The 19th annual Library of Congress National Book Festival will be held at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from 8:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019. The event is free and open to the public. If you can’t make, don’t worry, as recordings of author presentations will be available at a…
Today in History–March 27–the Library of Congress features Washington D.C.‘s cherry trees. On this day in 1912 two Yoshino cherry trees were planted on the northern bank of the Potomac River Tidal Basin by First Lady Helen Herron Taft and the Viscountess Chinda, the Japanese ambassador’s wife, to celebrate the Japanese government’s gift of 3,000 trees to…
Today in History–October 26–the Library of Congress features Mahalia Jackson, born on this day in 1911. The “Queen of Gospel Song” performed at national venues and sang for four presidents in addition to singing “I’ve Been ‘Buked and I Been Scorned” just before Martin Luther King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech during the 1963 march on Washington. If…