Conversation with Julie Taymor
Julie Taymor sat down for a wide-ranging interview about her work as a director for stage and screen. Part of the sixth StageStruck! Conference: “Women and the American Musical,” a three-day conference May 14-16, 2025, hosted by the Music Division of the Library of Congress. The centrality of women to the American musical on stage and screen has long been acknowledged by scholarship. This…
Contributor:
Montgomery, Colleen - Taymor, Julie - Vita, Susan H. - Horowitz, Mark - McHugh, Dominic
Date:2025-05-14
Film, Video
Unveiling the Secret War in Laos with US Allied Lao and CIA Veterans
Veterans from the “secret war” in Laos recalled their experiences during the Vietnam War. Laos was a key battlefield in the conflict as the Ho Chi Minh Trail transited the country. Lao Special Guerrilla Unit/Royal Lao Army soldiers fought along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, serving as “Road Watch” teams and in large-unit actions against the People’s Army of Vietnam, allied with US Central…
Contributor:
Gilstrap, Osa Phiangdae - Insixiengmay, Khao - Pahn, Michael - Briggs, Thomas Leo - Thiravong, Touy - Caolo, Susan - Taylor, Larry S. - Wolfson-Ford, Ryan - Bruton, James K.
Date:2025-05-09
Film, Video
Moroccan-Jewish Musical Memory: The Abraham Pinto Collection
On October 5, 1968, Abraham Pinto, a businessman from New York City originally from Tangier, Morocco, offered the Library of Congress a collection of tapes containing approximately 30 hours of Jewish liturgical music recordings, which he had undertaken on his own initiative. These recordings later became part of the Library’s American Folklife Center collections. This lecture provides an overview of the interaction between Pinto…
Contributor:
Seroussi, Edwin - Bitton, Yoram
Date:2025-05-08
Film, Video
Exploring Map Surrounds: Sights on Spice
Art historian Juliet Wiersema and preservation specialist Meghan Hill present a historical and material exploration of William Hacke’s “A Description of the Sea Coasts … East Indies.”
Contributor:
Hill, Meghan - Wiersema, Juliet - Mattson, Lena
Contributor:
Pastuch, Carissa - Duzer, Chet Van - St. Onge, Timothy
Date:2025-05-08
Film, Video
Two 19th Century Board Games
What does it mean to win the game of life? Children’s board games teach cultural values and measurements of success to a society’s youngest members. A comparison of these two 19th century board games, one from 1843 and one from 1889, reveal the cultural shift that occurred in the United States during the second half of the 19th century.
Contributor:
Coleburn, Jackie
Date:2025-05-05
Film, Video
Conversation with Somi
Claudia Morales sat down in conversation with Grammy-nominated vocalist, composer and bandleader Somi Kakoma, known professionally as Somi. A Doris Duke Foundation Artist Award recipient and NAACP Image Award winner, Somi spoke about her musical journey, artistic connection to Miriam Makeba, and her work across the African continent.
Contributor:
Morales, Claudia - Somi
Date:2025-05-01
Film, Video
Federal Public Service Recognition Week: Trey Robertson
For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, Trey Robertson, a registration supervisor, shared the vision that U.S. Copyright has with helping the future generation continue to excel in an ever-changing digital landscape.
Contributor:
Robertson, Trey
Date:2025-04-30
Film, Video
Federal Public Service Recognition Week: Zhi Huang
For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, Zhi Huang, a patron education and training specialist, shares how the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled makes sure reading resources are equitable for all people with low vision, blindness or a physical reading disability.
Contributor:
Huang, Zhi
Date:2025-04-30
Film, Video
Federal Public Service Recognition Week: Paul Frank
For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, cataloging specialist Paul Frank, shared his work behind the scenes in connecting the parts of the Library as well as telling us about the Library continuing to be a world leader.
Contributor:
Frank, Paul
Date:2025-04-30
Film, Video
James Monroe as Diplomat and Scholar
Decades prior to becoming our nation’s fifth President, James Monroe served the United States as Minister to France. During his time in Paris, he purchased a rare book about Roman history that he referenced later in life, during his retirement, as he wrote a book about the history of republican governments.
