Here's an abridged look at what has to happen when a roughly 800-year-old manuscript comes to the Library of Congress' Conservation Division in need of repair. Read more about this manuscript & the repair process:

Tennis great Arthur Ashe would be 82 years old today. When we think of him, we think of The Blackwell's Kinfolk family tree, a physically impressive genealogical treasure housed here at the Library of Congress that documents his family as far back as 1789.

NEWS: The full author lineup for the 25th Library of Congress National Book Festival is out now! Mark your calendars for September 6th. 👇 .

The "Unearthing the Lost Songs of Kohala" project aims to document generations-old “heirloom songs” from the Kohala region of Hawaii. It's part of an initiative to archive cultural expressions & traditions that may otherwise be absent from the national record.

The change emphasizes the weight of words & Jefferson’s keen ability to choose them. "Subjects" evoked the monarchy the Founding Fathers were rejecting, while "citizens" indicated the forging of a fresh path. Read more about how the discovery was made:

Upon closer examination under the microscope, it’s evident there is a word underneath the smudge, and the word “citizens” is judiciously written on top. Spectral imaging reveals that Jefferson first wrote “our fellow subjects."

For Independence Day, a story brought to you by Library of Congress scientists. Throughout June 1776, Thomas Jefferson was drafting what we now know as the Declaration of Independence. As he edited, he made neat strike outs. In one instance, though, there's an obvious smudge. 🧵

NOTICE: All buildings of the Library of Congress will be closed on Friday, July 4 for the federal Independence Day holiday.

The Supreme Court case that freed the captives, argued by former President John Quincy Adams, was a success for the U.S. abolition movement. The original drawings done during the trial by William H. Townsend were preserved by Yale University. Read more:

It's the anniversary of the 1839 Amistad mutiny, in which a group of African captives revolted against the crew of the ship sailing them illegally toward enslavement. These sketches of some of the captives are from the World Digital Library, operated by UNESCO & the Library. 🧵

. the same paper reported "a stabbing affray" resulting from "a slurring reference to Abraham Lincoln" in a Gettysburg hotel, proving that the wounds of the Civil War were not fully healed, even among the veterans who were willing to attend. Notably, the reunion was also an

Today is the anniversary of the start of the Battle of Gettysburg, and also the anniversary of the 1913 reunion of Union and Confederate veterans that took place there 50 years later. One paper reported a "spirit of peace and fraternalism" at the reunion, however. 🧵

On this day in 1864, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Yosemite Valley Grant Act, giving California the Yosemite Valley & Mariposa Big Tree Grove “upon the express conditions that the premises shall be held for public use, resort, and recreation.”

The American Archive of Public Broadcasting is a collaboration between the Library and Boston public media producer GBH. The AAPB Bill Moyers collection preserves more than 50 years of his work, an invaluable look at American history as it was happening.

NEWS: The Library has acquired the manuscripts, music and lyric drafts, recordings, notebooks and scrapbooks of legendary composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim.

#OTD in 1947, what many consider the first modern UFO 🛸 sighting took place in the Pacific Northwest, triggering a zeitgeist shift & introducing "flying saucer" to the English vernacular. The topic is well-documented in the Chronicling America archive.

LIVE! at the Library in July: Summer Movies on the Lawn, trivia night & “Ask the Ethicist: A Live Session with Kwame Anthony Appiah," the first public engagement of the current recipient of the Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity.

This interesting find from an October 1927 edition of The Washington Times, published ~3 months after Borden's death, details her mysterious donation to the local Animal Rescue League in her will. Explore the archive:

On this day in 1893, despite the libelous children's rhyme to the contrary, Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the axe murders of her father & stepmother. This is one of the many news topics you can read about in the Library's Chronicling America historical newspaper archive. 🧵

70+ years after the Civil War, the WPA Federal Writers' Project began interviewing elderly Americans who remembered being enslaved. This collection is at the Library & contains moving narratives & photos. #Juneteenth.Narratives: Photos: