Tag: Library of Congress

Out of the Ashes: A New Library for Congress and the Nation after 1812

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The Congressional library was destroyed in 1812 when the British burned the Capitol. It came back bigger and stronger. Introduction On the evening of August 24, 1814, during the second year of the War of 1812, British forces under orders from Rear Admiral George Cockburn and Major General Robert Ross set fire to the unfinished[…]

Jefferson’s Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress

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If ever a library had a single founder, Thomas Jefferson is the founder of the Library of Congress. Introduction The Library of Congress, America’s oldest national cultural institution, will be two hundred years old in the year 2000. With generous support from the U.S. Congress, it has become the largest repository of recorded knowledge in[…]