Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Latest News – Recent Updates

• Latest News: Haskell Named Kluge Center Director September 21, 2017
  John R. Haskell, an accomplished political scientist, author and professor, has been named director of the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: New Teacher-in-Residence September 20, 2017
  Matthew C. Poth, a world history teacher at Park View High School in Sterling, Virginia, has been selected to serve as the 2017-2018 teacher-in-residence at the Library of Congress. In that role, he will work closely with the Library’s Educational Outreach team to help make primary sources from the Library’s collection more accessible for teachers […]
• Latest News: Library Launches labs.loc.gov September 19, 2017
  The Library of Congress today launched labs.loc.gov, a new online space that will host a changing selection of experiments, projects, events and resources designed to encourage creative use of the Library’s digital collections. To help demonstrate the exciting discoveries that are possible, the new site will also feature a gallery of projects from data challenge […]
• Latest News: Library of Congress and U.S. Military Service Academies Sign Cooperative Agreement September 18, 2017
  The Library of Congress and the five U.S. Service Academies today entered an inter-agency cooperative agreement to support growth of service member representation in the national collections at the Library, including within the Veterans History Project. The agreement also provides enhanced research access to Library collections for the U.S Air Force Academy, U.S. Coast Guard […]
• Latest News: Library Announces Winners of 2017 Literacy Awards September 2, 2017
  Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced the winners of the 2017 Library of Congress Literacy Awards tonight at the Library of Congress National Book Festival gala. The Children’s Literacy Initiative, the National Center for Families Learning & Pratham Books took top honors. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Summer Reading Contest Winners August 31, 2017
  The Library of Congress today announced the winners of its A Book That Shaped Me: Letters About Literature Summer Writing Contest, a program that asks rising fifth- and sixth-graders to reflect on a book that has made a personal impact in their lives. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Hamilton Papers Online August 29, 2017
  The Library of Congress has put the papers of Alexander Hamilton online for the first time in their original format. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: National Book Festival a Literature Adventure August 23, 2017
  From a great lineup of authors—including more than 40 who write for children and teens—to special guests like Captain Underpants and new, exciting activities designed to delight and inform, the 2017 Library of Congress National Book Festival will be a literature adventure for kids of all ages. The 17th National Book Festival will be held […]
• Latest News: CORRECTION: Library Seeks Volunteer Docents August 14, 2017
  The Library of Congress is recruiting the 2017 class of volunteer docents to lead tours of the world’s largest library. Click here for more information. (Corrected Link)
• Latest News: Library Seeks Volunteer Docents August 11, 2017
  The Library of Congress is recruiting the 2017 class of volunteer docents to lead tours of the world’s largest library. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Library Launches Free WWI Webinar Series August 3, 2017
  The Library of Congress is commemorating the 100thanniversary of the United States’ entry into The Great War with a new free, online webinar series highlighting some of the Library’s most remarkable World War I resources, including documents, photographs, maps, and personal stories collected through the Veterans History Project. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Author Lineup for National Book Festival August 3, 2017
  A star-studded and diverse lineup of more than 100 authors, illustrators and poets will be presenting from the festival stages at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., from 9:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m on Saturday, Sept. 2. Doors to the convention center will open at 8:30 a.m. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Library of Congress Offers a New "Feel" to Public Tours August 3, 2017
  The Library of Congress today launched a new way for visitors with visual impairments to experience the Thomas Jefferson Building. “Touch History” is an accessible tour that brings building details to life for visitors through their sense of touch. Click here for more information.
• Latest News: Library of Congress Junior Fellows Display Collection Treasures July 27, 2017
  The Library of Congress Junior Fellows Summer Interns yesterday presented more than150 rare and unique items from 15 Library divisions. “Display Day” was open to the public for the first time since the program’s inauguration in 1991. Click here for more information.
• 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.

Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers

• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: WE WANT YOU! LC Labs Announces "Beyond Words" Crowdsourcing for WWI Historic Newspapers September 20, 2017
  Can you help identify illustrations and transcribe captions in World War One-era newspapers from Chronicling America? As announced this week by the Library of Congress, one of the first features of the new labs.loc.gov is Beyond Words, a website that invites the public to identify cartoons and photographs in historic newspapers and provide captions that will […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 148 Years Ago: “Phenomena of a Total Eclipse,â€� The Evening Telegraph, August 4, 1869 August 18, 2017
  What did we know about the how’s and why’s of a total eclipse of the sun in 1869? Having experienced a total eclipse in North America just a few years prior in 1860, newspaper readers of 1869 were eager for information. The Evening Telegraph (Philadelphia, PA) presented that and more just before the August 7 […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: NEH Announces 2017 National Digital Newspaper Program Awardees August 2, 2017
  from the National Endowment for the Humanities: We are happy to announce the addition of two new partners to the National Digital Newspaper Program: Arkansas and Georgia.  NEH recently made awards to the Arkansas State Archives and the University of Georgia to digitize their historic newspapers and contribute to the Chronicling America web site....Read more about […]
• Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers: 105 Years Ago: “Commuting by Telephone,â€� The Sun., July 28, 1912 July 28, 2017
  Telework – 1912 style! “All parts of vacation land…are within easy ‘commuting distance’…” With the services provided by the New York Telephone Company “…the busy man can enjoy his summer vacation…and yet not neglect his affairs in town.“ Read more about it and follow us on Twitter @librarycongress #ChronAm!
• 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 […]