Contributor:
Hastings, Patrick
Date:2025-04-28
Film, Video
Early American Almanacs
In the American Colonies, pocket sized almanacs outsold all other types of books combined. These little books were handy, everyday tools in print, providing readers with weather predictions, the dates of important religious and civic events, business resources, medical guidance, and informative essays. Benjamin Franklin achieved economic security by writing and publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac, and we even have an almanac used by George…
Contributor:
Hastings, Patrick
Date:2025-04-28
Film, Video
Horszowski Trio Concert
Once called “–arguably the most compelling American group to come on the scene” by The New Yorker, the Horszowski Trio is equally at home with classic literature and modern musings. The concert opened with Rebecca Clarke’s piano trio, one of the composer’s early successes that led to a commission from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Then the musicians turned to the two piano trios of Charles…
Date:2025-04-26
Film, Video
Conversation with the Horszowski Trio
Violinist Jesse Mills of the Horszowski Trio spoke with David Plylar about the Horszowski Trio’s performance at the Library. Topics included the music of Rebecca Clarke, Franz Schubert and Charles Wuorinen. The group played both of Wuorinen’s trios, the second of which was written for them, and received its premiere at the Library of Congress.
Contributor:
Plylar, David - Mills, Jesse
Date:2025-04-26
Film, Video
Manuscript Encounters: Hélène Grimaud
Hélène Grimaud joined David Plylar for a closer look at manuscripts by a variety of composers. Focusing on repertoire related to her performance at the Library of works by Beethoven and Brahms, the discussion covers numerous aspects of manuscript examples from the Library’s collections. Featured works included Beethoven’s op. 109 piano sonata; Intermezzi, variations, songs and cadenzas by Brahms; cadenzas by Clara Schumann; a…
Contributor:
Plylar, David - Grimaud, Hélène
Date:2025-04-25
Film, Video
The 4 B’s: Beethoven, Brahms and Bach-Busoni
David Plylar speaks about various ways to approach listening to the music featured on Hélène Grimaud’s performance at the Library in April 2025. Topics include Beethoven’s op. 109 sonata in E major, Brahms’ op. 116 Fantasies, and Busoni’s transcription for piano of Bach’s famous Chaconne for solo violin.
Contributor:
Plylar, David
Date:2025-04-25
Film, Video
Porgy and Bess 90th Anniversary
The Library of Congress and Washington National Opera celebrate the 90th anniversary of George and Ira Gershwin’s landmark work “Porgy and Bess.” Artists of the Washington National Opera perform selections from “Porgy and Bess,” and hear a discussion about the history and impact of this iconic American work for the stage.
Contributor:
White, Raymond A. - Walker, Angela Powell - Cambridge, Alyson - Smith Jr., Reginald - Vita, Susan H. - Mills, Marvin - O'Leary, Timothy
Date:2025-04-23
Film, Video
Discover Gilded Age Treasures in the Richard Hunt Collection
Author Sam Watters offers an introduction of the Hunt Collection at the Library of Congress, assembled by Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895), renowned American architect of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vanderbilt family mansions, and his wife, shipping heiress Catharine Howland Hunt (1841-1909). See some of the 15,000 rare books, drawings, photos, sketchbooks and large-scale scrapbooks the couple collected and created over 50 years,…
Contributor:
Watters, Sam - Zinkham, Helena
Date:2025-04-17
Film, Video
Poet Laureate Closing Event with Ada Limón
To conclude her historic two-term, three-year appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón talked about the art of poetry. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress from 2022-2025, Ada Limón is the author of six books of poetry-including “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her book “Bright Dead Things” was nominated for the National Book Award, the…
Contributor:
Limón, Ada - Hayden, Carla
Date:2025-04-17
Film, Video
The Aztecs in Their Own Words
What did the Aztecs say about themselves when they were speaking their own language and writing for their own people? In such sources, the picture of them that emerges is profoundly different than Spanish colonial sources. Camilla Townsend, Jay I. Kislak Chair for the Study of the History and Cultures of the Early Americas, explores this topic in the annual Kislak Lecture at the…
Contributor:
Townsend, Camilla - Butterfield, Kevin
Date:2025-04-16
Film, Video
The Goddard Declaration of Independence
In January of 1777, after evacuating Philadelphia for Baltimore, the Continental Congress commissioned Mary Katharine Goddard to print a second issue of the Declaration of Independence. This time, those who signed the Declaration in July of 1776 reasserted their commitment to the cause of Independence by allowing their names to be printed on the broadside. Mary Katharine Goddard put her name in print, too.
Contributor:
Stell, Marianna
Date:2025-04-14
Film, Video
Jennifer Koh and Del Sol String Quartet Concert
Audiences celebrated the creativity, brilliance and legacy of Cuban-born American composer, conductor and educator Tania León in a special evening featuring Grammy-winning violinist Jennifer Koh and the Chamber Music America Award-winning Del Sol String Quartet. Koh, joined by her longtime collaborator Thomas Sauer, gave the world premiere of León’s “McKim Commission” at the Library of Congress. In the second half of the program, the…
Contributor:
Lee, Charlton - León, Tania
Date:2025-04-11
Film, Video
Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 3)
The third of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library’s Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Tammy Greer and Boots Lupenui.
