Library of Congress's Blog, page 81

My Job at the Library: Cataloging Children’s Literature

This interview with Ann Sullivan was first published in the September–October issue of LCM, the Library of Congress magazine. The issue is available in its entirety online. After reading the interview, make sure to take the quiz that follows!

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Ann Sullivan. Photo by Shawn Miller

How would you describe your work?

I catalog children’s books at the Library of Congress. This involves adding the usual suspects, such as author, title and publisher, to the cataloging record, plus elements unique to children’s cataloging — including a 30- to 35-word summary and special subject headings for children and teens. Most of my time is spent determining the headings and composing the annotation. Summary writing is not for sissies. How do you capture the essence of a book in 35 words? It is both challenging and satisfying. In addition to cataloging incoming materials, I meet with colleagues to write cataloging policy — the rules we follow to use the headings consistently.

How did you prepare for your current position?

At the Library, I worked briefly in the National Union Catalog filing unit; the Prints and Photographs Division, where poster curator Elena Millie gave me the cool project of cataloging the Artcraft collection of three-sheet Broadway theater posters; and in the Subject Cataloging Division, where I worked as a shelf lister, completing the call number. It was a great introduction to the bibliographic record. I also shelved books in my mom’s school library, took children’s literature courses at the University of Maryland and earned my master’s in library science.

What have been some of your most memorable experiences at the Library?

In the 1980s, encountering Jacqueline Onassis’ name and business phone number on the Cataloging-in-Publication application form. She was an editor at Doubleday, and her contact details were listed in case a Library cataloger needed to call the publisher with questions about submitted galleys. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to talk to Jackie — her galleys were always perfect.
Discovering the variety and depth in children’s literature and noting the trends over the decades, from farting dogs and celebrity authors to meta picture books and young wizards saving the world. I can honestly say that in 32 years, I have never been bored.
Meeting wonderful people all over the Library as a Library of Congress Professional Association volunteer and board member.
Proofreading the Library’s Gazette staff newsletter on Tuesday night (production night) back in the day when Peter Braestrup, the newsletter’s founder, brought us a bucket of popcorn popped in suspicious oil from nearby Gandel’s liquor store. Peter would kick back, light up a cigar and call me that “nitpicky cataloger” whenever I spotted a typo.

What are some of your favorite collection items for children?

My favorite children’s books are stories by authors who respect children. As author Mo Willems says, “Children are shorter, not dumber.” I love books in which children make discoveries about themselves and the world. Books that say it’s okay to be different. Books that make you laugh and cry. And books with the message that no matter how small you are, you can make a difference in the world.

Name That Book!

Can you guess the titles and authors of these books just by reading the summaries from their Library of Congress bibliographic record?

When a bus driver takes a break from his route, a very unlikely volunteer springs up to take his place.
Mr. and Mrs. Mallard proudly return to their home in the Boston Public Garden with their eight offspring.
The family routine is upset during Ramona’s year in second grade when her father unexpectedly loses his job.

Answers

“Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus,” by Mo Willems
“Make Way for Ducklings,” by Robert McCloskey
“Ramona and Her Father,” Beverly Cleary

New Online: Circus Workers Folklife Project

This is a guest post by Stephen Winick of the American Folklife Center. It was first published on the center’s blog, Folklife Today. A companion post about circus life in Hugo, Oklahoma, is available here.

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Juliana Nykolaiszyn (left) and Tanya Finchum (right) of the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program with circus worker B.K. Silverlake at the Kelly Miller Circus in Hugo, Oklahoma, in March 2012.

The American Folklife Center (AFC) is delighted to announce the online presentation of an important new oral history collection documenting the lives and careers of multigenerational circus workers in Hugo, Oklahoma. “The ‘Big Top’ Show Goes On: An Oral History of Occupations Inside and Outside the Canvas Tent” was created by librarians Tanya D. Finchum and Juliana Nykolaiszyn.

