>> Kristi Finefield: Welcome
everybody to this Prints
and photograph division
Object Lesson.
Tonight we're going to be
looking at The Changing Face
of Washington, D.C.
through The US News
and World Report Magazine
Photograph Collection.
I will not [inaudible]
entire name
of the collection all night.
I hope that you'll
remember that full name.
My name is Kristi Finefield
and I am a reference specialist
in the library's Prints
and Photographs Division.
Thanks so much for introducing
yourself in the chat.
It's great to see that we have a
mix of locals and D.C., Maryland
and the metro area as well as
people from across the country.
Hopefully I'll provide
enough information
that you will understand
the layout
of D.C. I've included
some maps and things
to keep us all on the same page.
Before we get started,
I want to mention
that I will be answering
questions
at the end of the presentation.
So if you have any questions
please put them in the Q
and A not in the chat.
A colleague will be tracking
your questions in Q and A
so that I can be sure to
address them at that point.
Also I'll tell you again
later in the presentation,
but if you'd like us to send
you a PDF copy of the slides
from tonight's presentation
you can contact us
through our Ask a
Librarian service.
Before I dive into
the main topic,
I'm going to give you a brief
introduction to the Prints
and Photographs Division.
On the left you can see
a picture of the Library
of Congress's Capitol
Hill campus in Washington,
D.C. The library has three
buildings on Capitol Hill.
Jefferson Building on
the left with the dome.
The Adams building which
is hidden just behind the
Jefferson Building.
And the Madison Building
on the right.
The red arrow points
to where the Prints
and Photographs Division is
located in the Madison Building.
And on the right picture you
can see a photo of the Print
and Photographs reading room
where researchers join us
to explore our collections.
We are currently open to
researchers by appointment
so please reach out to us
through Ask a Librarian
if you are interested
in visiting in person.
The Prints and Photographs
Division holds
over 17 million visual
materials including photographs,
historical prints, posters,
cartoons, documentary drawings,
fine prints, and architectural
and engineering designs.
Most items from the collections
were made in the United States
and reflect the experiences
of American
but the collections are
also international in scope.
The Prints and Photographs
Divisions collections are quite
strong in their coverage
of Washington,
D.C. and this slide gives a
very small sampling of the types
of materials you
might find depicting
and describing the
nation's capitol pulled
from a simple search
of the prints
and photographs online
catalog or PPOC.
As you can see the sample shows
various types of materials
such as posters, photographs,
and architectural drawings
and from various time periods.
The earliest item shown is an
original architectural drawing
from the US Capitol from
about 1815 at the far left.
And we're including the link to
the online catalog in the chat
so that you can do some
searching on your own later.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Today's talk will focus
on one particular
collection in the Prints
and Photographs Division and
how it depicts Washington,
D.C. through the later
half of the 20th Century.
First, let me introduce you
to the collection as a whole.
US News and World Report
Magazine Photograph Collection
is as you might suspect
an archive of photos taken
for US News and World
Report Magazine.
The collection consists
of almost 1.2 million
original 35 millimeter and two
and a quarter inch negatives
primarily black and white
and 45,000 contact sheets which
are negatives contact printed
onto photographic paper
multiple images to a page.
The collection dates from
between 1952 and 1986.
And you can see here
on this slide,
on the left we have an
employee working with photos
for a layout in the magazine.
And on the right a
typical contact sheet
of 35 millimeter film
and what you would view
when visiting the prints
and photographs reding
room to conduct research.
>> Kristi Finefield: In
the past the primary way
to identify contact sheets of
interest in the collection was
through a manual card catalog.
But we now have a finding
aid online pictured at left
and there will be a link
appearing in the chat.
The finding aid can be searched
by key words, names and places
and it's based on the
index that US News
and World Report
created for the photos.
We'll provide a link as I said,
and this will help you browse
the sometimes quite brief
headings on each envelope
which then leads you to photos
of interest in the file
cabinets in the reading room.
A typical drawer of the
collection is pictured at right.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Here's a further example
of contact sheets from the
collection showing how brief the
captions really can be.
This series of photos is
simply called The Changing Face
of Washington, D.C. which
offered me the name and theme
for this presentation and
at the time provided photos
for an article in the magazine.
>> Kristi Finefield: Some of the
photos from the Changing Face
of Washington, D.C. series
taken in April of 1974 appeared
in the May 6th, 1974 issue of US
News and World Report Magazine
of ran article titled
New Skyline
for the Nation's Capitol.
The prints and photographs
reading room has copies
of the magazine throughout
the run that's featured
in the archive so when -
included in the reference
collection so when you are
in the reading room it's
available to browse through.
>> Kristi Finefield: We've
added yet another online tool
to help researchers explore and
learn more about this collection
through an online
research guide.
In addition to a description
of the collection instructions
on how to search it and view
it as well as an explanation
of the rights status
it offers info
about the collections strength
as well as the sample images.
I'm going to walk through those
now to give you a broad overview
and then we'll dive
into Washington,
D.C. including a link to
this guide in the chat
for you to look at later.
>> Kristi Finefield: The
collection depicts topics
that were of interest for
the magazines coverage
of US business and
political news topics
with particular emphasis
on Washington,
D.C. and the United
States as well
as some foreign relations
coverage.
It features images
depicting for example
as you see here political
and government activities.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Includes people in the news
and here we have from
left to right Malcolm X,
The Beatles in 1964,
and Golda Meir.
