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Latest News – Recent Updates

• Latest News: Denis Johnson Awarded Prize for American Fiction July 11, 2017
  Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced today that Denis Johnson, author of the critically acclaimed collection of short stories “Jesus’ Son” and the novel “Tree of Smoke,” will posthumously receive the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction during the 2017 Library of Congress National Book Festival, Sept. 2. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Walkowicz Named Astrobiology Chair at Kluge Center July 10, 2017
  Lucianne Walkowicz will hold the fifth Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology in the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. She will begin on Oct. 1, 2017, and be in residence for 12 months. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Library Launches Booklovers Circle July 5, 2017
  The Library of Congress today announced a new opportunity for booklovers to support the beloved annual celebration of reading and literacy, the National Book Festival, while enhancing their own festival experiences. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: VHP Launches Part Two of Web Series on World War I Veterans June 30, 2017
  The Veterans History Project (VHP) today launched, “Over There” the second in a three-part, online “Experiencing War” website series dedicated to United States veterans of the First World War. “Over There” highlights 10 digitized World War I collections found in the Veterans History Project archive. To access Part II and other veterans’ collections featured in […]
• Latest News: "Polish Declarations" Greetings to US Online June 29, 2017
  In 1926, America celebrated the 150th anniversary of its Declaration of Independence. To mark the occasion, citizens of Poland – more than 5.5 million of them – signed a unique birthday card, The Polish Declarations of Admiration and Friendship. Now, all 111 volumes containing more than 30,000 pages – many beautifully illustrated or accompanied by […]
• Latest News: Library & Royal Archives Plan Joint Exhibit June 28, 2017
  The Library of Congress and The Royal Archives today announced plans for a landmark joint exhibition in 2021 that will explore the overlapping yet distinct worlds of two globally significant figures of the late 18th century: the two Georges – King George III (1738-1820) of England and George Washington (1732-1799). Click here for more information.
• Latest News: NLS Rolls Out New Digital Initiatives June 21, 2017
  The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS) at the Library of Congress is enhancing its ability to serve its patrons through several major technological initiatives being advanced this summer. NLS is launching a new and improved website and a new multimedia education campaign—both designed to raise awareness of NLS’s remarkable free […]
• Latest News: Tony Bennett Is Gershwin Prize Honoree June 20, 2017
  Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced that Tony Bennett is the next recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Tracy K. Smith Named Poet Laureate June 14, 2017
  Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden today announced the appointment of Tracy K. Smith as the Library’s 22nd Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, for 2017-2018. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Webcomics and Web Cultures Archives Online Now June 13, 2017
  The Library of Congress today announced two new born-digital collections are now available on loc.gov – the Webcomics Web Archive and the Web Cultures Web Archive. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Letters About Literature Winners June 9, 2017
  Letters About Literature, a Library of Congress national reading- and writing-promotion program, has announced its winners for 2017. The program, now in its 25th year, asks young people in grades 4 through 12 to write to an author (living or deceased) about how his or her book affected their lives. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Summer Teacher Institutes June 7, 2017
  Several educators from across the nation have been selected to participate in five Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources Summer Teacher Institutes to take place from June through August. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Library of Congress Welcomes Junior Fellows June 1, 2017
  The Library of Congress this week welcomed 37 undergraduate and graduate students to its highly competitive, Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program. From curating historic copyright material ,to helping develop new preservation techniques, making World War I veterans histories more accessible and exploring the creation of a digital scholar’s lab, the Junior Fellows will work on […]
• Latest News: Sanborn Insurance Maps Online May 25, 2017
