GAZETTE Volume 27, No. 39 • October 7, 2016 • A weekly publication for Library staff Inside Widmer Named Kluge Director Historian, author, librarian and presiden- tial speechwriter Edward L. Widmer has been appointed director of the John W. Kluge Center. Page 3 New Class of Digital Stewards The Library names five members to the 2016-17 class of the National Digital Stewardship Residency program. Shawn Miller Page 4 Carla Hayden and Vartan Gregorian (left) present hard drives of digitized collection items to Abdul Bari Jahani, Afghanistan’s minister of information and culture. Coming Soon to the Library Upcoming events at the Library include Library Repatriates Digitized programs about movie adaptations of books, Mother Teresa, book collecting and saving libraries during wartime. Cultural Treasures to Afghanistan Page 5 to Afghan culture and history – an initia- By Mark Hartsell tive Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden called “a labor of love and devotion.” or decades, the people of Afghani- Hayden, joined by Carnegie Corpora- stan had little access to important tion of New York President Vartan Grego- F pieces of their own cultural history, rian, on Sept. 21 presented hard drives pieces lost to time, natural disasters and containing more than 163,000 pages of long and destructive wars. documents to a delegation from Afghani- The first Afghan printed periodical, stan in a ceremony in the Members Room. photographic accounts of century-old “This digitized content, high-resolu- conflicts with Britain and journals docu- tion images and metadata will be given menting mid-20th-century modernization, directly to the leading Afghan cultural The Library hosts Columbus Day open houses, Oct. 10 in the Main Reading among thousands of other items, could and educational institutions to help them Room and at the Packard Campus. only be found elsewhere – often just at build their own institutional reposito- the Library of Congress. ries,” Hayden said. “Many of the items On Tap The Library recently gave some of and materials in this digitized collec- Lectures, films, concerts, classes and those treasures back to the Afghan tion cannot be found in Afghanistan, as other events at the Library of Congress in the coming week. people, the result of a three-year digiti- they have been destroyed in natural and Page 8 zation project of Library holdings related AFGHAN, continued on page 6 2 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE OCTOBER 7, 2016 NEWS New Online Presidents and Pioneering GAZETTE www.loc.gov/staff/gazette A monthly update of key additions to up primarily of general correspondence and family papers of Taylor, with some GAYLE OSTERBERG the Library of Congress website. Executive Editor autobiographical material, business and MARK HARTSELL The Library continues to add to its military records, printed documents, Editor online collection of presidential papers: engraved printed portraits and other Contributing Editors: Erin Allen, Calendar; Carlin “René” Sayles, Moving On and Length of Service; New in September were presentations on miscellany relating chiefly to his presi- Lisa Davis, Donated Leave John Tyler and Zachary Taylor. dency; his service as an Army officer, Proofreader: George Thuronyi John Tyler, the 10th president, was especially in the Second Seminole Indian Design and Production: Ashley Jones acutely conscious of the legacy he would War; management of his plantations; and PETER BRAESTRUP GAIL FINEBERG JAMES W. McCLUNG Founder Founding Editor Founding Publisher leave upon his death, carefully collecting settlement of his estate. (1990 – 1997) (1990 – 2009) (1990 – 1994) papers documenting his life and work. Collection Upgrades: The Library Following his 1862 death, the Tyler continues to gradually upgrade and Mission of the Library of Congress home – Sherwood Forest in Charles City migrate older collections to new presenta- The Library’s central mission is to provide Congress, the County, Virginia – was entered by Union tions. The latest upgrade from our legacy federal government and the American people with a rich, diverse and enduring source of knowledge that can be relied soldiers and others. Papers reported pres- American Memory project is “Pioneering upon to inform, inspire and engage them and support their ent in the house were subjected to ran- the Upper Midwest: Books from Michigan, intellectual and creative endeavors. sacking, looting and destruction. Tyler’s Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820 to About the Gazette son, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, sought out mate- 1910,” found at http://bit.ly/2dni0li. An official publication of the Library of Congress,The Gazette encourages Library managers and staff to submit articles and rials that might still be extant, contacting The collection portrays the