Celebrating Independence Day
Friends,
I hope that you are doing well. As we enter into July, it is hard to believe the many changes and challenges we’ve had to face in our world in just the past few months. The upcoming July 4th holiday is another reminder of the ways we’ve all had to adjust and rework communal celebrations and gatherings in the age of COVID-19.
Many of you have celebrated birthdays and graduations virtually, and have come up with creative ways to stay in touch with family and friends from a distance. The Library of Congress is no different, and we continue to adapt to stay connected with you even as our doors remain closed. This is especially important as we strive to offer a safe place to have difficult conversations about the challenges facing our nation today with regard to race, inequality and social justice.
To that end, below you will find information on some of our upcoming virtual events including today’s conversation with new Kluge Prize winner, Danielle Allen, who will take on the hard questions about democracy and public life. Our online series, “Hear You, Hear Me”: Conversations on Race in America, also continues this month.
You can also learn more about the major collections work we are undertaking to document the pandemic in an informative new blog post, “How Will We Remember COVID-19?”
And, as we prepare to celebrate Independence Day, it must be noted that the Library of Congress is home to the original rough draft of the Declaration of Independence. It is one of the institution’s top treasures. View it online here, https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr00.html, and discover other resources related to our nation’s independence below.
Have a safe holiday weekend.
Sincerely,
Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress
[Detail] Currier & Ives print showing the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
loc.gov/resource/pga.08583/
Independence Day
American Treasures of the Library of Congress: Declaration of Independence
loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/tr00.html
Declaration of Independence: Primary Documents in American History
guides.loc.gov/declaration-of-independence
American Revolution: A Resource Guide
guides.loc.gov/american-revolution
Thomas Jefferson Papers Collection
loc.gov/collections/thomas-jefferson-papers/about-this-collection/
TODAY: Kluge Prize Winner Danielle Allen
Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden announced last week that Danielle Allen, director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics and the James Bryant Conant University Professor at Harvard University, will receive the 2020 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity. Allen will work with the Library to share her expertise on justice, citizenship and democracy with a wide audience.
Today at 7 p.m. ET join Allen and Kluge Center Director John Haskell for a virtual event: “Danielle Allen Takes on the Hard Questions about Democracy and Public Life.” This presentation will premiere with closed captions on both the Library's Facebook page and the Library's YouTube site and be available afterwards on the Library's video page.
Kluge Prize Announcement: loc.gov/item/prn-20-043/
Homegrown at Home Concert Series
The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress is presenting traditional music and dance from a variety of folk cultures thriving in the United States and around the world in a new online concert series each Wednesday through September. Tune in to “Homegrown at Home” Wednesdays at noon ET on the American Folklife Center Facebook page, and replay performances anytime on the Library of Congress YouTube channel and on the Library's video page.
Series info & schedule: loc.gov/item/prn-20-045/
"Hear You, Hear Me": Conversations on Race in America
This online series continues featuring Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden in conversation with some of the nation’s great literary figures, and will highlight what poetry and literature can offer the nation as it contends with foundational issues of social justice.
- Joy Harjo and Tracy K. Smith - Thursday, July 9, 2020, 7-8 p.m. ET
- Colson Whitehead - Thursday, July 16, 2020, 7-8 p.m. ET
Event details & videos: loc.gov/programs/national-book-festival/national-book-festival-presents/
[Detail] Life during the pandemic. Photo: Camilo Vergara. Prints and Photographs Division.
How Will We Remember COVID-19?
The Library is amassing a vast collection of materials that document the COVID-19 pandemic, including the award-winning photography of Camilo Vergara. These photographs are among the very first items the Library acquired documenting the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. And they will be far from the last: The Library anticipates a collecting effort that exceeds its coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — which was huge.
Read the full blog post: blogs.loc.gov/loc/2020/06/how-will-we-remember-covid-19/
Support the Library
We are more grateful than ever for all that you do to keep us strong. Whether you support the Library with a gift or simply by spreading the word about what we do, you help us in our mission to connect millions of people around the world with the stories of our collective past, present, and future.
If you haven't yet had a chance to give and you're in a position to donate, please consider making a gift at loc.gov/donate/.
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