Live at the Library to Feature Gershwin Prize Honoree Joni Mitchell
Celebrate Women’s History Month, Explore the Library’s Exhibitions
Gershwin Prize honoree Joni Mitchell will sit down with Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden for a special conversation during Live at the Library on March 2. The Library will continue to celebrate Women’s History Month with an event highlighting women’s contributions to the music industry. Plus, join for an inside look at two Library exhibitions, “Join In: Voluntary Associations in America” and “Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library.”
On Thursday evenings, the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building and all exhibitions are open for extended hours from 5 to 8:30 p.m. Visitors are invited to enjoy happy hour drinks and snacks available for purchase in the Great Hall overlooking the Capitol and the Library’s beautiful architecture while immersing themselves in the Library’s exhibits, collections and programs.
Free timed-entry passes or an event registration are required to enter the Thomas Jefferson Building. Visit loc.gov/visit to reserve your pass for Live at the Library.
Programming Highlights for March
March 2: Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden interviews the 2023 Gershwin Prize honoree during a Conversation with Joni Mitchell from 7 to 8 p.m. in the Great Hall. The recording of this event will be available on the Library’s website. [Please note – this event is now sold out.]
Plus, mark your calendars for the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, where Mitchell will be honored during an all-star tribute concert. PBS stations will broadcast the concert – “Joni Mitchell: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song” – at 9 p.m. ET on Friday, March 31 (check local listings) and on PBS.org and the PBS App as part of the co-produced Emmy Award-winning music series.
March 16: Celebrate Women’s History Month with Women in Photography, Stories from the Not an Ostrich Exhibition from 6 to 8 p.m. in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Photojournalist Sharon Farmer, the first woman and the first African American to be director of the White House Photography Office, and Anne Tucker, curator emerita at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas, share stories of women photographers and their own work with the Library’s exhibition. Reserve a timed-entry pass.
March 23: Dive into the Library’s newest exhibition with Joining Together in Tocqueville’s America at 6:30 p.m. in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Kevin Butterfield, director of the Library’s John W. Kluge Center, discusses his new book “The Making of Tocqueville’s America: Law and Association in the Early United States.” Reserve a timed-entry pass.
Explore Library treasures during the Rare Book and Special Collections Division Open House from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Rare Book and Special Collections Reading Room. Reserve a timed-entry pass.
March 30: Explore the history of women in the recording industry during the Olivia Records Story from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Room 119 of the Thomas Jefferson Building. Historian Bonnie Morris interviews veterans of Olivia Records, the pioneering woman-run record company founded in Washington, DC. Reserve a timed-entry pass.
Exhibitions On View
Explore Library exhibitions during Live at the Library. The Library’s newest exhibition, “Join In: Voluntary Associations in America,” explores the history of voluntary associations that reveal the aspirations of Americans as “a nation of joiners,” while also acknowledges these groups have sometimes reflected society’s exclusions, discriminations and division. The exhibit is on display in the South Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building.
“Not an Ostrich: And Other Images from America’s Library” represents a sampling of the more than 15 million photographs held by the Library, ranging from the early days of photography to today. Take a look at the “first selfie,” which is thought to be the world’s oldest known photographic self-portrait, and see important pictures of Harriet Tubman, the Wright brothers and more.
Find the latest event details at loc.gov/live, and subscribe to the Library’s Upcoming Events email list. Future events will be announced on a monthly basis.
Live at the Library is part of a broader effort to reimagine the visitor experience at the Library of Congress that invites visitors to enjoy the Library and its collections in new formats during extended evening hours on Thursday night. The series regularly features special conversations, music, performances, films and workshops that showcase the broad range of holdings at the national library.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
###
Media Contacts: Leah Knobel, lknobel@loc.gov | Elaina Finkelstein, efinkelstein@loc.gov
PR 23-024
02-16-2023
ISSN 0731-3527