In 2011, Finchum and Nykolaiszyn, of the Oklahoma Oral History Research Program at Oklahoma State University’s Edmon Low Library in Stillwater, Oklahoma, received an Archie Green Fellowship from the American Folklife Center to research and document oral histories from multigenerational circuses, circus workers and circus families in Hugo, Oklahoma. For several generations, Hugo has been a “wintering over” town for small, family-owned circuses. Many of its current residents are working, semi-retired or retired circus workers. Circus references are found throughout the municipality, from store signs to gravestones.

In the course of numerous research trips to Hugo, Finchum and Nykolaiszyn recorded 24 interviews with circus workers, most of whom had worked a variety of different and colorful jobs during their circus careers. The fieldworkers also obtained digital copies of historical photographs, including images from the Carson and Barnes, Culpepper and Merriweather and Kelly Miller Circuses, and photographed circus-inspired tombstones at the local cemetery, Showmen’s Rest. The resulting collection — which also includes audio files from eight short “Then and Now” programs produced by the fieldworkers and broadcast by KOSU public radio in 2012 — is now part of the Library of Congress’s permanent collection.

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A crowd lines up to see the Al G. Kelly and Miller Bros. Circus. Undated. From the collection of Michael Fulton.

“The ‘Big Top’ Show Goes On” is part of a multiyear AFC project to document workers in contemporary America. Over the past eight years, supported by AFC’s competitive Archie Green Fellowships program, more than 40 researchers and research teams throughout the United States have received funding to document oral histories with workers in a wide variety of trades. Interviewees include ironworkers, hairdressers, electricians, home health care workers, longshoremen, funeral home employees, gold miners, racetrack workers, tobacco farmers and many more working Americans from all sectors of contemporary society.

Through the AFC’s ongoing Occupational Folklife Project, oral histories of hundreds of American workers — stories of how they learned their trades, their skills and work routines, legendary jobs (good and bad), respected mentors and flamboyant co-workers and their hopes for their futures — are now part of the national record. These oral histories not only enrich our current understanding of our fellow Americans, but will inform scholars and researchers for generations to come about the lives of contemporary workers at the beginning of the 21st century.

As AFC Director Betsy Peterson notes, “With the launch of AFC’s innovative [Occupational Folklife Project], researchers and members of the public will have direct access to hundreds of hours of compelling fieldwork. They will be able to hear the interviews and view fieldwork images and documentation that previously could be accessed only by visiting the Library in Washington.”

“The ‘Big Top’ Show Goes On” is a particularly compelling collection. As project co-director Nykolaiszyn notes, “The interviews in this collection not only shed light on the nature of circus work, but also amplify the historically marginalized voices of showmen and women.”

And, Finchum adds, “The traveling tent circus is like moving a small city 200 times a year and, as such, operates as a well-oiled, orchestrated unit. These interviews invite ‘towners’ into the back yard of a traveling tent circus community, and reveal that ‘running away to join the circus’ does not translate to an easy life. Still, these family circuses continue to bring people of all ages, from all walks of life and from all corners of the world together for a few hours of shared entertainment.”

New Online: Congressional Web Archive Adds Content

This is a guest post by Robert Brammer of the Law Library. It was first published on “In Custodia Legis,” the Law Library’s blog.

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The United States Congressional Web Archive

The Library of Congress Web Archiving Program is dedicated to providing reliable access to historical web content from the legislative branch. To that end, the Library has just released an update to the United States Congressional Web Archive.

The archive, which includes member sites from the House and Senate, as well as House and Senate committee websites, now includes content for the 113th and 114th Congresses. The archive has also added subject facets for the 105th and 106th Congresses to enhance access to the older content in the archive.

We invite you to explore this new Library of Congress content, as well as other new archive collections, such as the Foreign Law Web Archive.