And naturally some of
the people included
within the collection were all
the presidents, vice presidents,
congressional leaders
and so forth that were
in power during the
run of the magazine.
The magazine features
many images
of the African American Civil
Rights Movement and many more
in the archive itself
including such key events
as the 1963 march on Washington
which is seen in the photo
at far right on the slide.
>> Kristi Finefield: There's
also document developments
in technology, labor,
and the economy.
Note here that there are
photos - two photos from 1962.
In the center we have John
Glenn's space capsule and,
on the right, an early
computer facility.
>> Kristi Finefield:
And finally Washington,
D.C. and the immediate
metro area.
For me the coverage of
Washington, D.C. itself,
the city and it's growth is the
unsung hero of the collection.
I think by the title
and the general focus
of the magazine this
extensive collections ability
to provide a record of the
changing face of Washington,
D.C. from the 1950s into the
1980s was easily overlooked.
For decade, because we do have
the original negatives for just
about every photo in the
collection researchers
who found an image of interest
would have a negative printed,
receive a photo, and there
would be nothing added
to our online catalog
to clue other researches
into the contents of
the collection itself.
The advent of digital
scanning changed that somewhat
as negatives were scanned
for researchers orders
and for exhibits and then
added to the online catalog.
But it was a very slow trickle
of images from our collect -
from a collection of
nearly 1.2 million photos.
We launched an effort a few
years ago to change that
and began selecting a few
hundred images from every year
of the collection
manually by looking
through the contact sheets
and having them scanned,
cataloged and added to PPOC.
This effort continues
as we speak
so the collection
presence online will grow
but at this time you can
see about 2,500 photos
from The US News and World
Report Collection online.
And we are going to
include a link in the chat
to what's currently digitized
and that link would continue
to grow as more things
are added.
The prefix used to
identify the negatives
from this collection
is a great way
to pull together all the
images in one search.
And that's what I've got
circled on the slide here.
It's - here's what
it looks like LC-U9.
A search for the acronym for
the collection is also effective
USN&WR and again I'm sharing
that on the screen there.
>> Kristi Finefield: Though
I worked in the Prints
and Photographs Division
for over two decades
and used those collection
throughout that time including
for research of D.C. I still
find I am discovering more
and more interesting photos of
the city as they appear online.
It goes to show you should
never make too many assumptions
about what a collection can
do for you or your research
without the full exploration
or without asking questions
of the librarians like myself
who work with the collections.
But now that I've given
you an introduction
to the collection itself,
and how to access it
let's look at some photos.
This particular photo
of an unnamed photographer
caught my attention on day
for a number of reasons.
For one, it's always interesting
to see a photographer in action,
to look at he equipment
they're using,
you can see here he has two
cameras with him this day.
One on the tripod and one
hanging around his neck.
My first question
though was, where is he?
The scans are made from
the original film negatives
and are high resolutions.
So you can really
zoom in on details.
They also consulted the rest
of the contact sheet
this photo came
from to gain a little context.
I was eventually able to
confirm he was on the roof
of the Jefferson Building
of The Library of Congress
around the edge of the dome.
His camera seems to be pointed
north toward the Supreme Court.
But I imagine it was
also the Capitol Building
that you can see in the
background that brought him
to this great height
on February 5th, 1959.
The photos in this collection
are nearly always dated,
which proves extremely
helpful in research.
Here's the contact sheet on the
left that included that photo.
And a few frames
zoomed on the right.
So on the bottom row
there's a police officer
or guard who's also enjoying
the view and the details
that I could see in those
photos - in his photos
of the police officer actually
helped confirm the location.
What I sought out was
the traditional photos
of the Jefferson Building
to figure out these concrete
or stone railings where
the are on the building.
I turned to a modern view
of the Jefferson
Building from abut 2007.
You can see the Supreme
Court is at the far left.
The Adams Building I mentioned
earlier is right behind.
But I needed to get in very
close to compare that railing
that was with the police
officer to the dome itself.
So I -- thankfully, these
are high resolution as I said
so I was able to
zoom in really close.
So the narrow walkway that's
around the lantern of the dome
that I'm pointing at match.
The stone details are a match
to the contact sheet so -
and the one on the right
I'm pointing to exactly
where I believe that
photographer was standing
and taking his photo
of the Supreme Court.
Go back to that photograph
again.
Can I also confirm what
he's photographing?
I think I can.
I think I could guess that
it's the Supreme Court
but when I go back
to the contact sheet,
I can get even more information.
So this time I've zoomed
on some different frames
and you can see the
photograph he's actually taking
or the one he took
right after or before.
The top row, the two photos
there are the Supreme Court.
And on the bottom
row the first photo
on the left is the US Capitol
Building and, on the right,
we have the Russel
Senate Office Building
which we'll talk
about again later.
>> Kristi Finefield:
So back to the capitol
which may have brought this
photographer up to the dome
of the Jefferson Building.
No easy task to get up there
so he probably took photos
of everything he could see.
But this work on the Capitol
Building was pretty significant
at the time.
The groundbreaking ceremony
was on February 24th,
1959 so a few weeks after that
photographer was up on the dome.
And as you can see there's the
east front has already been
altered in the background.
But this groundbreaking ceremony
set off the construction
of the extension that would
ultimately add 90 rooms
to the US Capitol.
And here architect
of the capitol,
Jay George Stewart
addresses the crowd
and uses the ceremonial
shovel at right flanked
by congressional leaders.