  The Library of Congress has placed online nearly 25,000 Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, which depict the structure and use of buildings in U.S. cities and towns. Maps will be added monthly until 2020, for a total of approximately 500,000. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Seattle Organization Wins NLS Honor May 23, 2017
  The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), part of the Library of Congress, has named the Washington Talking Book and Braille Library (WTBBL) of Seattle as the Network Library of the Year for 2016.   Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Online Catalog Records Released May 16, 2017
  The Library of Congress announced today that it is making 25 million records in its online catalog available for free bulk download in the largest release of digital records in the Library’s history. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: FEDLINK Federal Library Awards May 5, 2017
  The Federal Library and Information Network (FEDLINK) has announced the winners of its national awards for federal librarianship, which recognize the many innovative ways that federal libraries, librarians and library technicians fulfill the information demands of government, business, scholarly communities and the American public. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Library Combines Youth Reading Programs May 4, 2017
  The Library of Congress is combining its two reading and writing programs for young people – A Book That Shaped Me and Letters About Literature. The move will enable the Library to better leverage its resources, to brand the programs more consistently and to encourage greater participation in these long-running programs. The Library today kicks […]
• Latest News: The Library Has A New Book April 10, 2017
  A new book exploring the history of the card catalog, that venerated chest of small drawers that contained the known universe, has been published by the Library of Congress in association with Chronicle Books. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: World War I Exhbition Opens April 4, 2017
  The Library of Congress today opens a major exhibition to commemorate the centennial of World War I. “Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I” tells the stories of Americans in the war, through correspondence, music, film, recorded sound, diaries, posters, photographs, scrapbooks, medals, maps and materials from the Veterans History Project. […]

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 106 Years Ago: "Startling Feat Crowns Trip of Aviator Atwood," The Washington Herald, July 15, 1911 July 14, 2017
  Attempting what only a handful of daredevil flyers would dream of, “birdman” Harry N. Atwood made a record-breaking 14-day multi-leg trip from Boston to Washington, DC,  at the helm of a Moth biplane. Several days after his arrival, "the biplane scudded and clipped over the Tidal Basin, its wings all a-quiver," as he landed on […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 100 Years Ago: "New Jersey Cranberry King's Daughter Produces Super-Blueberries at Whitesbogâ€� Evening Public Ledger, March 7, 1917. June 26, 2017
  For the past 6 years, in the little town of Whitesbog, New Jersey, a "remarkable woman" has been doing remarkable work in the quietest sort of way. By applying eugenic principles, Elizabeth White produces the first crop of cultivated “super-blueberries.”   Read more about it in Philadelphia's Evening Public Ledger and follow us on Twitter @librarycongress #ChronAm!
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: "Mr. Skygack, from Mars" and the “Library of Awesomeâ€� June 16, 2017
  “Some years ago a gentle, inoffensive stranger landed on this terrestrial sphere with no luggage but a book….This was Mr. Skygack from Mars,” wrote Fred Schaefer, author of the comic “Mr. Skygack, from Mars” in the Day Book (Chicago, IL) in 1912.  This early comic strip first began appearing in newspapers associated with the Scripps […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Walt Whitman, "Life and Adventures of Jack Engle," and “Pride in the Libraryâ€� June 9, 2017
  The famous and gay poet Walt Whitman often wrote stories for newspapers. His recently rediscovered serial novel, “Life and Adventures of Jack Engle,” a purported first-person autobiography, appeared anonymously in the Sunday Dispatch (New York , NY), March 14 through April 18, 1852. A front page ad in the New-York Daily Tribune of March 13, 1852 […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: “The Evolution of Memorial Day“ (from the National Endowment for the Humanities) May 26, 2017
  Did you know that Memorial Day used to be known as Decoration Day?  Or that the practice of honoring the war dead during spring first arose in the South as the Civil War ended?  Featuring newspapers from around the country during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, discover more about the fascinating history of this […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers - 114 YEARS AGO: “In Heart of City,â€� The San Francisco Call, May 13, 1903 May 12, 2017