 

Letters about Literature: Aiming for the Sweet Spot

This is a guest blog post by Sukanya Barman. She was an 11th-grade student at White Station High School in Memphis when she became a winner of the 2017–18 Letters About Literature contest , a reading and writing competition for students in grades four through 12 that involves reading a work and writing to its author (living or dead). Entries for the 2018–19 contest are now being accepted. Here Barman writes about her experience as a participant.  

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Sukanya Barman

I never expected much to come from the letter.

It was an assignment over winter break in my junior-year English class. My teacher handed out the formatting guidelines and told us that we wouldn’t be graded on content; instead, we would just be getting a completion grade for submitting an entry for the competition.

I wasn’t too concerned about it; my family and I were going on a long vacation, where we drove across the country from Tennessee to Arizona, exploring the incredible national parks in the West together. I was much too busy exploring these incredible sights to even attempt to write this letter, but there was still something intrinsically reflective about standing on the edge of the Grand Canyon and staring into the marvels that nature had wrought. I felt small, eclipsed by the beauty and wonder of the world around me.

It was on the drive home that I began to seriously consider what book has changed me the most, out of the countless I’ve read along the way. There was a little bit of casual competition involved as well — my sister had placed second in Tennessee in this same writing contest five years ago.

It was there, in the back of our 2013 Honda Civic, surrounded by my family and on my way home, that I truly started to think about my letter. Book after book flew through my mind — “Harry Potter” shaped my childhood, Brandon Sanderson fueled my love of fantasy and pushed it to greater heights, “Outliers” helped me understand the world. But in the end, instead of choosing a book that shaped me, I chose a book that I grew into.

I remembered “Catalyst” by Laurie Halse Anderson, a novel I had re-read a few months ago. I had initially stumbled upon it in middle school, after I finished “Speak” by the same author. I rested my head against the window and watched the scenery flashing by before my eyes as I thought about how much I had changed in between those two readings. I thought about how much more impactful the book became just a few years later and about how just a few years can make such a difference in my outlook.

This was how I chose the book; the truly difficult part came afterward — the writing. We had returned to our home only a few days before the new semester began, and thus only a few days before the due date for the letter. I couldn’t focus on writing, and every sentence that was forced onto the Word document was worse than the last. At that point, as most teens would do, I took a break to watch some Netflix. In the earliest hours of the morning, I surfaced from my late-night marathon and decided that I needed to at least draft this letter. And so, I did.

Writing this letter so late at night meant that my internal filters had come down, making the letter significantly more genuine. I had been struggling to find the words earlier, but now they came spilling out in a cathartic release, as if they’d been there all along just waiting for me to discover them. These were my deepest fears, my deepest insecurities, my deepest vulnerabilities. I had finally found the words to describe exactly why I had managed to relate to Kate Malone so fundamentally, and they came pouring out (along with quite a few tears in the process).

The next day, or I suppose later that same day, I read it over, slightly mortified by the emotional vulnerabilities I had expressed. I did delete some of the most embarrassing sentences, and I spent some time cleaning up and editing the mess that had exploded onto the document. I assumed that not many people would end up reading this, which made me more comfortable submitting the letter. Eventually, I decided it was good enough and called it a day. The next day, I printed it out and gave it to my English teacher. I got my completion grade, which was the end of it as far as I was concerned.

One day, a few months later, I walked into AP Language and Composition to see my name on the board as the first-place winner in my state. Absolutely shocked, I went back to read the letter I had submitted, and I seriously wondered whether my letter had been mixed up with someone else’s because, to me, the writing seemed terrible — select sentences were cliché, my word choice was lacking in some spots and some parts just sounded bad. My teacher asked me to send her a copy, and when she expressed how much she enjoyed it, I became even more confused. In the end, I accepted the prize gratefully and decided that maybe others could see something in the letter that I could not.

Then, when I got the call that I had been chosen as a National Honor recipient, I became even more flabbergasted. I ran around my house in a frenzy, in absolute disbelief and delight. When I read my letter yet again, it looked like a pile of trash; there are so many edits I would love to make, which makes it even more frustrating to see it published online.