All told the east front
would move east about 32 feet
and the original
front was replicated
on the new front in marble.
Here we can see more of the
extension being documented.
It was a three year project.
And during the same
time period -
during that time period they
also restored the capitol dome
you can tell by the
scaffolding up there.
It would - and again it wouldn't
be treated and restored again
until 2016 so this was a
pretty significant project.
So for three years they
worked on the capitol
and it was completed
in April 1962.
And this was the last major
change to the exterior
of the US Capitol Building.
So looking past the capitol
itself the US News Collection
offers great insight
into the growth
of Capitol Hill and
adjacent areas.
In support of the
work of Congress
and by extension the
Library of Congress.
The presence of aerial views in
this collection is invaluable
for gaining context
and perspective
on the city and it's growth.
This aerial photo from 1964
offers a great launching point.
The capitol is at center.
Three of the House
office buildings are
across the foreground and two
of the Senate off ice
buildings are behind
and to the right of the capitol.
Union Station is there
in the far background.
And at the right of the capitol,
you can see that only two
of the three Library of Congress
Buildings on Capitol Hill exist.
The Madison where the prints and
photographs reading room now is,
is still a developing idea.
I'll point to some those
particular buildings
on the upcoming slides.
>> Kristi Finefield: This
1961 map from The Library
of Congress Geography and Map
Division oriented similarly
to the aerial photo
on the previous slide
offers further context
and a few more pieces
of information.
The map highlights in black the
buildings under the jurisdiction
of the architect of the capitol
which includes the capitol,
and its grounds, all the
congressional office buildings
as well as the buildings
at The Library of Congress.
>> Kristi Finefield:
So working our way
around the capitol here are
the house office buildings used
by members of the House of
Representatives and their staff.
From left to right
on both the photo
and the map are the
Rayburn, the Longworth,
and the Cannon House
office buildings.
>> Kristi Finefield: The cannon
and the Longworth are
both in place by 1933.
The needs of the House for
more building brought forth the
largest of the house office
buildings, the Rayburn.
You can see the massive
footprint
of the Rayburn office
building taking shape
in this June 7th, 1960 photo.
It would be completed by 1965.
As you can imagine or have
experienced in person the scale
of these federal government
buildings has had a major impact
on the Washington, D.C.
landscape since it's founding
and continues to have
that impact to this day.
If we head north of the
capitol, we can see the complex
of the Senate office buildings.
There are far fewer Senators, so
their space needs are smaller.
I'm pointing both on
the photo and on the map
to this two Senate office
buildings that existed
at the time, the Russell on
the left and then the Dirksen.
The Hart building would join
those two a little later.
>> Kristi Finefield: Here we see
the Hart Senate office building
which was the third
of those buildings
that began construction in 1975.
It is still shown still under
construction here in 1979.
These Congressional buildings
are largely connected
to the capitol via
underground tunnels and
or in some places a
small subway system.
At the far right of this photo
is a little detail I'm going
to point out, you can
see the brick house
which is now called the Belmont
Paul Women's Equality National
Monument a property administered
by the National Parks Service.
It shares the block with
the Hart building thanks
to preservation efforts in
the 1960s which placed it
on the National Register
of historic places.
This 200 year old house is
one of the oldest residences
in Washington, D.C. and
served as the headquarters
of the National Women's Party
for decades starting in 1929.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Moving around to the east
of the capitol we can - we
reach the Capitol Hill campus
of The Library of Congress
which I briefly introduced you
to at the top of the talk.
The Thomas Jefferson [inaudible]
sits just behind the capitol
with the dome and it
was completed in 1897.
The Adams building just
behind that opened in 1939.
And as with the House and the
Senate the library needed more
space so the property where the
Madison building would be added
is largely empty in this
1964 photo with just remnants
of drives and alleys
still visible.
And I'm pointing to that at the
far right of the photograph.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Almost a decade earlier
in 1956 another aerial photo
from the US News
collection shows the site
of the Madison building and I've
zoomed in on the photo at left
on the right and
circled the location
where the Madison Building
would be in the future.
You can see those remnants of
roads I pointed out still led
to residences and
businesses at the time.
And you can probably look around
now on this aerial photograph
on the left and recognize some
of the buildings I pointed out
and whether they have
been built yet or not.
The transformation of parts
of the extended Capitol Hill
area continued throughout the
20th Century with
varying levels of impact
on the surrounding community.
>> Kristi Finefield:
The Madison Building
which now occupies
the entire block
between Independence Avenue
South East and C Street as well
as between First and Second
Streets South East begins
to come to reality in this
1971 photo of its excavation.
And you can just see the capitol
peeking up in the background
and the Jefferson
Building is to the right.
>> Kristi Finefield: Here
in 1974 the building begins
to take shape and it would
be completed and dedicated
in the spring of 1980.
And that is the last Library
of Congress Building added
to the Capitol Hill area.
We continue to grow in
spaces outside of the city.
>> Kristi Finefield: So let's
step away from Capitol Hill
and see what other parts
of the city the US News
collection documents.
Also included in that first
aerial photograph I showed you
way off in the distance was
Union Station, Washington,
D.C's main train station.
It has seen its share of
changes and transformations
over the years as any
resident of D.C. could tell you
or anyone's that
taken the Amtrak
to come to visit the city.
But it was the US News
collection that introduced me
to one transformation
I was not aware of.
