another, links and interactive features will make it possible to engage with Library collections throughout the event — a festival first.

In other ways, the festival experience will approximate what fans have come to expect. There will be book talks across multiple genres — more than 120 writers, poets and illustrators are presenting this year — and audience members will have opportunities to address questions to authors. There will be book buying through Politics and Prose, the festival’s official bookseller. And there will be virtual spaces where attendees can chat with Library staff and festival sponsors and discover an array of fun activities and resources for children and teachers.

Live engagement with the festival will occur through a special National Book Festival platform, accessible on the Library’s website at loc.gov/bookfest/.

“The platform aims to provide the best representation of the amazing content festival attendees are accustomed to,” Jarrod MacNeil of the Center for Learning, Literacy and Engagement said. He directs the Library’s Signature Programs Office, which manages the festival.

Once festivalgoers register on the platform, they can build schedules. All of the authors recorded presentations in advance that can be viewed anytime during the festival and afterward. In addition, dozens will participate in question-and-answer sessions each day of the event. Attendees might want to first add live question-and-answer sessions to their personal calendars — the festival schedule lists times for them — then fill out their calendars with prerecorded on-demand videos. Or, they can forgo a schedule entirely and just follow their interests.

The festival will launch on Sept. 25 with a daylong celebration of children’s and teen literature. The timing — a Friday — coincides with a school day, so teachers and students can listen to author talks together. On-demand videos for children’s and teen stages will be released at 9 a.m., and live sessions with some of the authors will follow — among them Gene Luen Yang, the 2016–17 national ambassador for young people’s literature, and Mike Curato, whose first graphic novel, “Flamer,” was published this month.

Other children’s and teen’s authors will appear live during the festival’s following two days, and videos for all the other festival stages will be released at 9 a.m. on Sept. 26. Live sessions will begin at 10 a.m. that day and continue through Sunday.

All on-demand videos will be made available simultaneously on the platform, the Library’s YouTube page and the National Book Festival site. So, festivalgoers will have options as to where they view prerecorded presentations.

Live interaction will occur exclusively on the platform, however. Live sessions will be recorded as they occur and posted on the platform soon afterward — anywhere from an hour to a few hours later, depending on a session’s length, to ensure quality.

Between author talks, attendees might choose to engage in favorite festival activities in a virtual version of the traditional expo floor.

“We have spaces for communicating as if you were walking the expo floor,” MacNeil said. “You can talk with sponsors. You can talk with Centers for the Book from around the U.S. You can engage with Library staff to talk about specific content areas.”

Significant Library collections materials in an area titled “Explore the Library of Congress” will link to three newsworthy threads that thematically tie together books across the festival’s stages.

“Fearless Women” marks the 100th anniversary this year of women’s suffrage by highlighting books by and about strong women for readers of all ages — from Chelsea Clinton’s new children’s book about American Olympians and former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright’s memoir about leadership to Melinda Gates’ book about women’s empowerment and Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s account of the life and times of Harriet Tubman.
“Hearing Black Voices” showcases Black voices across genres — biography, sci-fi, poetry, memoir. The lineup of more than a dozen writers includes two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead, winner of the Library’s 2020 Prize for American Fiction, in conversation with the festival’s literary director, Marie Arana, and Jason Reynolds, the national ambassador for young people’s literature, who will talk about “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism and You,” the young adult title he co-wrote with National Book Award winner Ibram X. Kendi.
A third theme, “Democracy in the 21st Century,” brings together books for all ages focusing on where democracy stands today. Children’s writer Don Tate will present the remarkable, little-known story of William Still, known as the father of the Underground Railroad. Authors Christopher Caldwell and Thomas Frank will discuss “The Road to Populism.” And three of America’s most notable political journalists — Peter Baker (New York Times), Susan Glasser (New Yorker) and George Packer (The Atlantic) — will explore how Washington works and the statesmanship necessary to navigate it.

New to the festival this year is the Family, Food and Field stage. It centers around books about the home, family life and recreation. Jesse Dougherty will present her new book, “Buzz Saw: The Improbable Story of How the Washington Nationals Won the World Series,” while Bill Buford will discuss “Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking.”

An all-time favorite festival activity — book signing — will take place in advance of the festival. Many authors are signing a commemorative 2020 National Book Festival book plate that will be included with book purchases while supplies last. Attendees can buy books through links provided with author videos that will take them to the Politics and Prose online store.

Toward the end of the live segment of the festival, at 5 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, a system-wide notification will invite attendees to view the PBS broadcast special on their local stations. At 6 p.m., interactive functionality will close down.

Unlike in past years, however, attendees can end their days with no regrets: If they missed seeing an author during the festival, all is not lost. They can view all the festival content online right away and for as long as they’d like — certainly one of the best benefits of an all-virtual festival.

The event platform will remain accessible for two months after the festival itself, and videos will be available in perpetuity through the Library’s book festival and YouTube sites.

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.