There are multiple ways that I would take this. Maybe I should have written it earlier, so that I could edit it more thoroughly. At the same time, however, when pieces of writing become too edited, sometimes they can lose that spark that made them heartfelt or interesting in the first place. In all honesty, I have never been truly and fully satisfied with a piece of writing in my life. For me, the real trick is about finding when to stop — that sweet spot where the writing is clear and in your style and also has life. For anybody who is planning on entering this contest, my main suggestion would be to hone in on the emotions and try to let the writing flow naturally from there.

Because I never expected much from this letter, the things that it has given me have become more precious. Beyond the prize money or the bragging rights for one-upping my sister, it’s given me a more thorough understanding of the role of emotion in writing and the opportunity to share my personal thoughts and reflections with far more people than I ever would have thought.

Page from the Past: Over the Rainbow, Into the Library

This post is republished from the September–October issue of LCM, the Library of Congress magazine. Read the issue in its entirety online.

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Color plate illustration from “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.”

“The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” ranks as one of the greatest American books for children, and its evocative original artwork today is both cherished and exceedingly rare.

The phenomenally successful book, written by L. Frank Baum and published in 1900, soon inspired adaptions for the stage, silent film and, most famously, the iconic 1939 color film starring Judy Garland.

Baum’s book was illustrated by his friend William Wallace Denslow, with whom he collaborated on other books such as “Father Goose: His Book,” “By the Candelabra’s Glare” and “Dot and Tot of Merryland.”

The design of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” was lavish for the time, with several color plate illustrations, backgrounds in different colors and illustrations on many pages.

The Library holds, among other Oz-related items, a first edition of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” that’s available for reading online and the original pen-and-ink drawing Wallace produced for the volume shown below (it appears on page 105 of the book).

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Pen and ink drawing by William Wallace Denslow.

The image is a familiar one, depicting the Tin Woodsman and the Scarecrow saving the Cowardly Lion from the deadly poppy field with the help of the Queen of the Field Mice and her followers: “Soon they rolled the Lion out of the poppy bed into the green fields, where he could breathe the sweet, fresh air again, instead of the poisonous scent of flowers.”

Baum and Denslow eventually ended their collaboration in a dispute over money, and Denslow used part of his royalties from his work on “Oz” to buy an island off Bermuda and proclaimed himself King Denslow I.

Today, Denslow’s original artwork brings readers back to the original presentation of the classic “Oz” story, long before multiple publications and motion pictures altered the original vision of Munchkins, wicked witches, flying monkeys and the Great Humbug.

Letters About Literature: Writing to a Favorite Author

This is a guest blog post by Malavika Kannan, a senior from Seminole High School in Sanford, Florida. She is a national winner of the 2017–18 Letters About Literature contest , a reading and writing competition for students in grades four through 12 that involves reading a work and writing to its author (living or dead). Entries for the 2018–19 contest are now being accepted. Here Kannan writes about her experience as a participant. 

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Malavika Kannan

Kurt Vonnegut and I don’t have a lot in common – at least, not on the surface.

He was a cynical old man, while I’m a teen who wants to change the world. He spent part of his youth dodging shellfire across war-torn Europe, while I worry more about dodging calculus homework. He was cantankerous, miserable and regrettably sexist. (I pray I age more gracefully than that.) But we’re both writers, and we tell stories because we need to. Because to us, writing is more than just an art, or a creative way of interpreting human society.

It is literally the only way to live.

So, when I discovered the Letters About Literature program, I was excited by the opportunity to explore my connections to my favorite author – to understand how I could use words to provoke with power. To start conversations. To carve my own space in the world. For my letter, I chose to write about Vonnegut’s famous antiwar novel, “Slaughterhouse-Five.” Although that book is dark, twisted and crude – literally, its nonsensical plot follows a traumatized veteran who believes he’s been kidnapped by aliens – I got it. It got me.