This photo from 1974
stopped me in my tracks
when I saw a large
earthen pit in the center
of the floor of the station.
Apparently on further research
this was a rather ill fated
attempt to reinvigorate the
train station as it had fallen
into disuse and disrepair to a
certain extent with the decline
of train travel post-World
War II.
And the project was intended
to give it new purpose
as the National Visitor
Center where tourists would go
to learn more about
the city and where
to go during their
time visiting.
It was slated to open for the
centennial celebrations in 1976.
When celebrations began parts
of the original vision
were still incomplete.
This pit would eventually
house a sunken amphitheater
and a 100 screen slide
show presentation.
The idea never attracted
enough visitors unfortunately
to sustain it.
So it was eventually closed
down within a couple years.
Thankfully in the years
that followed Union Station
received much needed renovations
in those - in the following
decades with the focus now
on retail, restaurants,
and of course train travel.
>> Kristi Finefield: So if we
shift from above ground trains
to below ground trains,
we can see there are some photos
included in the collection
for one of the biggest changes
for the capitol city
in its history.
Construction began in 1969 on
the Washington, D.C. Metro.
And it's one of the largest
public works projects
ever built.
The first station opened in
1976 and the system continues
to expand its reach into
Virginia and Maryland today.
For those of us who live in
or have visited the D.C.
area the coffered ceiling
in this photo is
unmistakably a sign you are
in a below ground Metro Station.
In this case we are seeing
the Judiciary Square Station
on the Red Line taking shape.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Metro Center seen here
under construction
is one of the busiest
if not the busiest
station in the system.
It has multiple levels of trains
crisscrossing and connecting.
So you can just imagine the
construction project that ensued
to build this station
well below the city.
>> Kristi Finefield: And make
no mistake, the construction
of the Metro effected many parts
of the city, aboveground
as well.
The streets were torn
up, businesses disrupted,
historic buildings were
literally lifted and moved
for the path of the
Metro System.
Growing pains can be quite
painful but it is hard
to image D.C. without
the Metro after all.
The presence or absence
of a subway system
in your area also had major
impacts on neighborhood growth
and development and continues
to do so to this day.
>> Kristi Finefield: I mentioned
in the introduction that US News
and World Report Magazine
Collection covers events
in Washington, D.C.
And some of those did have
a transformative effect
on the built environment
of the city.
Photographers for US News
largely documented the aftermath
of the 1968 civil unrest
that followed the assignation
of Civil Rights leader Martin
Luther King in the city.
Substantial damage particularly
from fires destroyed multiple
blocks in different areas
of the city and some of that
damage is seen here at 7th
and N Streets North West.
Buildings that were
damaged beyond repair many
of those along 7th Street North
West were eventually demolished
and sadly many of these
lots were left vacant
for years forever changing
this part of the city.
>> Kristi Finefield: A1974
photo gives a hint of some
of the development
that eventually reached
7th Street North West.
This intersection is a block
away from the one featured
on the previous slide
and six years later.
At the right is the historic
O Street Market also known
as Norther Market which was
slightly damaged in 1968.
But then later restored.
It is one of few
of the remaining historic
market buildings of Washington,
D.C. the other two being Eastern
Market and Georgetown Market.
While it is in disrepair
in this photo it has
since been renovated
and is in use again.
It actually went through
several uses from the day
of this photo till today.
The massive apartment building
at left is evidence of some
of the changes on 7th Street
where small businesses
and apartments often
were replaced
by large housing developments.
Another big change
to the area was
that the D.C. Convention
Center was constructed there
and is now a large
presence on 7th Street.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Elsewhere in the city,
the National Mall
continues to evolve.
Here we see the Air and Space
Museum under construction.
Excuse me.
It would be completed
and open in 1976.
And while you can't see it
in this photo there's
also documentation
of the construction of the east
wing of the National Gallery
of Art and some other museums
as well including the Hirshhorn
is included in the collection.
And the ever present
capitol at far back right
to help you get your bearings.
>> Kristi Finefield: Another
massive construction project
in the heart of the city
is a few blocks north
of the National Mall
and a few blocks east
of the White House is the
J. Edgar Hoover Building the
headquarters for the FBI.
This building would take 10
years to complete from 1965
to 1975 due to issues with
Congressional funding and due
to the delays rising
costs of construction.
>> Kristi Finefield: So in the
Potomac River between Virginia
and Washington D.C. Theodore
Roosevelt Island formerly named
Mason's Island and a
few other names before
that is a living memorial for
the countries 26th President.
In the 1930s the
island was re-landscaped
to create nature
trails and renamed
for the Theodore Roosevelt.
So it's Theodore
Roosevelt Island.
And in the 1960s they decided
to add a built memorial
to the system of nature
trials on the island.
And at the time of this
photo in 1965 the fountains
that are the little - the bowls
you can see in the foreground
and just behind are
not yet full of water.
And the much larger than
life statue of Roosevelt
which will be in front
of this tall stone plinth
for lack of a better term.
Probably not the right term.
That's where he will be and
has not yet been installed.
The Theodore Roosevelt
Memorial was completed in 1967.
And one thing I'll
point out because
as I mentioned we're
still digitizing items
from the collection,
you will start
to see also additional images
of some of the other memorials
in Washington, D.C. that were
built during the timeframe
of the collection.
