Tag: Kristi Finefield

Millions of Americans will hit the road this week to spend Thanksgiving with friends and family in other parts of the country. Some will be lucky enough to travel down byways and scenic routes to reach their destination. Others will have to be patient as they slog through heavy highway traffic with thousands of other cars, grateful to finally reach the turkey dinner and loved ones at the end of their journey. Whatever road you take, may it take you safely there and back this holiday week. Enjoy some scenic views from roads and highways across the United States selected from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive: A bright touch of autumn lines a U.S. Forest Service road high in the…

The following is a guest post by Helena Zinkham, Chief, Prints & Photographs Division. Hundreds of photographs from the Liljenquist Collection are now mapped to events of the U.S. Civil War. Soldiers’ portraits are linked to the many battlefields where they fought and died. The faces of nurses are connected to the sites where they cared for the wounded. Prisoners of war are associated with the camps that confined them. The presentation begins with three famous battles: Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Gettysburg. Battle line maps illustrate the Union and Confederate positions for each engagement. You’ll also meet some of the people and be introduced to their lives. Nurse Maria Hall worked at the Smoketown field hospital at Antietam, Maryland. After the…

The Library of Congress, Washington. Photochrom print by Detroit Publishing Company, c1900. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/det.4a31954 On November 1, 1897, the Thomas Jefferson Building of the Library of Congress opened to the world. Today we mark its 125th birthday. This magnificent building was the Library of Congress’ first home away from the U.S. Capitol, where it had first been established in 1800. This was a pivotal moment in the history of the Library as we moved to expand our mission. In addition to serving the U. S. Congress, we would establish ourselves as the national library of the United States. In 1870, U.S. Copyright law began to require that those claiming copyright on books, maps, visual materials such as engravings or photographs, dramatic…

One of the things I do as a reference librarian of visual materials is keep a folder full of interesting images I come across in my work. Our collections are full of opportunities for serendipitous discovery, and I keep my eyes open for compelling images like this 1923 photo from the National Photo Company Collection. Geo. Wash. fencing team. Photo by National Photo Company, 1923 December 11. http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/npcc.10069 The strong composition, the focused expressions, the clothing styles, the perfectly poised ladies and their unwavering swords, with the tip of one just touching the waist of the opponent at right – all of it makes me want to stop and study the image. It appears they are using foils, rather than…