I wrote my letter during a long road trip through Texas. At first, when I opened up that blank document on my computer, I felt like I was staring into my own brain – blank, stuck, empty. So, I decided to do something crazy in my letter – I decided to tell the embarrassing, pathetic story behind the first time I read “Slaughterhouse-Five,” which was this: I read it in an attempt to impress someone I liked. And when things didn’t work out with this person, I was forced to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about life, literature and love. (This ended up changing my life.)

Maybe my letter wasn’t the most profound, intellectual piece of writing I’d ever created. It was unflattering and vulnerable and embarrassing, but it was authentic. In fact, the writing process felt so personal that I almost forgot that I was writing for the Letters About Literature competition. Ultimately, I think that’s what made my letter so compelling.

I was at school when I got the call that I had won Letters About Literature. At first, I couldn’t believe it. (I’m serious – I picked up the phone in the loud school cafeteria, so I wasn’t sure that I had heard correctly.) I could still remember visiting the Library of Congress as a little girl – how I’d stared up at the massive columns of books, how I’d wished I could live there – so it meant the world to be recognized by that institution. I cherished the letter signed by Carla Hayden, whom I’ve long admired. Kurt Vonnegut once said that the America he loved exists at the front desks of our public libraries, and on that point, I agree with him.

My Letters About Literature experience was transformative because I applied the knowledge I gained from my letter to everything in my life. As I worked on my own novel, I turned to Kurt Vonnegut for inspiration – whether I needed phrasing references, or modelled dialogue or just the simple reassurance that literary magic may be rare, but it’s real. Knowing that Vonnegut didn’t get his big break until he was 45 gave me the strength to persevere through the 38 times my novel was rejected by publishers.

This summer, I signed my first book contract, and while I’m forever indebted to authors who came before me, I’m excited to create my own literary path. As I take the next steps in my writing career, I believe the Letters About Literature program played a pivotal role in my journey. I’m grateful to have been recognized by the Library of Congress and given invaluable experience, exposure and inspiration for my future.

To my fellow teen writers – whether or not you win Letters About Literature, I promise that the contest is worth participating in. It’s not just that you’re getting a prestigious opportunity to fangirl/boy about your favorite book – although that’s definitely a legitimate perk! The best part of Letters About Literature is the chance to dive head-first into books, find something that speaks to you and take a piece for yourself. Whether you’re texting, pitching, praying, tweeting, verifying, chatting, scheming or recounting, the potential of literature and the written word will stick with you.

Pick your book, start writing and don’t forget to be your authentic, inquisitive and passionate self.

You’ve got this.

Pic of the Week: Battle of the Bulge Vets Visit the Library

[image error]Earlier this week, Battle of the Bulge Association veterans gathered in the Great Hall of the Library’s Jefferson Building for an event marking the battle’s 74th anniversary. While at the Library, they visited the offices of the Veterans History Project and viewed a special display of battle-related collection items prepared for them. Pictures here are battle veterans A. Wayne Field (from left) of the 6th Armored Division; Alvin Sussman of the 106th Infantry Division; George Krakosky of the 29th Infantry Division; and Eliot Annable of the 106th Infantry Division. Francis “Ken” Oakes (far right) is a World War II Navy veteran. Photo by Shawn Miller.

An 1848 Christmas Story: The Gift of Freedom

This is a guest post by Lavonda Kay Broadnax, digital reference specialist in the Library’s Research and Reference Services Division.

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Ellen Craft disguised in men’s garb.

December is a month of holidays and festivities that bring families and friends together to celebrate their good fortune and look forward to the year ahead. For the enslaved couple William and Ellen Craft, the month of December 1848 promised more reason to celebrate than any they’d ever experienced. The potential was uncertain, however, and fraught with peril. After years of careful planning and preparation, this was the optimal time, they decided, to implement their plan to gain their freedom.