So if you're interested
in seeing that kind
of thing keep checking into
the online catalog and look
for your favorite monument,
memorial, museum et cetera.
So there is much more to see
of Washington, D.C. in US News
and World Report Magazine
Photograph Collection
but I'm going to leave the
rest for you to explore.
I leave you with this photo
of the Madison Building
of the Library of
Congress rising into view
in the foreground with
the Jefferson behind it.
The Madison being the
future home of the prints
and photographs reading room
as well as this collection.
More photos as I mentioned
will appear in the prints
and photographs online
catalog as we continue to scan.
So I hope that both you and I
can continue to gain new insight
into our nations capitol
through these photographs
and see its changing face.
So at this time, I can take
any questions you might have.
As I mentioned at the beginning
please contact us via Ask a
Librarian if you wish to
acquire a PDF copy of the slides
of today's presentation
as well as any questions
that you would prefer
to ask that way.
And a bit of housekeeping
before I reply to any questions,
when you leave the
session tonight,
you'll be presented
with a survey.
Please take a moment if
you will to fill it out.
We welcome your feedback
and your comments can help us
develop future programming.
So I am going to open
it up to questions.
I think Sara is going to
- my colleague is going
to let me know what things
I need to ask - answer.
And I thank everyone
for your attention.
>> Sara Duke: The first question
I see is are there any photos
of D.C. trolly car?
>> Kristi Finefield: Oh.
You know I haven't
actually searched for that,
but I would be surprised if
there weren't to be honest.
And if they aren't online,
almost certainly
in the collection.
They did a lot of coverage
of the city itself
throughout the collection.
Sometimes it's incidental
to the subject
of the article they
were photographing for,
but I don't know the answer
offhand, but you're welcome
to write in to Ask a
Librarian if you want me
to actually figure out
and write back to you.
But I would be surprised
if it didn't include those.
>> Sara Duke: Well,
I happen to know
that we have a newly acquired
unprocessed collection
of the D.C. trolley cars, so
I am going to throw a link
into the chat for people to see.
>> Kristi Finefield: And
before - in case every -
in case other people sign
before you do, I just wanted
to mention we want to invite
you as Sara just mentioned
in the chat to continue
enjoying our virtual content.
The next event from the Prints
and Photographs Division
will be two sessions
of our finding pictures
series on February 8th
and February 16th about how to
find pictures in our collections
of African Americans
in the military.
This session will include a
brief introduction to images
in the collection that
relate to the history
of African American
participation in the US military
from the Civil War
through the Vietnam War
with a focus on photography.
So be sure to sign
up for that event.
And also please keep
an eye on the Library
of Congress events page for more
on our virtual content
including a talk
by our two photography
curators that's upcoming
about an exhibit.
And I'll take any other
questions that may have come in.
>> Sara Duke: Yeah, the
next question is where any
of these photographs
taken with Leica cameras?
>> Kristi Finefield: Oh.
I - unfortunately we don't know
the answer to that question.
Documentation of what
equipment they used is not part
of the collection archives.
Now I could look more closely
at that one photo and see
if we could tell what
kind of camera he's using.
But that [inaudible] a
photographer taking photographs
is kind of unusual
in the collection.
I've only seen a couple.
Generally they use Kodak safety
film, I can tell you that.
You can see that yourself from
looking at the contact sheets.
And mostly 35 millimeter.
But whether they used Leica
cameras it's a good chance
that some of them did and
certainly a great camera
and popular in the time period.
But that's always
a tricky question
for us throughout
our collections
to know what the equipment
was ff the photographer didn't
document that.
Sometimes you can
deduce it but not always.
>> Sara Duke: Where
did the residence
and businesses relocate
from the site
of the LOC Jefferson
Building is built?
Were they assisted in
relocation expenses and housing?
I'm wondering if they mean
the Madison Building rather
than the Jefferson.
>> Kristi Finefield: Yeah.
I think so.
I don't know.
I - maybe someone else in the,
in the chat actually knows
the answer to that question.
I assume slash hope that
there was some assistance
in relocating.
I think the properties
were probably purchased
by the government.
I don't know that they
were getting market rate
for those properties.
But it's a great question
because it happened multiple -
you know it happened
multiple times.
So the library stopped
expanding on Capitol Hill
after the Madison Building.
But other buildings were built
in the Capitol Hill area.
It think the Madison is
probably the latest new building
and that's from 1980.
I think Capitol Hill also was
less expensive real-estate
at the time and it
wouldn't make a lot
of sense now nor would you have
much luck probably relocating
people out of Capitol Hill.
So it's a good question.
I'm sure there was
lots written about it
in the newspapers at the time.
And we could probably get to
the bottom of that question.
But it definitely is very
similar to what continues to be
in Capitol Hill that
block looks a lot
like the rest of
Capitol Hill now.
So it was a -- dislocated
a lot of people.
>> Sara Duke: Do you
know anything about one
of the US News and World
Report photographers Warren
K. Loeffler?
>> Kristi Finefield: I actually
looked into Mr. Loeffler.
Not a lot written about him.
He was kind of the main
D.C. area photographer
and he took extensive
photographs
of the Civil Rights
Movement for US News.
I believe he also
may have worked
for the State Department
at one time.
But again, not a lot - most
of the photographers all
the photographers really
in this collection are
not household names.
They are not names
that I saw popping
up in other collections
or later collections.
So they were - there's
probably a lot
to learned about them actually.
Loeffler's one of my
favorites just based
on his photographs honestly.
