The Library of Congress has the largest flute collection on earth.
Dayton C. Miller, born #OTD 160 years ago, is the person to thank for that. Miller amassed nearly 1,700 wind instruments during his lifetime, donating them to the Library of Congress in the 1940s. ⬇️
www.loc.gov/collections/...
![Mrs. Coolidge eating cookies [with Girl Scouts], 10/17/23. October 17, 1923. National Photo Company Collection. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:o4ro452d4q3ejzr75btaqlhj/bafkreicnubhnqefvuooufetzjjeaw7aermnqhpprogog3si3gtqr44ps5a)
The first Girl Scouts troop was founded #OTD in 1912 in Georgia. 🍪 By the 1920s, the group was already known for its cookies, as evidenced by these images from the Library’s Prints and Photographs Division and historic newspaper archive, of First Lady Grace Coolidge sampling them at the White House.
"A Raisin in the Sun" premiered in the Barrymore Theatre on Broadway #OTD in 1959. This original poster is in the Library's collection. It was the first Broadway play written by a Black woman, Lorraine Hansberry, who was only 28 at the time. #WomensHistoryMonth
For Harriet Tubman Day, we'd like to share this story from 2017, when a remarkable photo album containing a previously unknown photograph of Harriet Tubman was jointly acquired by the Library and the Smithsonian, and conserved for future generations. ⬇️
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/03/...
#HarrietTubmanDay
MAGAZINE MONDAY | You watched the shows. You loved the songs. Composer Charles Fox set an era of iconic TV programs to music: “The Love Boat,” “Happy Days,” “Wonder Woman,” “Laverne and Shirley” and many more. A trove of his papers are at the Library. lcm.loc.gov/issue/januar...
The Library's Manuscript Division has several collections related to these journalists, including the papers of Ruby A. Black, May Craig, Bess Furman, Hope Ridings Miller, and Ann Cottrell Free, all members of “Mrs. Roosevelt’s Press Conference Association.”
As the Great Depression threatened the tenuous foothold of women on newspaper staffs, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt instituted a weekly, women-only press conference at the White House to force news organizations to employ at least one woman reporter.
The first was held on this day in 1933. 🧵
NEWS: The Library has acquired one of the earliest known drawings of Yosemite Valley, from 1855, by artist Thomas Almond Ayres. Ayres’ sketches were the source for the first published image of Yosemite at a time when drawings shaped how people saw the American West. newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...
This year isn't the first milestone celebration for the USA.
In 1876, the country's 100th anniversary exhibition was held primarily in Philadelphia’s sprawling Fairmount Park. The first steam-powered monorail in the nation provided visitor transportation!
Read more: blogs.loc.gov/inside_adams...
The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled (NLS), the program that eventually came from the bill passed by Congress 95 years ago, is still part of the Library today, and has a total annual circulation of more than 22 million items!
www.loc.gov/nls/?loclr=b...
#OTD in 1931, Congress voted to create a national library service for the blind.
This came decades after 7th Librarian of Congress John Russell Young established the very concept of a national library for the blind, overseeing the creation a reading room for the blind at the Library in 1897. 🧵
MAGAZINE MONDAY | It wasn't until the Civil War that the U.S. government introduced the first national paper currency to help cover wartime expenses. After the war, counterfeit was rampant. Enter Bill Kennoch, and the newly-founded Secret Service. lcm.loc.gov/issue/januar...
ICYMI: The Library will celebrate Women's History Month with Emmy Award-winning journalist Norah O'Donnell this Thursday! https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/library-honors-women-s-history-month-with-norah-o-donnell-s-new-book--poetry--crafts-and-more-during/s/7553ccea-9492-4261-afe6-d0479eb562e8
Technicians spent more than a week scanning and stabilizing “Gugusse and the Automaton" – which features, by the way, the first known moving image of what might be called a robot – so that it can now be enjoyed by anyone online!
In September, a box of old film reels was donated to the Library's National Audio-Visual Conservation Center. One of them was a nearly 130-year-old, long-lost film by iconic French filmmaker George Méliès. It had not been seen by anyone in likely more than a century. 🧵
blogs.loc.gov/loc/2026/02/...