Contributor:
Greer, Tammy - Lupenui, Boots
Date:2025-04-11
Film, Video
Documenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 4)
The fourth of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library’s Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured JW Newson, Douglas Taylor, Tameshia Rudd-Ridge and Jourdan Brunson.
Conversation with Del Sol String Quartet and Tania León
Claudia Morales sits down with Cuban American composer, conductor and educator Tania León, along with the San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet. León discusses her piece “Para Violin y Piano,” which premiered that evening at the Coolidge Auditorium, performed by Jennifer Koh and Thomas Sauer. The Del Sol String Quartet shares its experience playing the Library’s Stradivari instruments and performing León’s “Cuarteto de Cuerdas.”
Contributor:
Yoon, Hyeyung Sol - Kreith, Benjamin - Lee, Charlton - Morales, Claudia - Bates, Kathryn - León, Tania
Film, VideoConversation with Julie Taymor Julie Taymor sat down for a wide-ranging interview about her work as a director for stage and screen. Part of the sixth StageStruck! Conference: “Women and the American Musical,” a three-day conference May 14-16, 2025, hosted by the Music Division of the Library of Congress. The centrality of women to the American musical on stage and screen has long been acknowledged by scholarship. This…
Film, VideoUnveiling the Secret War in Laos with US Allied Lao and CIA Veterans Veterans from the “secret war” in Laos recalled their experiences during the Vietnam War. Laos was a key battlefield in the conflict as the Ho Chi Minh Trail transited the country. Lao Special Guerrilla Unit/Royal Lao Army soldiers fought along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, serving as “Road Watch” teams and in large-unit actions against the People’s Army of Vietnam, allied with US Central…
Film, VideoMoroccan-Jewish Musical Memory: The Abraham Pinto Collection On October 5, 1968, Abraham Pinto, a businessman from New York City originally from Tangier, Morocco, offered the Library of Congress a collection of tapes containing approximately 30 hours of Jewish liturgical music recordings, which he had undertaken on his own initiative. These recordings later became part of the Library’s American Folklife Center collections. This lecture provides an overview of the interaction between Pinto…
Film, VideoExploring Map Surrounds: Sights on Spice Art historian Juliet Wiersema and preservation specialist Meghan Hill present a historical and material exploration of William Hacke’s “A Description of the Sea Coasts … East Indies.”
Film, VideoExploring Map Surrounds: Drawing Identity Philip Lee Phillips Society fellow Chet Van Duzer discussed cartographic self-portraits in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Film, VideoTwo 19th Century Board Games What does it mean to win the game of life? Children’s board games teach cultural values and measurements of success to a society’s youngest members. A comparison of these two 19th century board games, one from 1843 and one from 1889, reveal the cultural shift that occurred in the United States during the second half of the 19th century.
Film, VideoConversation with Somi Claudia Morales sat down in conversation with Grammy-nominated vocalist, composer and bandleader Somi Kakoma, known professionally as Somi. A Doris Duke Foundation Artist Award recipient and NAACP Image Award winner, Somi spoke about her musical journey, artistic connection to Miriam Makeba, and her work across the African continent.
Film, VideoFederal Public Service Recognition Week: Trey Robertson For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, Trey Robertson, a registration supervisor, shared the vision that U.S. Copyright has with helping the future generation continue to excel in an ever-changing digital landscape.
Film, VideoFederal Public Service Recognition Week: Zhi Huang For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, Zhi Huang, a patron education and training specialist, shares how the National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled makes sure reading resources are equitable for all people with low vision, blindness or a physical reading disability.
Film, VideoFederal Public Service Recognition Week: Paul Frank For Public Service Recognition 2025 at the Library of Congress, cataloging specialist Paul Frank, shared his work behind the scenes in connecting the parts of the Library as well as telling us about the Library continuing to be a world leader.
Film, VideoJames Monroe as Diplomat and Scholar Decades prior to becoming our nation’s fifth President, James Monroe served the United States as Minister to France. During his time in Paris, he purchased a rare book about Roman history that he referenced later in life, during his retirement, as he wrote a book about the history of republican governments.
Film, VideoEarly American Almanacs In the American Colonies, pocket sized almanacs outsold all other types of books combined. These little books were handy, everyday tools in print, providing readers with weather predictions, the dates of important religious and civic events, business resources, medical guidance, and informative essays. Benjamin Franklin achieved economic security by writing and publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac, and we even have an almanac used by George…
Film, VideoHorszowski Trio Concert Once called “–arguably the most compelling American group to come on the scene” by The New Yorker, the Horszowski Trio is equally at home with classic literature and modern musings. The concert opened with Rebecca Clarke’s piano trio, one of the composer’s early successes that led to a commission from Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge. Then the musicians turned to the two piano trios of Charles…
Film, VideoConversation with the Horszowski Trio Violinist Jesse Mills of the Horszowski Trio spoke with David Plylar about the Horszowski Trio’s performance at the Library. Topics included the music of Rebecca Clarke, Franz Schubert and Charles Wuorinen. The group played both of Wuorinen’s trios, the second of which was written for them, and received its premiere at the Library of Congress.