A search of all of the documents in the Library of Congress would be unlikely to yield a scheme for freedom more intriguing and daring than the Christmas escape strategy of the Crafts. Even though theirs is heralded as one of the most brilliant escapes from slavery in American history, it’s far less well known than the exploits of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass or Josiah Henson.

The Crafts’ ingenious plan is documented in their 1860 narrative, “Running a Thousand Miles for Freedom; or, The Escape of William and Ellen Craft from Slavery.” The Library holds four different reprints of the account.

When Ellen Craft left her life as an enslaved person, she was dressed elegantly in a fashionable suit, stayed in the top hotels and traveled in first-class accommodations the entire route from Macon, Georgia, where she lived, to Philadelphia. But there was a twist: Ellen was disguised as a man, William Johnson, a very sick plantation owner traveling to Philadelphia for special treatment.

Resembling her father, Ellen could easily pass for white. She was the daughter of Major James Smith, a rich slaveholding cotton planter, and Maria, a young enslaved mulatto who worked in his house. Due to Ellen’s appearance, the plantation mistress frequently brutalized her. Ellen’s work in this wealthy household, though painful, gave her the opportunity to absorb the language and observe the behavior and nuances of southern aristocracy. The escape plan she and William formulated required Ellen to disguise herself as Johnson, because a “southern lady” surely would never travel alone with an enslaved male. She feigned illness during the trip, which discouraged conversation and interaction, justified dining alone in her room and provided a rationale for traveling north with her enslaved valet. Her right arm was placed in a sling to imply it was impaired, covering for her inability to write.

William Craft took the role of Johnson’s devoted enslaved valet. His appearance was well suited for this role, and it enabled him to nurture the ailing Johnson. He was trained as a cabinet maker, and it was customary for him to travel throughout the region. This travel gave him the opportunity to acquire knowledge that was important for the journey north. Though the money he earned as a cabinet maker was confiscated by his owner, he was allowed to earn separate funds that he kept. He used this money to pay for the many expenses on the route to freedom.

Christmas season was selected for their departure because it was one of the few occasions that enslaved people could get a “pass.” The holiday pass provided permission to visit nearby relatives for a few days and served as a great cover for the Crafts’ initial absence.

Their quest for freedom was well designed, but failure would result in severe consequences: brutal whippings, mutilated bodies, sale to the “deep” South or worse. From the beginning of their journey to the end, they faced harrowing experiences that caused them to question their ability to succeed.

The morning of departure, Ellen purchased train tickets to Savannah, the first leg of the journey. She chose a window seat in one of the best carriages but was filled with fear when she saw that the gentleman who approached to be her seat mate was Mr. Cray, a very close friend of her master who had known her for years. Her fears subsided when he greeted her, “It is a very fine morning, sir.”

Purchasing steamer tickets from Charleston, South Carolina, to Wilmington, North Carolina, proved to be a nearly unsurmountable challenge. To prevent white abolitionists from transporting and freeing enslaved persons, slaveholders purchasing tickets had to provide verification that each enslaved person with them was indeed their property. Often, this policy detained travelers for days. The Crafts were able to get around it only because a military officer from their previous steamer happened by and vouched for them.

With much joy and relief, Ellen and William Craft arrived safely in Philadelphia precisely on December 25, 1848. Freedom, what a magnificent Christmas gift!

The life stories, trials and tribulations of enslaved people such as the Crafts are found in a wealth of Library material. To explore these resources, an excellent starting point is The Slavery Resource Guide, compiled by the Library’s Researcher and Reference Services Division. This guide focuses on the wide range of digital material associated with the period of enslavement in various Library collections.

Looking for other materials on our website related to African-American history? Try exploring our African-American history resources guides, created by the Researcher and Reference Services Division, or contact us for help.

New Acquisition: Billy Strayhorn Archive

This is a guest post by Larry Appelbaum, senior reference librarian and jazz specialist in the Music Division. It was first published on “In the Muse,” the division’s blog. Appelbaum interviewed Gregory Morris, nephew of Billy Strayhorn, to mark the Library’s acquisition of the Billy Strayhorn Music Manuscripts and Estate Papers.