You get to know a photographer
by what they photograph,
and he has a great eye for D.C.
I would encourage you to go
into the online catalog
and search for Loeffler
and Civil Rights and you'll
see several dozen photographs
that he took that
have been digitized
and there's hundreds more.
>> Sara Duke: So
I have a question
from an anonymous attendee.
Which Metro Station
did open first?
>> Kristi Finefield: Gosh.
I don't know the answer.
Does anyone else know the
answer to that question?
Opened first?
I know - yeah.
I don't know.
I know some of these obviously
were more extensive construction
than others because
of how deep they are.
They really - the fact that
they built this Metro System
underneath a completely you
know thriving city still kind
of boggles the mind.
But I don't know which one -
but now you've given me
something to look into.
>> Sara Duke: What percentage
of the US News Collection
is color photos?
>> Kristi Finefield: Very small.
Less than 5%.
Less than, less than
2% probably.
It is fundamentally a
black and white collection.
The magazine was largely
printed in black and white
so that was there, was there
kind of photos they took.
Okay so I have an answer
to your earlier question
which is the first
part of the system -
the Metro System that opened.
And actually no, they're
talking about later.
Sorry. We'll have
to keep looking.
They opened part of the Red
Line first, but I don't know
if it was - which was
the first station.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Any more questions?
>> Sara Duke: Sorry,
I forgot to unmute.
>> Kristi Finefield:
That's okay.
>> Sara Duke: Anything about,
anything more about the US News
and World Report photographers?
>> Kristi Finefield:
Ah, no not yet.
Like honestly, they, they
are a little mysterious.
Not famous.
Not famous on their own.
Many of them worked for
the US News for decades.
So I mean Loeffler's work
appears from the earliest -
the '50s at least through the
'70s so he spent a good portion
of his career working
for US News.
So any other parts
of his professional
career I'm not sure of.
If there was.
Hopefully they'll keep
uncovering more information.
The collection came with
the photographs, negatives,
a logbook to help us index the
collection but it didn't come
with a great deal of other
contextual information.
>> Sara Duke: Was Marion
S. Trikosko a woman?
How many women photographers
are in the collection?
Were photographers
independent contractors
or employees of the magazine?
>> Kristi Finefield:
Marion Trikosko was a man.
You can usually tell that
through the spelling.
The O is usually -- be a man.
What I was going to - well I'm
changing things on the screen.
[inaudible] seeing right now.
I'm going to go to the right
statement for the collection
because it lists some of the
staff photographers by name.
And to my knowledge there
were very - there maybe one
or a couple female
photographers.
Mary Dean worked
for them in the '50s
but the staff photographers
were almost completely men.
They also purchased photographs
as well, but the vast majority
of this collection was taken
by staff photographers
working for the magazine.
And something I didn't
mention but is really important
about the collection is that
it's very unusual for material
that dates from the '50s to
the '80s is that since most
of the work was taken
by staff photographers
and that work was owned by US
News and World Report, Inc.
When they donated the
collection the library,
they also dedicated the rights
of the collection to the public.
And that's why this -
these photographs were
such a great candidate to be
scanned because when you do look
at them in the online
catalog you can enlarge
and download the images
because they do not have any
right restrictions.
And that applies to
staff photographers.
There are some things in the
collection that were purchased
from outside photographers
but very little.
>> Sara Duke: Does the
collection also explore the
variety of college
campuses across the city?
>> Kristi Finefield: There
are photographs - I remember,
I think I remember
seeing photographs
of American University
and Georgetown.
I wouldn't necessarily say it's
a strength of the collection.
But yes, they do exist in it.
It's an interesting collection
especially because if you look
through the magazine itself, it
was photographically illustrated
but not - it wasn't
a picture magazine.
It wasn't about photographs
so typically what you see
in the collection is
far more extensive
than what you see
in the magazine.
And that was one of our kind
of motivations to get more
of it online because if you
saw the name of the collection
and knew the magazine you
might not expect to find
so many photographs
behind the scenes.
>> Sara Duke: Does The
Library of Congress anticipate
that the USNWR will
update the collection
by donating photos
taken after 1986?
>> Kristi Finefield:
I don't know
that there is any
plans to do so.
It would be in the court of our
photography curators to inquire
if that is a possibility.
>> Sara Duke: There
is one from -
question that I think
we need a refinement.
There are billion
collections at that link.
Can you give a more
specific URL?
>> Kristi Finefield:
I wonder which link?
>> Sara Duke: Yeah,
I [inaudible]
>> Kristi Finefield: Do you
mean - at the maybe the link
for the prints and photographs
online catalog possibly?
Because that link does take you
to the home page for the catalog
and we have dozens
of collections there.
But if you get to - but again,
if you want to write to us
through Ask a Librarian after
the talk, I'll send the slides
and that will include the
links, the same links that were
in the chat and you
can also follow up
and ask more questions.
Anyone here in the chat here is
welcome to write and ask more.
It is a really large collection
as I mentioned 17 million items,
so it takes - sometimes it
makes sense to talk to somebody
to get a little help
to get started.
>> Sara Duke: Can you
describe how The Library
of Congress acquired
this collection?
Did the USNWR seek you out?
>> Kristi Finefield:
So unfortunately this happened
before my time at the library.
I started in '99 and
the collection came
to us in the '80s.
I do know that it was a gift.
Don't know if they approached
us first or we approached them.
