We're exploring the Library's flute vault again with musical instrument curator Carol Lynn Ward-Bamford. (Yes, she also led Lizzo's tour.)
Most of the Library's flutes came from one collector, Dayton C. Miller, who amassed nearly 1,700 wind instruments and related items during his lifetime. Sadly, he died of a heart attack in 1941 while packing up the flutes and preparing to travel from Ohio to D.C. He had arranged, along with the donation of the instruments to the Library, to be the collection's curator.
Since the donation was made during World War II, the flutes left Washington almost as quickly as they arrived. After Pearl Harbor was bombed, many of the Library's treasures were moved to other locations for safekeeping, such as Fort Knox. The flutes returned after the war.
At some point after the Library's Madison Building opened in 1980, the flute vault became the permanent home of the Dayton C. Miller collection. Read more about Miller here: http://go.loc.gov/us9n50LFlC7
The Library's folklorist recordings contain many stories of the supernatural. This family legend, told in 1978 by Will Barnard of Kibler Valley, Virginia, is about his great-grandfather's daughter. As the story goes, she was cursed by a local witch and then saved by a witch doctor. 🔊
More from the Blue Ridge Parkway Folklife Project: http://go.loc.gov/HwXQ50LeRcW
The archival collections of the Library include the largest body of early indigenous American music recordings in the U.S.: about 10,000 wax cylinders of songs and stories. Many of them are recordings made by Omaha ethnographer Francis La Flesche (pictured).
La Flesche was the first professional Native American ethnologist and a member of the Omaha Nation. His recordings and others like them are used by both native and non-native researchers. Their greatest value lies in the cultures and languages they help preserve, allowing us to hear voices of the past. Click the link to learn more, and listen to an example of a digitized La Flesche wax recording below. Its title is "Funeral Song."
#IndigenousPeoplesDay
http://go.loc.gov/k1eX50L1qAQ
Most silent-era film productions have been lost to time & hardly *any* material shot by Black filmmakers pre-1920 has survived. But recently, the earliest known footage produced by a Black film company was found, hiding in plain sight, in our collections.
http://go.loc.gov/78Tl50L52k2
Spooky season special! 🎃🕸👻 The Library is home to the sole surviving nitrate print of the first film adaptation of "Frankenstein"! Read more about how we acquired it: http://go.loc.gov/BlGQ50L3xHJ
And, if you like this, you'll probably like our spooky October lineup of FREE Friday and Saturday film screenings at the Packard Campus in Culpeper, Va. http://go.loc.gov/yHLc50L3xLM
For some reason, we seem to have a lot more followers than we did at this time last week. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
To help welcome newcomers to this feed, here's a look at an old favorite of some of our longtime followers: Miniature books! http://go.loc.gov/85ST50KZSop
Recently digitized by the Library, “Court of Human Relations” is a fascinating, obscure 1959 daytime show in which a panel moderates personal conflicts. In this example, a husband and wife are estranged due to his demanding nature and "sloppy" pals. 😬
Watch more: http://go.loc.gov/Ih6250KYIWJ
It's the last day of Library Card Sign-up Month, but if you're 16+, you can get a Library of Congress Reader Identification Card any old time! This video has the basics, but there are complete instructions here: http://go.loc.gov/cse450KYzx2
FYI: Lizzo concerts aren't the only place to hear the Library's classic instruments being played live. Opportunities to experience our Stradivari and other antiques like the 1654 Nicolò Amati violin are coming up soon during the (FREE!) fall Concert Series. http://go.loc.gov/nJSg50KWn1E
Hearing Lizzo play some of the Library's priceless antique instruments on Monday was such a gift, and we were honored and happy to help her share that gift with her concert audience Tuesday night. Here is some more behind-the-scenes footage of her Library tour. #LizzoAtLOC
How boxes are made for the Library's bound materials
Unboxing videos get all the love. How about a boxing video, instead? Due to the immense size of the Library's General Collections, most bound materials need to be stored offsite in high density storage units. Boxing each item prolongs its life, prevents rubbing against other materials and provides a basic protective layer against potential water or pest damage. Here's how it's done.
http://blogs.loc.gov/preservation/2022/07/box-making-activities/?loclr=fbloc
"America Works," season 3, episode 1. Mario Cervantes, a skilled factory worker for Boeing aircraft in Wichita, Kansas, reacts to Boeing leaving the city, where it had been a community mainstay for decades.