  In the heart of San Francisco, CA, on May 12, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt was greeted by throngs of spectators. The following day the San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA) reported on the parade in detail, describing the military splendor, decorations on Market Street, bells pealing out and the roar of the crowd. In addition […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: Help Us Understand How You Use Chronicling America! May 11, 2017
  We’re asking for your help to understand how you, the users, work with our online newspapers! The Library of Congress is investigating new approaches to providing access to the historic newspapers available from the Chronicling America Web site. We’re looking at adding new features and updating others, as well as integrating the historic newspapers with […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 100 Years Ago : “U.S. Is In It At Last,â€� The Tacoma Times, April 6, 1917 April 7, 2017
  After more than two years of remaining neutral in the conflict happening 'over there,' President Woodrow Wilson issues a proclamation on April 6, 1917 to the people of the country declaring a state of war exists between the United States and the Imperial Government of Germany. The  first act of war was to seize all […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 125 Years Ago: “Whitman is Dead,â€� The Wilmington Daily Republican, March 28, 1892 March 27, 2017
  Known as “the Good Gray Poet,” Walt Whitman, author of Leaves of Grass and other poems, died peacefully in March 1892 in Camden, NJ, after a long illness.  With a sorrowful tone, the Wilmington Daily Republican (Wilmington, DE) provided details along with reflections on his literary accomplishments and critics. “His critics ‘cut him up,’” according […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: DID YOU KNOW? Dozens of African American newspapers are available in Chronicling America! February 18, 2017
  55 African American newspapers from across the US, are available online in #ChronAm. Included among these titles are issues of Frederick Douglass’ newspaper the New National Era. In his first issue, Douglass writes “It has been a cherished hope of mine, since the abolition of slavery, that…some new man…thoroughly alive to the great interests of our newly enfranchised people, […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 97 Years Ago: "Westminster Dog Show Draws Record Entry," New-York Tribune, Feb. 8, 1920 February 10, 2017
  That’s a lotta barks!  Judges line up as 1,612 canines make their way to Grand Central Palace for the Westminster Kennel Club’s exhibition.  For a full re-pawt of the 44th annual show, look no fur-ther than the New-York Tribune (New York, NY) issue for February 8, 1920. Read more about it and follow us on Twitter […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 172 Years Ago: "The Raven," New-York Daily Tribune, Feb. 4, 1845 January 27, 2017
  First published in late January 1845, “The Raven” by Edgar A. Poe quickly caught the attention of readers far and wide with its dark and gothic imagery. It soon appeared in numerous newspapers and magazines across the country including the Feb. 4, 1845 issue of the New-York Daily Tribune (New York, NY). "Once upon a […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 227 Years Ago: "Fellow Citizens...," Gazette of the United-States, Jan. 9, 1790 January 6, 2017
  On Jan. 8, 1790, beginning with "Fellow Citizens of the Senate and the House of Representatives, I embrace with great satisfaction the opportunity, which now presents itself, of congratulating you on the present favorable prospects of our public affairs...." President George Washington delivered the first State of the Union address to the joint session of […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 100 Years Ago: Peace in the Great War? Dec. 12 and 13, 1916 December 16, 2016
  In mid-December 1916, Germany suddenly and unexpectedly proposed peace to the Allied nations of Europe involved in “the Great War.” Newspapers across America, still neutral in the conflict, announced the offer with surprise and glaring headlines. From the optimistic “The Dawn of Peace” (Bryan Daily Eagle and Pilot; Bryan, TX) and “End of World-Wide Conflict Near” (Bemidji […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 100 Years Ago: "Turkeyless Thanksgiving Menus," Perrsyburg Journal, Nov. 30, 1916 November 21, 2016
  For non-meat eaters and the frugal, a century ago the Perrysburg Journal (Perrysburg, OH) shared suggestions for a feast of Thanksgiving dishes fit for the most discerning vegetarian palate. Including such delectables as Cream of Chestnut Soup, Vegetable Turkey (2 kinds!), and Nesselrode Pudding (a frozen custard dessert), the result is a choice menu for […]