New Year, New to See

The following is a guest post by Hanna Soltys, Reference Librarian, with contributions by Sara W. Duke, Curator of Popular and Applied Graphic Arts, and Micah Messenheimer, Curator of Photography, all of the Prints and Photographs Division.

To kick off the New Year, the Prints & Photographs Virtual Orientations for January 2022 look at newly processed, acquired, and/or digitized collections. While we often discuss and share new collections and acquisitions, this orientation will also highlight resources such as finding aids to help with research projects.

One of the newly processed collections you can expect to learn about is the William Kennoch Collection. This collection includes over 1,200 photographs from the U.S. Secret Service of counterfeiters, criminals, and others accused of federal crimes from 1865-1886. These photographs include names of sitters, aliases, and arrest dates.

You may recall the Library collections have the famous “selfie” of Robert Cornelius. In 2021, the Library acquired another image by Cornelius of Professor Henry Hope Reed. Reed was an educator working at the University of Pennsylvania.

During the last year, the Library also acquired a variety of photographs from three Native American contemporary photographers: Zig Jackson, Brian Adams, and Russel Albert Daniels. These photographs depict Native communities throughout North America.

The Diana Denny Illustration drawings collection was described this past year, complete with an online finding aid. A Cold War caricaturist, Denny captured political and civic leaders, celebrities, and even the Nuremberg trials. This collection includes original drawings as well as newspaper clippings.

 

Join us for the January orientations to learn about more collections newly available. Two curators will offer these sessions and host a Q&A at the end. Sessions will not be recorded.

Learn More:

• Register for the January 11 (12 pm EST) or January 19 (3 pm EST) orientations highlighting more collections and work from the Prints & Photographs Division.
• Explore the Ready for Research series on the Picture This blog, featuring newly described collections in the Prints & Photographs Division.
• Albums shared on the Library of Congress Flickr photostream often include images that are new to the Library’s holdings or are recently digitized. One album from 2021 is Anthony Angel’s New York City, showcasing street scenes and buildings.