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Billy Strayhorn. Music Division.

In January 2017, I traveled to a suburb outside of Phoenix, Arizona, to meet Gregory Morris and family. Morris is the nephew of Billy Strayhorn and executor of the Billy Strayhorn Estate. Dr. Morris, a retired educator originally from Pittsburgh, kept the collection in safe hands for nearly five decades. The papers, including holograph scores, manuscripts, photographs and business papers, are a treasure trove for researchers and scholars of 20th-century American music. They are also of special interest to anyone interested in the work of Duke Ellington, with whom Strayhorn worked and collaborated until his early death from esophageal cancer in 1967. It’s taken nearly a year to process and catalog the collection, but it is now available for researchers to consult in the Performing Arts Reading Room; an online finding aid has also been prepared.

I interviewed Dr. Morris via email about the importance of the collection and significance of the materials for scholars from various disciplines. Here are his responses.

Billy Strayhorn died on May 31, 1967. Pick up the story from there. Did he discuss with you what he wanted for his papers?

A few years before my uncle, Billy Strayhorn, died, he asked if I would be the executor of his estate. I asked what that meant, and he said to take care of his stuff. I agreed to serve. Upon his death, I gathered his belongings and music from his apartment. I surmised from his comments that he wanted me to make certain that he got credit for all the work he had written. That meant that everything that had not been copyrighted should be copyrighted in his name.

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Strayhorn’s essay “Harmony.” Music Division.

Give an idea of what’s in the collection and how it might serve musical scholarship.

In the Billy Strayhorn collection, there are original manuscripts, titled and untitled, that would enable scholars to examine how Billy wrote music. He wrote many parts for specific musicians in the orchestra. A close study may reveal other secrets about Strayhorn’s approach to composition.

What kind of creative community did Billy emerge from in Pittsburgh?

Pittsburgh, a relatively small city, had a major symphony orchestra and opera company, as well as a Negro opera company. Billy studied classical piano for many years and then moved into jazz. Pittsburgh has a rich jazz history that produced Ahmad Jamal, Mary Lou Williams, Art Blakey, Billy Strayhorn, Ray Brown, Dakota Staton, Billy Eckstine, Dodo Marmarosa, Roy Eldridge, Erroll Garner, Earl “Fatha” Hines and many others. The free expression of the listening and learning of music flowed like the three rivers.

What items resonate the most with you and the family? Surprises or revelations?

I was pleasantly surprised by the volume and variety of music Billy created such as “Valse,” “Chelsea Bridge,” “Lush Life,” “Upper Manhattan Medical Group,” “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Swing Dance,” “Something to Live For” and “Blood Count.”

Do you feel Duke ever exploited Billy’s good nature?

Duke and his sister, Ruth Ellington, thought they owned everything Billy created and produced, including songs he wrote prior to leaving Pittsburgh.

Can you tell from listening which pieces were composed by Duke versus Billy?

Personally, I cannot, but Strayhorn aficionados can distinguish between the two.

We know which Strayhorn compositions are most famous. Any thoughts about which have the most musical significance?

Billy had so many different periods of writing. One significant period was in 1941 during the ASCAP strike. Billy was responsible for filling the Ellington band book with new songs since Ellington was restricted from performing any of his compositions on the radio — the radio was the life blood of the band. Billy’s most famous song was “Take the ‘A’ Train,” which became Ellington’s theme song. There was also a string of titles that are some of the most often recorded today. Among these compositions was “Johnny Come Lately.” That and others like it revealed that Strayhorn was in tune with the soon-rising style of be-bop.

How about his work before joining Ellington?

Before joining Duke Ellington, he wrote “Something to Live For” for his trio, the Mad Hatters, in Pittsburgh. He also wrote a production for Westinghouse High School entitled “Fantastic Rhythm.” From “Fantastic Rhythm,” “My Little Brown Book” remains. Billy also wrote “Lush Life” before leaving Pittsburgh. It is interesting that this title was never part of the Ellington book, and Ellington never performed or recorded it.

