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Articles by Michelle Krowl
Archive: 2026 (44 Posts)
Co-Conspirators for Compassion: Christine Stevens and Ann Cottrell Free August 27, 2026 Posted by: Josh Levy Correspondence and archival materials located in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division’s Ann Cottrell Free papers shed light on the close collaboration and friendship between Free and Christine Stevens, founder of the Animal Welfare Institute.
Unfolding History
Stranded on a Passenger Ship During the Battle of Fort Sumter: A Confederate Surgeon’s Perspective July 31, 2025 Posted by: Rachel McNellis While on board a passenger ship anchored in Charleston Harbor on April 12, 1861, Confederate surgeon Dr. Edward S. Aldrich witnessed the Battle of Fort Sumter and encountered the USRC Harriet Lane. His personal account is detailed in a family letter in the Manuscript Division’s Miscellaneous Manuscripts Collection.
Archive: September 2026 (4 Posts)
“Women of the Early Republic” Crowdsourced Transcription Campaign Continues September 17, 2026 Posted by: Elizabeth Novara Volunteer to transcribe women’s diaries, letters, and other papers in the Library’s Women of the Early Republic transcription campaign. Discover what daily life was like for four women represented in the Manuscript Division’s collections, including their social interactions, romantic relationships, and even a recipe or two.
Category: African American History
George Washington’s Uncle Writes Home: The Letterbook of Joseph Ball September 19, 2024 Posted by: Julie Miller Joseph Ball’s mid-eighteenth century letters, written from his home near London to his family in Virginia, helped maintain connections between Britain and the American colonies. They also show how the institution of slavery operated in the world where George Washington was born. Posted in: African American History, Early America, Letters
Unfolding History
When the Horse Flu Came for Alexander Graham Bell’s Boston May 14, 2026 Posted by: Josh Levy In fall 1872, a virulent equine influenza spread rapidly from Ontario, Canada down through the urban centers of the American northeast, sickening nearly every horse it met. A young Alexander Graham Bell’s letters back home offer a glimpse into the surreal moment when the nation’s cities discovered how deeply they had come to depend on horsepower.
Category: Library of Congress History
Marble Lost and Found: The Numidian Marble of the Main Reading Room at the Library of Congress December 5, 2024 Posted by: Lewis Wyman This is a guest post by Clinton Drake, a reference librarian in the History & Genealogy Section of the Researcher Engagement & General Collections Division of the Library of Congress. “In the form of your building, color bears much the same relation as it does to the human form; it distinguishes the living from the dead,” … Posted in: Library of Congress History
“Every Day I Miss Spofford and Our Great Library of Congress”: James A. Garfield and the Library of Congress
On June 25, 1873, Representative James A. Garfield (1831-1881) was preparing two public addresses while home in Ohio, and some necessary fact checking required him to visit a library in nearby Cleveland.
Archive: July 2026 (5 Posts)
Lillian Gatlin: Aviation’s First Influencer July 23, 2026 Posted by: Josh Levy Lillian Gatlin is best remembered for being the first woman to fly across the United States, but she saw herself in grander terms: as a pioneering thinker born with “idea virus.” A new collection of Gatlin’s papers in the Library of Congress Manuscript Division offers clues to the many ideas that animated her life. Posted in: Aviation, Women's & Gender History
Archive: June 2026 (5 Posts)
“The Light Has Gone Out of My Life”: Theodore Roosevelt’s 1884 Pocket Diary in Full Color June 18, 2026 Posted by: Michelle Krowl Future president Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919) suffered a double tragedy in February 1884, which he poignantly recorded in his pocket diary. Now, for the first time, full color, high-resolution images of this famous diary are available on the Library of Congress website. Posted in: Diaries, Politics
Archive: April 2026 (7 Posts)
Of Note: Registering the Dewey Decimal System at the Library of Congress April 23, 2026 Posted by: Lewis Wyman An 1876 letter from Melvil Dewey to Librarian of Congress Ainsworth Rand Spofford represents the beginnings of Dewey Decimal Classification being shared with the wider bibliographic world, showing the connection between the history of the Library of Congress and the history of American libraries. Posted in: Letters, Library of Congress History, Staff Favorites
Archive: November 2025 (2 Posts)
Disclaimer & Policies These blogs are governed by the general rules of respectful civil discourse. By commenting on our blogs, you are fully responsible for everything that you post. The content of all comments is released into the public domain unless clearly stated otherwise. The Library of Congress does not control the content posted.
Archive: June 2025 (4 Posts)
A Historian at War: The Unpublished Guadalcanal Diaries of Herbert Christian Laing Merillat June 20, 2025 Posted by: Sherri Sheu In 1982, former United States Marine Corps historian H. C. L. Merillat published a history of the Guadalcanal Campaign based largely on his wartime diaries, but he left out entries that showed him struggling with his role in the military and in the war.
Unfolding History
Intern Spotlight: The Legacy of Medgar Evers through the NAACP Records February 9, 2023 Posted by: Josh Levy Recently acquired primary sources within the NAACP Records reveal the devotion and courage of Mississippi field secretary Medgar Evers and his work to eliminate racial violence, desegregate higher education and services, and secure voting rights. His tragic murder led Evers’s wife, Myrlie Evers-Williams, to build a legacy of civil rights and social justice activism of her own.
Archive: January 2025 (5 Posts)
January 30, 2025 Posted by: Julie Miller Benajah Jay Antrim’s journals and sketchbooks document an American artist’s journey across Mexico in 1849. As of January 29, 2025, you can volunteer to transcribe them as part of the “By the People” crowdsourcing project from the Library of Congress.
Abraham Lincoln’s Second Inauguration: Scenes from March 4, 1865
March 4, 1865, the day of Abraham Lincoln’s second inauguration, did not begin auspiciously.