The heartfelt messages came from his friends and associates, as well as from students and faculty from at least two historically Black colleges and universities. Douglass was a fierce advocate for education and literacy.
Read more of the telegrams. 👇
www.loc.gov/resource/mss...
![From The Evening Star, a Washington, D.C. newspaper, on Feb. 25, 1895. At Douglass' Bier Thousands Throng to Gaze Upon the Dead Face. Impressive Funeral Services Today Eloquent Tributes to the Memory of the Great Negro Scenes at the Church The funeral of Frederick Douglass makes today historic to thousands of people in the District of Columbia. The colored schools of the city were closed, and among those of his own race the day was observed by the closing of places of business and the general cessation of their daily pursuits, to do honor to the dead. The funeral program had been until late yesterday broken in upon by pressure of various societies, who begged to be represented in the tributes of the occasion. The services were held in the Metropolitan A. M. E. Church, beginning at 2 o' clock, and were still in grogress [sic] when The Star went to press.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:o4ro452d4q3ejzr75btaqlhj/bafkreicxl3fc2cw2l44o5hgn3kwpfdi22ftchiop7svrpc4ndstcl6su7i)
On this day in 1895, funeral services were held in Washington, D.C. for Frederick Douglass. The Library is home to the Frederick Douglass Papers, which include dozens of bereavement telegrams that were sent to his widow following his death. 🧵
Du Bois, a sociology professor at the time, believed in combating racism with empirical evidence of African American life and culture. The photos include portraits, as well as group shots of Black men and women at work and school, like these.
Explore the collection: www.loc.gov/collections/...
To celebrate the anniversary of W.E.B. Du Bois' birth this week, we're sharing some of the photos he compiled for “The Exhibit of American Negroes” at the 1900 Paris Exposition, now held by the Library's Prints and Photographs Division.
The exposition judges awarded him a gold medal for this work. 🧵
MAGAZINE MONDAY | The Library recently acquired a 17th century edition of the world's first novel. This exquisitely crafted version of “Tale of Genji” brings a story of ancient Japan to life. Read about it in the current edition of the Library of Congress Magazine. lcm.loc.gov/issue/januar...
NOTICE: Due to inclement weather Library of Congress reading rooms will open to researchers on a delayed basis this morning, Monday, Feb. 23, at 10:30 a.m.
NOTICE: Due to the State of the Union that will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 24, all Library of Congress Capitol Hill campus buildings will close to the public and researchers that day at 4 p.m.
Check out what's happening in March, Live! at the Library! https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/library-honors-women-s-history-month-with-norah-o-donnell-s-new-book--poetry--crafts-and-more-during/s/7553ccea-9492-4261-afe6-d0479eb562e8?loclr=blsky
The shoelaces, which read “Running with Jesse Jackson, ’88" are part of the Library's Rosa Parks Papers collection. Parks was involved in Jackson's 1988 campaign for president and years later, in 2005, he would deliver the eulogy at her funeral. www.c-span.org/clip/public-...
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson died today at the age of 84. He was only the second Black person to seek a major party’s nomination for president. The Library's collections contain materials related to his life, activism and political career, including these shoelaces. 🧵
Once again, we have been so inspired by the amazing athletes at the #Olympics, we decided we needed to celebrate with Games of our own! 📚🥇🥈🥉🤓
SAVE THE DATE! The Library of Congress will host the 2026 National Book Festival on Saturday, Aug. 22, at the Washington Convention Center. newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...
MAGAZINE MONDAY | Today, for Washington's Birthday, enjoy this throwback to the 2025 issue in which we introduced "The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution" exhibition. It will be on view through July 4, 2026. https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/january-february-2025/parallel-lives/?loclr=blsky
It's Library Valentine time! Share these with someone you love who loves the Library of Congress. ❤️
NEWS: As educational institutions across the country seek creative ways to engage young audiences, a new gallery opening this spring at the Library of Congress is spearheading a shift toward curiosity-driven, participatory, youth-centered learning. newsroom.loc.gov/news/library...