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Gregory Morris with wife Thelma Morris (center) and Strayhorn scholar Alyce Claerbaut. Photo by Larry Appelbaum.

What was the role of Walter Van De Leur in organizing the collection?

What I brought from Billy’s apartment was from my nonmusical background lots of paper. I had many people look at it, but no one came back until David Hadju introduced us to Walter van de Leur. Walter came to Pittsburgh to organize and catalog what we had brought from Billy’s apartment. Walter organized the manuscripts and spent 10 years studying the music. Since Walter was a fellow in the Ellington Collection at the Smithsonian, he could compare the Ellington hand and the Strayhorn hand. As a result of Walter’s work, he took copies home to the Netherlands to have the Dutch Jazz Orchestra play them. It eventually produced “A Portrait of a Silk Thread: Newly Discovered Works of Billy Strayhorn.”

What did you think of Van De Leur’s book and David Hajdu’s?

David Hajdu’s book, “Lush Life,” explored the life of Billy Strayhorn, while Walter van de Leur’s book, “Something to Live For,” explored the music and the genius of Billy Strayhorn. Both were milestones in the effort to advance the legacy of Billy Strayhorn.

Are there any aspects of Billy’s life or work that have not yet been adequately examined?

A researcher can always find something to pique their interest.

What made you feel the Library of Congress was the appropriate home for the collection?

The Library of Congress was selected because it is the premier repository for valuable documents. The Library is also easily accessed by scholars and, being in our nation’s capital, it is in close proximity to the many museums and research centers of the Smithsonian.

Happy 30th Birthday, National Film Registry

Today we announced the 2018 National Film Registry selections! Read the following guest post by Stephen Leggett, program coordinator for the National Film Preservation Board, to find out how the registry helps to ensure the survival of our cinematic heritage. Scroll to the bottom to see video clips of this year’s selections.

From an unexpected beginning, the National Film Registry has established itself as an important record of American cultural creativity, a modern-day Noah’s Ark of dazzling artistic icons. The registry, a Library of Congress program, this year marks its 30th anniversary—three decades of ensuring the survival and accessibility of America’s cinematic heritage.

Amid a national debate over the colorization of black-and-white films, Congress passed the National Film Preservation Act in 1988, recognizing motion pictures as a “significant American art form deserving of protection.”

The act created in the Library a 13-member National Film Preservation Board comprised of industry groups, artist guilds, film historians and archival organizations. It mandated selection by the Librarian of Congress, after consulting with the board, of up to 25 “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” American films each year to a National Film Registry.

Films are chosen in a three-step process: public nominations, discussion by the board and final selection by the Librarian of Congress after consulting with Library experts. Public nominations have increased over time (last year, over 5,200 individual titles were proposed) and often feature creative campaigns: One write-in effort used a full-court press by Indiana schoolchildren in support of “Hoosiers”—teamwork of which Gene Hackman would approve.

To narrow the field, the board holds spirited, candid discussions on the merits of titles and advocates forcefully for different types of films (Hollywood classics, silent films, documentaries, home movies, experimental works).

Once a film is chosen, the Library ensures the film either has already been preserved or will be. Registry titles are saved by a conservation honor roll: film studios, preservation organizations and archives, including the Library’s Packard Campus. Almost all are now available in some format, be it DVDs, streaming, screenings or a mélange of cable channels.

Today, the board contains 44 members/alternates, and the registry numbers 750 titles. Neither a compilation of the best or most-popular films, the registry instead represents works the librarian and board deem significant and having stood the test of time. The registry’s incredible variety showcases the many creative paths American cinema has taken since its emergence in the early 1890s.

Watch Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden introduce the 2018 registry and see clips of the films below. Be on the lookout for the January/February issue of the Library of Congress Magazine which will be all about film.

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