"... actually I hope I'm the one that turns the lights out and shuts the door." Full podcast: https://www.loc.gov/podcasts/america-works/?loclr=fbloc
ANNOUNCEMENT: Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced that pop music icon Lionel Richie will be the next recipient of the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song.
Richie will receive the prize at an all-star tribute concert, which will be broadcast on PBS stations on May 17!
MORE: https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-22-002?loclr=fbloc
Three films added to the National Film Registry this year directly addressed one of the most pressing issues of the day: racially-motivated violence against people of color. Director Renee Tajima-Peña spoke with us about her 1987 documentary, "Who Killed Vincent Chin?" https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-078/?loclr=fbloc
The Talking Heads were captured at the height of their powers in the iconic concert film "Stop Making Sense." Led by charismatic frontman David Byrne, the band tears through some of its most famous songs in the tight 88-minute performance, which was added this week to the National Film Registry. https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-078/?loclr=fbloc
Tonight, Turner Classic Movies will host a special starting at 8 p.m. ET to screen a selection of the motion pictures named to the National Film Registry earlier this week. On that list is "Chicana," which provides a counterpart to earlier film accounts of Mexican and Mexican-American history that all but erased women’s lives from the narrative. We spoke to filmmaker Sylvia Morales about her 1979 documentary. https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-078/?loclr=fbloc
Newly added to the National Film Registry: Beloved independently-produced films like Pink Flamingos, John Waters’ delirious fantasia centered on the search for the “filthiest person alive." Here, Waters talks about how “Pink Flamingos” star and drag icon Divine helped make his film a landmark of queer cinema. https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-078/?loclr=fbloc
There are multiple films on this year’s list of National Film Registry inductees that were made by women of color. Here, “The Watermelon Woman” creator and star Cheryl Dunye talks about bringing representation of queer Black women to the silver screen in the 1990s. https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-078?loclr=fbloc
Members of the public can nominate films for induction into the National Film Registry. Two of this year’s top publicly-nominated films — “Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” — are plucked from a pair of the most famous trilogies of all time. Here's what Mark Hamill told us about why a galaxy far, far away resonated with audiences.
Nominate a film here: https://loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/nominate?loclr=fbloc
ANNOUNCEMENT: Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden has announced the annual selection of 25 motion pictures to be inducted into the National Film Registry.
It is one of the most diverse classes of films ever to enter the registry, with movies dating back nearly 120 years and representing the work of Hollywood studios, independent filmmakers, documentarians, women directors, filmmakers of color, students and the silent era of film. A full list: https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-078?loclr=fbloc
Teachers and students: Artist and 2021 Innovator in Residence Courtney McClellan created a web application for K-12 students to research and interpret a curated set of historic materials from the Library’s archive. “I’m interested in providing access to the ideas of others and still hopefully finding a space to value new voices," she says.
Experience this latest experiment from Library of Congress Labs and share your creations with the hashtag #AnnotateLOC! http://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2021/12/interview-with-courtney-mcclellan/?loclr=fbloc
On the final day of Native American Heritage Month, we invite you to explore videos like this one, collected by the American Folklife Center, that celebrate Native American music, dance, storytelling and other customs.
Filmed at a 2007 Homegrown Concert, this hoop dance is performed by Dallas Chief Eagle of the Rosebud Sioux and Jasmine Pickner of the Crow Creek Sioux.
https://blogs.loc.gov/folklife/2021/11/explore-native-american-event-videos/?loclr=fbloc
2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize
In case you missed it: Winners have been announced for the 2021 Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film, dedicated to the exploration of American history through documentary. MORE: https://www.loc.gov/item/prn-21-065?loclr=fbloc
