2009 January 17 | Annie Fox's Blog

#7: A visit to the Library of Congress

January 17, 2009

Library of Congress main reading area

The tour guide at LOC said that after the library was completed in 1897, they had $6 million left over. Instead of returning the money to Congress, they decided to bring in a team of artistic masters to brighten the place up. And wow, they totally got their money’s worth!

In addition to being the world’s largest library and having the most books, films, posters, sheet music, maps, audio recording anywhere (130 million items), the LOC also has collections of random stuff donated from around the world. We’re talking baseball cards, personal letters from famous people, Native American cultural artifacts, musical instruments and on and on. When some rich lady heard that the Library of Congress had President Andrew Jackson’s flute in its collection, she wrote and asked, “Do you want my old flute?” To which the Library replied with the answer it always gives to such questions: “Why yes! Thank you!” And that’s how the LOC happens to have 2500 flutes in its collection.

Library of Congress reception area

Library of Congress columns and ceiling

Library of Congress ceiling

Filed under: Inauguration,Politics,Teens — Tags: Library of Congress — Annie @ 12:33 pm

Comments (1)

#6: A visit to the Supreme Court

Annie in front of the Supreme Court Building

I don’t mean to be harsh, but the young woman who gave us a lecture on the history of the Supreme Court was not yet ready for prime time. We wondered if she’d had any public speaking experience at all. Sure, she knew her facts about how many cert petitions the court receives each year (about 10,000) and who was the longest serving justice (John Marshall) and even how old the red British-made drapes were (74 years), but Ms. Mouse’s presentation, especially compared to Paul, was not good. Even with a microphone her timid, rapid-fire delivery was barely audible. On top of that, she kept flailing her arms as if she was trying to generate her own wind energy. And…

Wait a minute! I need to take a deep breath and quit venting. None of this is helpful. Not to Ms. Mouse or to you. I apologize. To both of you. We’ve all been in over our head and it’s scary. Just thinking about how she must have felt makes me sorry that I was so impatient. Before her next speech to a bunch of tourists, I hope she gets a chance to practice. Then she’ll be more confident and I’m sure she’ll do a much better job.

Entry area for the Supreme Court Building

Anyway, the place is impressive. Particularly because despite the actual courtroom being rather small, the decisions that come down from the 9 justices often affect American life in profound and lasting ways.

My take-away from our visit was that anyone can petition to have his or her case heard by the Supreme Court. You don’t need a fancy, high-priced attorney representing you. You don’t even need an attorney at all! In fact, the Court sometimes receives hand-written petitions from ordinary folks… even prisoners in jail. But the motto of the court is “Equal Justice Under the Law” so every petition is treated with the same level of respect and given equal consideration. Now that’s fair!

P.S. Interested in the law? Check this out!