Film, VideoManuscript Encounters: Hélène Grimaud Hélène Grimaud joined David Plylar for a closer look at manuscripts by a variety of composers. Focusing on repertoire related to her performance at the Library of works by Beethoven and Brahms, the discussion covers numerous aspects of manuscript examples from the Library’s collections. Featured works included Beethoven’s op. 109 piano sonata; Intermezzi, variations, songs and cadenzas by Brahms; cadenzas by Clara Schumann; a…
Film, VideoThe 4 B’s: Beethoven, Brahms and Bach-Busoni David Plylar speaks about various ways to approach listening to the music featured on Hélène Grimaud’s performance at the Library in April 2025. Topics include Beethoven’s op. 109 sonata in E major, Brahms’ op. 116 Fantasies, and Busoni’s transcription for piano of Bach’s famous Chaconne for solo violin.
Film, VideoPorgy and Bess 90th Anniversary The Library of Congress and Washington National Opera celebrate the 90th anniversary of George and Ira Gershwin’s landmark work “Porgy and Bess.” Artists of the Washington National Opera perform selections from “Porgy and Bess,” and hear a discussion about the history and impact of this iconic American work for the stage.
Film, VideoDiscover Gilded Age Treasures in the Richard Hunt Collection Author Sam Watters offers an introduction of the Hunt Collection at the Library of Congress, assembled by Richard Morris Hunt (1827-1895), renowned American architect of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vanderbilt family mansions, and his wife, shipping heiress Catharine Howland Hunt (1841-1909). See some of the 15,000 rare books, drawings, photos, sketchbooks and large-scale scrapbooks the couple collected and created over 50 years,…
Film, VideoPoet Laureate Closing Event with Ada Limón To conclude her historic two-term, three-year appointment as U.S. Poet Laureate, Ada Limón talked about the art of poetry. Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress from 2022-2025, Ada Limón is the author of six books of poetry-including “The Carrying,” which won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Her book “Bright Dead Things” was nominated for the National Book Award, the…
Film, VideoThe Aztecs in Their Own Words What did the Aztecs say about themselves when they were speaking their own language and writing for their own people? In such sources, the picture of them that emerges is profoundly different than Spanish colonial sources. Camilla Townsend, Jay I. Kislak Chair for the Study of the History and Cultures of the Early Americas, explores this topic in the annual Kislak Lecture at the…
Film, VideoThe Goddard Declaration of Independence In January of 1777, after evacuating Philadelphia for Baltimore, the Continental Congress commissioned Mary Katharine Goddard to print a second issue of the Declaration of Independence. This time, those who signed the Declaration in July of 1776 reasserted their commitment to the cause of Independence by allowing their names to be printed on the broadside. Mary Katharine Goddard put her name in print, too.
Film, VideoJennifer Koh and Del Sol String Quartet Concert Audiences celebrated the creativity, brilliance and legacy of Cuban-born American composer, conductor and educator Tania León in a special evening featuring Grammy-winning violinist Jennifer Koh and the Chamber Music America Award-winning Del Sol String Quartet. Koh, joined by her longtime collaborator Thomas Sauer, gave the world premiere of León’s “McKim Commission” at the Library of Congress. In the second half of the program, the…
Film, VideoDocumenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 3) The third of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library’s Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured Tammy Greer and Boots Lupenui.
Film, VideoDocumenting Ourselves: Impacts, Outcomes & Insights (Session 4) The fourth of four sessions in a day-long public symposium on the Library’s Community Collections Grant program (2022-2024) featured presentations by awardees on their grant-supported cultural documentation projects. This session featured JW Newson, Douglas Taylor, Tameshia Rudd-Ridge and Jourdan Brunson.
Film, VideoConversation with Del Sol String Quartet and Tania León Claudia Morales sits down with Cuban American composer, conductor and educator Tania León, along with the San Francisco-based Del Sol String Quartet. León discusses her piece “Para Violin y Piano,” which premiered that evening at the Coolidge Auditorium, performed by Jennifer Koh and Thomas Sauer. The Del Sol String Quartet shares its experience playing the Library’s Stradivari instruments and performing León’s “Cuarteto de Cuerdas.”