April is National Poetry Month, which celebrates the importance of poets and poetry. Today’s post comes from Thomas Richardson, an archives technician at the National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The United States has a rich literary history with some of the most prolific poets of the 19th and 20th centuries. Their writings … Continue reading Poets for Every Age: American Poets and Writers
Walt Whitman, ca. 1863-1865. (National Archives Identifier 525875) April is National Poetry Month, and today we're looking at one of the most famous American poets of all time: Walt Whitman. In addition to his bushy beard, Walt Whitman is probably best known as the American poet who wrote Leaves of Grass. But you may not … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman, ca. 1860-ca. 1865 (111-B-2245). Song of My Beard (with apologies to the original Whitman poem!) 1. I celebrate my beard, and sing my beard, And what I grow you shall grow For every follicle belonging to me as good as belongs to you. I loafe and stroke my beard I lean and stroke … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Sounding the bearded YAWP
With his goatee and mustache, photographer Mathew Brady himself is an excellent addition to Facial Hair Fridays. In fact, he is the reason we have so many follicle follies to celebrate. There are 6,066 photographs by Brady and his associates in the National Archives collections. Many of the images we’ve looked at and been inspired … Continue reading Facial Hair Friday: Tribute to Mathew Brady
Boy reading a magazine at the Manzanar Relocation Center (538076)Four times a year in Prologue magazine, we feature an interview with an author who has written a book that draws on the holdings of the National Archives. So, far I have learned about the naval aspect of the Civil War and the unexpected connection that … Continue reading What should I read next?
