The Library of Congress

10/29/2026

It's National Cat Day! We’re sharing everyone’s favorite feline from the Library's Prints and Photographs Division, Brünnhilde, and some of her friends from the collection. 😻

10/28/2026

Put this on your to-do list of FREE cultural experiences in Washington, D.C. ⬇️

The Coolidge Auditorium at the Library of Congress—considered one of the world’s finest acoustic environments—turns 101 today! 🥳 Benefactor Elizabeth Coolidge provided for its construction AND a permanent fund for concerts, which are still ongoing today, and are free to the public. Visit loc.gov/concerts to learn more about this season's performances!

10/27/2026

Today, in honor of Theodore Roosevelt's birthday, we are sharing that the Manuscript Division at the Library of Congress has acquired its first copy of Roosevelt's famous Milwaukee, Wisconsin speech of Oct. 14, 1912, delivered immediately after he was shot by attempted assassin John Schrank.

This newly acquired copy of the speech is a version typed by Elbert Martin, Roosevelt's stenographer (image 2), who is also well known for tackling Schrank after he fired the shot. It contains numerous penciled emendations and alterations to the text made by Roosevelt himself.

The speech that is now held by the Library is NOT the one from Roosevelt's pocket that famously slowed down the bullet, although there are images at the Library that represent that fortuitously-placed copy, including the picture of Martin holding it (image 2), a political cartoon (image 3), and an X-ray (image 4)!

Read more about this acquisition: https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/library-of-congress-acquires-stenographic-copy-of-theodore-roosevelt-s-1912-milwaukee-speech/s/e42d09fc-78ac-4949-92b9-4e5866068365?loclr=fbloc

Images: A photograph of the newly-acquired copy of the Theodore Roosevelt speech delivered immediately after he was shot by would-be assassin John Schrank. Centered in the photo is the line "I have just been shot".

Elbert Martin and bullet-pierced speech. Photo related to John F. Schrank's attempted assassination of U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt in Oct. 1912. Bain News Service photograph collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Editorial cartoon reads: "We are against his politics but we like his grit." Roosevelt holds paper marked "speech" with bullet hole at top. Cartoon by William Allen Rogers.

X-Ray of Roosevelt (shows bullet). Photo related to John F. Schrank's attempted assassination of U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt in Oct. 1912. Bain News Service photograph collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

10/26/2026

🛼 To celebrate National Roller Skating Month, here's a segment of an All-American News reel featuring the roller skating craze of the 1940s.

These newsreels were the first produced specifically for a Black audience. See more of them here. ⬇️
http://go.loc.gov/MLzR51019eJ

10/26/2026

MAGAZINE MONDAY | Technology lets us hear Amelia Earhart’s voice on a tiny recording, played for the first time. Read about it in the current issue of the Library of Congress Magazine. ⬇️

https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/september-october-2026/voice-from-aviation-history/?loclr=fbloc

A (tiny) recording of Earhart’s 1932 London speech, played for the first time.

10/23/2026

It's World Series time! Before radio and TV broadcasts, if you wanted to watch the big game but couldn't attend, you might keep track via a "Playograph." This mechanical device was manually operated by people working behind the board, showing crowds where the ball and players were at any given time.

Images: Photo shows crowd gathered outside the New York Herald newspaper building in New York City to watch a "playograph" during the World Series, 1911. Bain News Service photograph collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Advertisement in The Washington Daily News (Monday, Oct. 4, 1926) advises baseball fans to "See the World's Series on The Washington Daily News Playograph," an "ingenious mechanical devise that reproduces the actual game play by play" via "a special wire from the ball park to the rear of the Playograph" that "insures speed and accuracy."
"As fast as a play is made a crew of three operators will reproduce it for you on the Playograph."

10/22/2026

The Library is home to the sole surviving nitrate print of the first film adaptation of "Frankenstein," produced in 1910 by the Edison Manufacturing Company.

Alois F. “Al” Dettlaff of Cudahy, Wisconsin acquired the print as part of a larger collection in the 1950s, but he wasn’t aware of the film’s significance until the American Film Institute included “Frankenstein” on a list of “top 10 most wanted lost films” in 1980. The Library purchased the Dettlaff Collection in 2014.

Watch the full film: https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/11/the-first-film-version-of-frankenstein-newly-restored/?loclr=fbloc

10/21/2026

October 19-25 is National Estate Planning Awareness Week!
Now is a great time to update your will or create one. Consider including the Library of Congress in your plans and create a lasting legacy at the Library.

Learn more at loc.gov/legacy-gift.

10/21/2026

The Library of Congress has recently acquired two letters written by former first ladies Martha Washington and Mary Todd Lincoln. These letters provide researchers and the public with a rare glimpse into the private lives of remarkable women who each stood beside formidable men: America’s first president and its Civil War commander-in-chief.

➡️ https://newsroom.loc.gov/news/library-of-congress-acquires-letters-written-by-former-first-ladies-martha-washington-and-mary-todd-/s/38276a75-3a08-4ec4-8230-435bfe2d1688?loclr=fbloc

10/20/2026

The Library's Liljenquist collection of Civil War photographs contains several images, like these, of veterans who fought for the Union posing with family members (likely their grandsons) who served in World War I.

More of the Liljenquist collection. ⬇️ https://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/lilj/?loclr=fbloc