>> Sara Duke: We have
an answer from our chief
that says they reached
out to the library.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Oh, thank Helena.
And we do try as a
general goal in the Prints
and Photographs Division to
have collections of this nature,
photojournalism collections
that cover -
try to cover the entire century
you know through some kind
of large photojournalism
collection.
So US News - or you
know through -
as long as photojournalism
has existed,
we try to have a collection
that will give you
some insight into that.
So the US News is a very
important piece of our general -
our entire collection
for it's documentation
of the '50s to the '80s.
>> Sara Duke: Is
there a sub-collection
of Civil War photos
of the National Mall?
>> Kristi Finefield: There
are - the Civil War Collection
that the library is made
up of numerous collections.
There's one kind of
core one that came to us
through many hands that includes
the work of Matthew Brady
in his studio Gardner
and other people
and those photos do
include the National Mall.
There is no collection
that is focused only
on the National Mall but
throughout the Civil -
and we have other
Civil War collections.
We're continuing to
acquire them today in fact.
That many do include the mall.
But no one that focuses on that.
We can certainly see things like
the encampments on the Mall.
You can see the buildings
in the city
that were used during the
war those kind of things.
>> Sara Duke: Does the
collection include images
of the change in
culture of Washington?
>> Kristi Finefield:
Oh, I would say yes.
What we see and that's probably
in that section I referred
to as kind of labor
- what was the term?
Labor technology
and the economy.
You definitely see a lot
of photographs showing kind
of changing neighborhoods
you know just new stores,
you know the Civil
Rights pictures alone show
like changes in the city.
There's lots of photos that
kind of touch on the idea
of gentrification for example.
They're not talking
about gentrification
but they're showing how
neighborhoods were changing
in D.C. which certainly
reflects on the overall changes.
So I would say it's
not so straight forward
to research the subject in
US News as much as to think
about how that would be
demonstrated in photographs.
>> Sara Duke: What percentage
of the [inaudible]photographs
collection is available online?
>> Kristi Finefield: We have
I think at last count over one
and half - the number I
think recently went up.
We're digitizing constantly.
So I would say at
least 1.5 million
and it might be approaching a
higher number is - are digitized
and online in the collection.
So you're looking
at approaching 10%
of what we have is digitized.
There is of course you know
a lot of steps that lead
from an item being digitized to
it being in the online catalog.
So we are making great strides
in speeding that process
but also we create as I
pointed out the finding aid
for tis collection is online
and so while 1.2 million
photographs aren't on line,
your ability to search within
the collection and cover parts
of it increased with the
ability of that finding aid
and we have added dozens
of those kinds of resources
over the last few years to try
to increase access even while
we digitize as fast as we can.
>> Sara Duke: Which is
your favorite US News
and World Report photo?
>> Kristi Finefield: Oh my gosh.
>> Sara Duke: Or subject matter?
>> Kristi Finefield:
That's so hard.
I have a terrible time picking
favorites that's why I work in,
in the Prints and
Photographs Division.
I look at something
different every day.
I actually in this particular
subject I am a big fan
of aerial photographs.
So it's kind of hard
for me to pick.
I just enjoy looking at the city
in that way because you can kind
of pick out all the
different buildings and think
about you know what
was there before.
So I, I don't think I have
one particular favorite.
But aerial photographs
are definitely my -
one of my favorite
types of photographs.
I do really enjoy the photos of
the Metro System underground.
I think those are fascinating.
>> Sara Duke: Which is
your - oh, wait a minute.
Sorry.
>> Kristi Finefield: Sara, I
still can't pick a favorite.
>> Sara Duke: I know.
I remember using
the card catalogs
for this collection years ago.
>> Kristi Finefield: Uh-huh.
>> Sara Duke: What happened
to the card catalog?
>> Kristi Finefield:
Oh, it's still there.
Car catalog is still
in the reading room.
It's still available
for anyone to use.
It actually can help
you find things
in a slightly different way
than the online finding aid just
by browsing through it.
You get to a certain subject and
just look through al the cards
so it's not going anywhere.
It's right where it
has been for decades.
I can attest.
>> Sara Duke: Your
colleague Jan Grenci tells
that Mary Dean was a
staff photographer.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Yes, I mentioned her.
But she's the only
one I know of.
She's listed in the finding aid,
but I think every other
staff photographer is men.
>> Sara Duke: Is there a
specific link to the US News
and World Collection of
Washington, D.C. photos?
>> Kristi Finefield: So there
was a link shared during the
presentation of how to see
everything that's been digitized
from the US News collection.
A great deal of that
is Washington,
D.C. but what you can do is take
that search string I suggested
which was LC-U9 and just add the
word Washington to the search.
I will - if I can get out of
my PowerPoint for a second.
>> Sara Duke: I'll throw
back into the chat.
I got it. When I
go to the LOC.gov -
all right I can't talk anymore.
And slash pictures
and type USNWR
in the search bar I
get almost nothing.
If I type US News, I
get almost nothing.
I don't know how to search.
>> Kristi Finefield:
[inaudible] ampersand.
It's a little quirky.
I've showed you on screen
right now and I'll do it - if -
I don't know if it's big
enough to see but you do have
to put the ampersand
between USN ampersand WR
and then you'll not only get
the individual photographs
but you will get the contact
sheets we have scanned
so it's a little bit - a
slightly different slice
than the LU U9 search.
