>> From the Library of
Congress in Washington DC.
[ Music ]
>> Helena Zinkham: The Library
has a new hashtag, called LCPride.
That's because we're holding a very
special event in Pride month 2017.
We've brought out almost 200
items from the collections.
Rich, diverse resources
in every format
of information you could think of.
From brail books and talking books
to rare books and manuscripts.
It's all about the American
experience in community
with all the international
connections.
Some of the famous names
you might have heard of --
well, there's Walt Whitman,
Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland.
And then, of course, there are
the many people you may never
of heard of, but will really enjoy
coming and looking at the material,
and learning and hearing
their stories.
>> Georgia Higley: This
is the Sunday Dispatch
from March and April of 1852.
And, the importance of it is
the fact that The Adventures
of Jack Engle is a serialized
story that was actually written
by Walt Whitman, even
though it wasn't attributed
to him in this Sunday Dispatch.
Published on the front page.
The first three or four
columns of every front page.
And, we are the only
ones in the country
that has a complete
set of these issues.
>> Mark Dimunation: And, I've got
in front of me some selections
from our artist, book,
and fine press collection.
These books represent
contributions by lesbians, gay men,
transsexuals who use the
book arts form as a way
of expressing their
experience or their struggles.
We have everything from
Jean Cocteau in the 1930s,
up to books that relate the
experience of HIV and the death
from AIDS, to the 14
stations of the cross.
We have a lesbian bicycle
rider who talks
about her accident
with a pop-up book.
And, we have a really fascinating
book about marriage equality,
in which the artist asks
nontraditional families to go
to Sears to have a
family portrait taken.
And, then they talk about why
their family is just as ordinary
as the others that go to Sears.
And, finally, a re-creation of
love letters between two men
in Far Rockaway at the
turn of the century.
So, these are just a few of the
many, many examples of book arts
that come from the LGBTQ+ community.
>> Nicholas A. Brown: I'm very
pleased to be sharing with you some
of our performing arts
collections at the Library,
which are representative
of the entire history
of performing arts traditions in
Europe, in Asia, around the world,
and here at home in the US.
Within our collections, we have
what are called special collections,
which might be the papers of
a composer, or a lyricist,
or a choreographer, such as
Alvin Ailey, whose papers we have
through his foundation's collection.
We have Leonard Bernstein's papers.
Jonathan Larson, who is
the composer and lyricist
for the hit musical Rent, which is
celebrating its 20th anniversary
of its national tour this year.
These items showcase not only
the importance of LGBTQ creators
in the US and around the
world, but also the stories
of the LGBTQ community as
told by everyone in society.
So, for example, Rent was one
of the first mainstream musicals
to address the LGBTQ
and the HIV experiences
in a very public and
significant manner.
And, we're still learning from
that representation today.
>> David Pelizzari:
Hi, I'm David Pelizzari
from the National Library
Service for the Blind
and Physically Handicapped.
This is the section of
the Library of Congress
that offers reading
materials in many formats
for people facing visual problems
or other physical impairments
that prevent them from
using books normally.
So, for example, here is a talking
book player that is proprietary
to the Library of Congress.
Here is a flash drive.
It looks a little bit like an
old cassette, but it's not.
It's a flash drive.
And, this contains a talking book.
The book in question is Queer:
The Ultimate LGBT Guide for Teens.
And, we have lots of materials
that serve the Pride community.
And, we are proud of them.
Let me show you one more thing,
which is actually kind
of remarkable.
This is a book that is
printed in dual format.
You can see that it sort of looks
like a regular children's book.
But, between the pages are
transparent brail sheets
that are brailed on both sides.
This way, a family or a group of
people -- some of whom use brail,
some of whom use books normally
-- can share the book together
and read the book together.
This particular book, I am Jazz,
is sort of a mini autobiography
of Jazz, a transgender kid
who's now a star on MTV.
So, we produce about 25 of these
dual-format books every year.
And, we've got it -- it so happens
that within this coming year,
we're going to have another book
related to topics of interest
to the transgender community.
It's called Introducing Teddy.
We're very proud of
a product like this.
>> Lee Avdoyan: About 1990,
'91, I suggested to the Library
of Congress Profession Association
that we do an AIDS quilt.
Because by that time,
I knew of other names.
And, they jumped at the chance.
And, they said, would I
agree to co-chair it with one
of their office holders,
the late [inaudible] Salem?
And, that's how the
quilt came about.
We put together a committee
of the most marvelous people.
The most driven people
you will ever have known.
The only guidance we gave to begin
with is that Phil and I decided
that we would like
the dome on the quilt.
And the names.
And another principle
we established,
that we would include no name
unless there was a written source
that they had succumbed to
AIDS, or their family agreed.
So, you will see many names
up there, "sine nominee" --
without name, because we
could not meet that criteria.
>> Kathy Woodrell: So, this quilt
was fabricated here at the Library
in a variety of conference rooms.
We brought in sewing machines,
ironing boards and irons.
And, then we took different
parts of it home.
If you look at it closely,
you'll notice that the names are
actually constructed in strips,
because a number of different
people wanted to sew down the name
of a person that they
might have known.
And, then we sewed all
the strips together.
It was on the mall in 1993.
We actually made it in 1992.
>> Lee Avdoyan: It was supposed
to be displayed for one day
when we unveiled it
outside in the Mumford Room.
It was on a riser, outside -- in
the foyer of the Mumford Room.
Dr. Billington came by
and was so moved by it,
he directed that it be hung
on a wall and displayed
for at least a month, so
that everyone could see it.
>> Kathy Woodrell: It's an honor
to see it again, after 25 years.
[ Music ]
>> This has been a presentation
of The Library of Congress.
Visit us at loc.gov.