By ERIN ALLEN
Several media outlets spotlighted the July 17 opening of the Library's exhibition "Enduring Outrage: Editorial Cartoons by Herblock." (See Information Bulletin, July/August 2006.) Known as one of the most influential political commentators and editorial cartoonists in American history, Herbert Block was The Washington Post's editorial cartoonist from 1946 until shortly before his death in 2001. As a condition of the gift of 14,000 original cartoons and 50,000 sketches that the Herblock Foundation made to the Library, his works are to be displayed periodically. This exhibition, featuring 25 rough sketches never before on view, is the third such display, and a retrospective is planned for 2009, the centennial of the cartoonist's birth, and is on display through Jan. 20, 2007, and online at www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/herblock-home.html.
Herblock Foundation President Frank Swoboda, who was interviewed by WRC-TV's Tom Sherwood, said, "Every day an editorial cartoonist can sum up an issue in a 4-by-6 [inch] drawing that others are writing 2,000 word stories on and don't get to the point as quickly."
Sherwood also talked on camera with exhibition curators Sara Duke and Martha Kennedy and reported that "the historical, nonpartisan exhibit has cartoons that would play well today." When asked what Herblock would think of wiretapping, which has recently been in the news, Duke quipped, "He would be bugged."
Referring to the exhibition title, Kennedy told Scripps Howard reporter Kim Last, "I think 'outrage' was a vivid way of describing how Herblock reacted to the abuses of power that he witnessed. He brings outrage to life in his work, which is true of many editorial cartoonists." She added, "The exhibit gives the opportunity to get a sense of how Herblock worked through certain sketches and tried different things before selecting the best arrangements."
Bree Hocking of Roll Call also noted that with themes like privacy and security, congressional ethics and the Middle East, the cartoons on display could be "an incisive critique of our own age."
Hocking also reported on the Library's Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program in an Aug. 14 issue of Roll Call. The program brings college students to Washington to locate and inventory copyright deposit materials—many dating back to the late 19th century. Library staff and the press were invited to view a display of these selected treasures on Aug. 8.
Hocking observed Librarian of Congress James H. Billington as he viewed the items on display and she reported, "A jovial Billington plays the role of proud parent as he makes his way through the room of interns eager to show off the results of a summer spent digging through the Library's hidden treasures." She highlighted several items that elicited humorous responses from the Librarian, including a photograph of Julia Ward Howe, which pictures the author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" at the age of 86, in a rare standing position. A typescript of "Tarzan and the Apes" by Edgar Rice Burroughs reminds Billington that "Tarzan was Stalin's favorite movie." Billington continued, "If you want lots of trivia, just come to the Library of Congress."
Jared A. Taylor, himself a student intern with the Scripps Howard Foundation Semester in Washington Program, interviewed Library intern Amanda Mueller, a senior at Texas A&M University. According to Taylor, not only did Mueller catalog thousands of documents and make interesting discoveries, including a group of 19th century tobacco advertisements featuring children smoking, but also found her career calling.
"After this summer, I've had so much fun—I want to be a librarian," she said.
In the September 2006 issue of The Atlantic Monthly, the Librarian of Congress discussed digital preservation in an article by James Fallows titled "File Not Found: Why a Stone Tablet Is Still Better Than a Hard Drive." In response to the author's concerns on the transient nature of digital information, Billington said, "The best-preserved data tends to be stone steles and cuneiform tablets. All those classical modes hold up pretty well."
Billington discussed the Library's efforts in heading off the problem of digital data loss, including the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (www.digitalpreservation.gov), which is building a network of partners focused on the challenge of preserving and maintaining digital information.
Roll Call reporter John McArdle's Aug. 3 article delved into the Library's plans for a new Jefferson Building Visitors' Experience, a privately funded project to coincide with the completion of the Capitol Visitor Center and tunnel connecting the Capitol and the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building. (See Information Bulletin, September 2006.) McArdle cited the Librarian's July 27 testimony before the House Administration Committee as the source for many details about the project.
In his article, McArdle explained that, "the project is being described as an 'experience' because it's more than just exhibits." He reported that in addition to 10 planned exhibitions highlighting the Library's collections, the new Visitors' Experience "will have a large online component that will allow visitors to follow up their tours through the Library's massive Internet resources."
The Aug. 14 penultimate episode of NBC's "Treasure Hunters" prominently featured the Library's Thomas Jefferson Building. In keeping with the phenomenon of reality television, the show tracks several teams as they travel to historically significant locations in their quest for hidden treasure. Participants were filmed entering the Great Hall on the way to the Main Reading Room and its massive card catalog. They then searched the public stacks for one of three books, which in turn
led to more clues and ultimately to the printing of a "treasure map" of the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812.
When confronted with the task of navigating through the Library's vast resources, one contestant remarked,
"I wished I had used my library more."
Erin Allen is a writer-editor in the Library's Public Affairs Office.