states photographs of general interest. Submissions will be edited to family friends and known recipients of of Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin convey the most necessary information. Deadline for submission of articles is 5 p.m. Wednesday, one Tyler correspondence. He recovered part from the 17th to the early 20th century week prior to publication date. Please submit text in digital of an autograph collection and letters, through first-person accounts, biogra- form via e-mail ([email protected]) preferably as an attached Microsoft Word file. or copies of letters, written by his father phies, promotional literature, local histo- Back issues of The Gazette in print are available in the Public to friends and political contemporaries. ries, ethnographic and antiquarian texts, Affairs Office, LM 105. He sold those original documents and colonial archival documents and other Electronic archived issues and a color PDF file of the current issue copies to the Library in 1919. works drawn from the Library’s general are available online at www.loc.gov/staff/gazette. The Zachary Taylor Papers Collec- collections and Rare Books and Special Library of Congress Gazette tion contains approximately 650 items Collections Division. Washington, DC 20540-1620 dating from 1814 to 1931, with the bulk Editorial: Mark Hartsell, 7-9194, [email protected] Design and production: Ashley Jones, from 1840 to 1861. The collection is made – William Kellum 7-9193, [email protected] ISSN 1049-8184 Printed by the Printing Management Section Donated Time The following employees have satisfied eligibility requirements to receive Gazette Welcomes Letters from Staff Staff is invited to use the Gazette for lively and thoughtful leave donations from other staff members. Contact Lisa Davis at 7-0033. debate relevant to Library issues. Letters must be signed by the author, whose place of work Amy Abel Eve Ferguson Melissa Saharko and telephone extension should be included so we can verify Tiffany Allgood NeeCole Hamilton Jennifer Sidley authorship. If a letter calls for management response, an explanation of a policy or actions or clarification of fact, we Craig Andrews Megan Meehan Raymond Watson will ask for management response.—Ed. Antoinette Childs Parthenia Palmer Donna Williams Genita Coger Kevin Pinckney Bernard Wooden Steven Davenport Bernice Reyes- Melissa Young Gazette Deadlines Tameka Epperson Akinbileje The deadline for editorial copy for the Oct. 21 Gazette is Wednesday, Oct. 12. E-mail editorial copy and letters to the editor to [email protected]. To promote events through the Library’s Not Getting All-Staff Emails? online calendar (www.loc.gov/loc/events) and the Gazette Calendar, e-mail event and Any employees who are not receiving all-staff emails should notify the OCIO contact information to [email protected] by 9 a.m. Monday of the week of publication. Hotline at 7-7727 or [email protected]. Include your name, email Boxed announcements should be submitted address and service unit, and you will be added to the appropriate service or electronically (text files) by 9 a.m. Monday support-unit group email account. the week of publication to [email protected]. OCTOBER 7, 2016 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS GAZETTE 3 NEWS Widmer Appointed Director of Kluge Center Historian, author, librarian and presi- dential speechwriter Edward L. (Ted) Widmer, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs in New York and a senior fellow and adjunct professor of history at Brown University, has been appointed direc- tor of the John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. The appointment took effect Oct. 3. “Ted brings a wealth of talent and experience to the position,” said Jane McAuliffe, director of National and Inter- national Outreach. “I am certain that under his leadership the Kluge Center will thrive as a haven for serious research and a venue to showcase and celebrate scholarly achievements for the benefit of Congress and the public.” The Kluge Center invites distin- guished scholars from around the world L. Widmer Courtesy of Edward to conduct research at the Library, facili- Edward L. Widmer tates their access to Library collections and engages them in conversation with for speechwriting at the National Secu- senior adviser to Secretary of State Hill- members of Congress and other public rity Council, from 1997 to 2000, crafting ary Clinton during her last year in office. figures. Since the center opened in 2000, foreign-policy speeches for President He then returned to Brown as assistant it has welcomed more than 1,000 senior Bill Clinton. to the president of Brown University and junior scholars and researchers; In his capacity as a special adviser for special projects (2012–2015) and hosted hundreds of public lectures, sym- to the president for