>> Sara Duke: We did get a
number of questions that came
through the chat and not
the Q and A. So we're.
>> Kristi Finefield: Okay.
>> Sara Duke: Ask those now.
Why did you choose
to put the name
of the photographer
first in the caption?
>> Kristi Finefield: I
don't think I did, did I?
if I did normally, I
put the title first.
But typically I put
the titles before -
sorry I'm just looking
at my slides.
But my, my normal
caption style is title.
What is it?
A photo. Who took it?
When they took it and
then a link to the photo.
Because the subject matter tends
to be the thing that is the key.
>> Sara Duke: Does The library
of Congress employ photographers
to take photographs?
>> Kristi Finefield: We do.
I don't know how
many we have now,
but we do have photographers
who take photographs of Library
of Congress events generally.
Not necessarily this kind
of photography out and about
but internal photographers to
document the library itself.
And - we those things -
those photos will appear
on the library website
regularly.
But not as part of
our online catalog.
Just as used on the site.
>> Sara Duke: I think
is more posed
to the virtual outreach
committee
than to you personally.
But would you consider
doing a session
on the Look Magazine
photo collection?
>> Kristi Finefield: Is there
anyone planned yet, Sara?
Is that part of the?
>> Sara Duke: I think we -
if that colleague of yours
who sits next to you [inaudible]
is attending tonight we might
twist her arm into
doing a Look Magazine.
She'd be the one for the job.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Yeah, the, the only down -
I mean the Look Magazine
collection is amazing.
The only challenge of it is
it's the opposite situation
of the rights material -
what I described for US News
where the magazine was
able to donate the rights.
Look Magazine tried to do that
but were not quite as successful
in donating the rights, so it
gets a little more complicated
from a usage standpoint.
But the material [inaudible]
as far as subject matter.
It's amazing.
And we do have quite
a bit online.
But again small amount
from a large collection.
>> Sara Duke: And what
is your overall strategy
for processing the remaining
majority of the images?
>> Kristi Finefield:
For Us News we are -
we consider the collection
process.
It does have access
points to it.
It has more access
points actually
in the last two years
than it had before.
But the ongoing work to
scan images continue.
We - it was reference staff,
reference librarians like myself
and maybe some others helped,
went through the contact
sheets every contact sheet
in the collection for each
year and made selections
that were representative or
subjects we knew that were
of interest to kind of
give a feel for every year.
So again, it resulted
in a couple hundred
photographs per year.
So a staff person - this is
passed along to other staff
and they pull the
negatives, scan the negative.
Then they of onto be - have
catalog records created
and they appear in
the online catalog.
So I don't know all
told how many images
that will be, but
it does continue.
So doing that search that
I described will continue
to retrieve more photographs as
we go and once, we finish doing
that I don't know that
there's a plan to go back
and continue scanning.
We're hoping that this will
not only introduce more people
to the collection but
give more people interest
in ordering scans of images
and thereby growing the
collection that way online.
>> Sara Duke: I see that
somebody has [inaudible]
in the shat that they
worked for US News
and World Report
from 1977 to 2001.
>> Kristi Finefield: No way.
Well that's exciting.
>> Sara Duke: It is exciting.
>> Kristi Finefield:
Thank you for joining us.
>> Sara Duke: You referenced
at one point being able
to view the negative and
get a physical print.
Is that something that
is still possible?
>> Kristi Finefield:
So researchers themselves
don't view the negatives
but you would make - researchers
will look at the contact sheets
as I described and use the call
number for that contact sheet
and pick out the frame
that they want reproduced.
So the beginning
steps are the same.
Now what you would
submit that order
to the libraries
duplication service.
They would go get that
exact picture, the negative
that you asked for out of
cold storage where it's kept
for preservation reasons.
And they would scan
the negative and --
typically people
want a scan now,
so they get the scan
as their product.
Pre-scanning and even during
the early days of scanning
that was all done
photographically.
So they - it would - the
researcher would pick
out that frame from
the contact sheet,
the negative would get
pulled, and then printed
in a darkroom the same way it
would have been originally,
and the researchers could
have the - a copy print,
an actual photographic print.
That is no longer an offering.
Now it is all digital.
>> Sara Duke: And the last
question that I see is for me.
Are there cartoon
in the collections?
>> Kristi Finefield:
Oh, my goodness.
Sara's the perfect person
to answer this question.
She is our curator.
>> Sara Duke: I am the curator
of popular applied graphic art
and that includes cartoon art.
And yes, there are 128,000
cartoon prints and drawings
and we - I will throw a
link into the chat again
for the prints and
photographs online catalog
because we have buckets that are
dedicated to cartoon drawings
in the prints and
photographs online catalog.
And with that I think we have
answered everybody's questions.
I want to thank you Kristi,
for being willing
to stay after 8:00.
>> Kristi Finefield: Well, I
want to thank you for also doing
that and for everyone
in the group here
for staying a little
longer to hear the questions
and for asking such good
interesting questions.
You've given me some
things to look at too
after the presentation.
So, thanks again for
your time tonight.
And please be in touch if
you would like to get a PDF
of the presentation or
ask us anything else
that you're curious about.
>> Sara Duke: And I'll throw
that link to the Ask a Librarian
into the chat one last time for
those who want to click on it
and put it into their bowser.
>> Kristi Finefield: Okay.
All right.
I will sign off and
again, thanks so much.
I appreciate your attention
and the great questions.