Archive: November 2024 (5 Posts)
Made at the Library: Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials with Allison S. Finkelstein November 7, 2024 Posted by: Elizabeth Novara In the latest book talk from the Made at the library event series, join author Allison S. Finkelstein as she discusses her research for Forgotten Veterans, Invisible Memorials: How American Women Commemorated the Great War, 1917-1945. Posted in: Events, War and Society, Women's & Gender History
Archive: September 2024 (5 Posts)
Made at the Library: Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War, with George C. Rable September 10, 2024 Posted by: Michelle Krowl Join us on September 17, the anniversary of the 1862 battle of Antietam, as Manuscript Division historian Michelle Krowl and reference librarian Lara Szypszak interview historian George C.
Made at the Library: “Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War,” with George C. Rable
Join us on the anniversary of the 1862 battle of Antietam as historian George C. Rable discusses his new book Conflict of Command: George McClellan, Abraham Lincoln, and the Politics of War (Louisiana State University Press, 2023), which reevaluates the command relationship between General McClellan and President Lincoln during the Civil War.
Archive: July 2024 (4 Posts)
Made at the Library: Rouben Mamoulian, Hollywood, and Broadway July 11, 2024 Posted by: Josh Levy Join Manuscript Division senior archives specialist Laura Kells and author Kurt Jensen as they highlight the work and legacy of film and theater director Rouben Mamoulian and Jensen’s new book, Peerless: Rouben Mamoulian, Hollywood, and Broadway with collection specialist and host Barbara Bair. Posted in: Events, Literature Culture & the Arts
Archive: June 2024 (4 Posts)
William Wilgus: Progress, Loss, and a Divided Manuscript Collection June 6, 2024 Posted by: Josh Levy William Wilgus was one of the most accomplished civil engineers of his time. Today two manuscript collections document his sweeping career, one at the New York Public Library and another at the Library of Congress, which opened for research in 2023.
Archive: May 2024 (5 Posts)
Of Note: Eleanor Roosevelt, Alien Investigator May 2, 2024 Posted by: Josh Levy In summer 1947, a pilot named Kenneth Arnold spotted nine bright objects in the sky over Washington State flying, he said, “like a saucer would if you skipped it across the water.” Reporters shorthanded the description of these objects to “flying saucers.” Sightings proliferated, and Americans fell into breathless speculation. Three years later, an unlikely investigator was on the case: Eleanor Roosevelt.
Now Available Online: The Colorful World of Montgomery C. Meigs
This post is coauthored by Manuscript Division historians Michelle Krowl and Josh Levy. Montgomery C. Meigs (1816-1892) was a busy man, and one who saw things through the lenses of engineering and art. A longtime U.S. Army officer, Meigs was best known for his service as the Union army’s quartermaster general during the Civil War, but he was also a West Point-trained engineer, an architect, and an artist.
Archive: January 2024 (4 Posts)
Show Frederick Douglass some love: Transcribe his letters for Douglass Day on February 14 January 25, 2024 Posted by: Julie Miller Library of Congress volunteer transcription program By the People, in collaboration with the Center for Black Digital History at Pennsylvania State University, invites you to join a Douglass Day transcribe-a-thon focused on letters from the Frederick Douglass Papers at the Library of Congress! Posted in: African American History, Digital Collections, Researcher...
Intern Spotlight: Discovering African Americans in the Blair Family Papers
This is a guest post by Maureen S. Thompson, PhD, who participated in the Fall 2023 Archives, History and Heritage Advanced Internship Program (AHHA) in the Manuscript Division. How did one influential nineteenth-century family consider the end of slavery while simultaneously enslaving people? The relevance of the Blair Family Papers at the Library of Congress lies at the intersection of slavery and politics in the nation’s capital.
Archive: October 2023 (4 Posts)
“The Eye That Never Sleeps”: Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency Records October 5, 2023 Posted by: Michelle Krowl While the Pinkerton’s National Detective Agency Records might not contain your grandfather’s Pinkerton’s employment history, the collection offers information about the Pinkertons who ran the family’s agency and some of the more interesting criminals they investigated. Posted in: Law, Letters, Of Note
Archive: November 2022 (9 Posts)
Live! at the Library: Reflections from the Past, Present and Future with Mosaic Theater November 29, 2022 Posted by: Elizabeth Novara This guest post is by Adrienne Cannon, historian of African American history and culture in the Manuscript Division. On September 22, 2022, the Manuscript Division partnered with the Exhibits Office and Mosaic Theater to present Live! at the Library: Reflections from the Past, Present and Future with Mosaic Theater.
Archive: November 2021 (6 Posts)
Inside George S. Patton’s First War Diary November 11, 2021 Posted by: Lewis Wyman George S. Patton kept a personal journal during his involvement in the 1916 Mexican Expedition. While serving as aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing, he recorded many observations of the military campaign against Pancho Villa’s forces - everything from day to day activities, to the first use of airplanes by the U.S. Army in a combat roll and its last use of mounted cavalry.
The Blog Roll: ‘I Can’t Write’
By Michelle Krowl MAY 2019 • AMERICA'S CIVIL WAR MAGAZINE A Civil War Marriage Confronts Illiteracy Students of the Civil War are fortunate that so many Americans of the era were literate and during the war made good use of their ability to read and write.
Hearing Abraham Lincoln’s Voice – Library of Congress – Medium
Imagine you can hear Abraham Lincoln speaking the words from his famous Second Inaugural Address: “With malice toward none; with charity for all.” What voice did you supply for Lincoln? Was it a resonant baritone, or a high-pitched tenor? While many people expect that Lincoln must have had a deep, stentorian tone, Lincoln’s true voice was high pitched and reedy.
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