The Library of Congress > Collections > Historic Photos (Library of Congress Flickr pilot project)

LOC Itself

[Aerial view showing the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, with East Capitol Street on the left and the James Madison Building on the right, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

On Saturday July 28, 2012, 9am-11am, you’re invited to a Photography Meetup in the Thomas Jefferson Building at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.

Come and experience a palace of knowledge and try out your own photographic eye!

A photographic scavenger hunt will get you started in the Great Hall. Then upload your own photos to your Flickr account with the tag LOCmeetup2012. We’ll create galleries on the Library’s Flickr Commons account
to share the day with the rest of the Flickr community. Staff from the Prints and Photographs Division and our British Humanities Council researcher will be on hand to answer any questions you may have, so you can also take this opportunity to pick their brains!

To provide an online tour of the LOC for everyone, this set offers photos from the Carol M. Highsmith Archive. Symbols of knowledge and wisdom abound in the Thomas Jefferson Building, which opened to the public in 1897--from the dome’s torch of learning to a larger-than-life mosaic of Minerva. And,
owls pop up in unexpected places in the Library’s art deco style John Adams Building, which opened in 1930.

Carol has taken more than 500
photos of the LOC buildings! Her great eye will help you enjoy aerial views taken from a helicopter, close-ups ceiling murals shot from tall scaffolds, and perspective-corrected scenes of the grand interior spaces.

Learn More:

- On These Walls: Inscriptions and Quotations in the Buildings of the Library of Congress,
by John Y. Cole, 1995. (original print version)

- Virtual Tour of the LOC buildings

- LOC history over the last 200+ years

- Thomas Jefferson Building: Art and Architecture reference aid

- LOC photos by Carol M. Highsmith

- Flickr Meetup at LOC, 2012

25 photos | 3,610 views

items are from between c.1980 & 2007.

[Exterior view. Neptune Fountain by Roland Hinton Perry. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Exterior view. View of approaches from the west façade of the Jefferson Building. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. View of grand staircase and bronze statue of female figure on newel post holding a torch of electric light, with bust of George Washington at left. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. View from above of the zodiac in the marble floor. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. View of first and second floors, with Minerva mosaic in background. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. Spandrels displaying Olin L. Warner's The Students in the Commemorative Arch. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

Second Floor, East Corridor. Mosaic of Minerva by Elihu Vedder, with restorer at work. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (LOC)

[Great Hall. Detail of ceiling and cove showing sculpture of two female half-figures. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. Detail of ceiling and cove showing Milton plaque. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Second Floor, North Corridor. Mural depicting Wisdom by Robert Reid. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. View of ceiling and cove, showcasing the aluminum plating, stained glass windows, sculpture and murals. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. View of grand staircase and bronze statue of female figure on newel post holding a torch of electric light, with bust of Thomas Jefferson at right. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall. Detail of putti (gardener with a spade and a rake) on the Grand staircase by Philip Martiny. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Second floor, north corridor. Mural depicting Touch and another of the Five Senses, by Robert Reid. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Great Hall, second floor, south corridor. Pompeiian panel depicting Courage, by George W. Maynard. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Second Floor, West Corridor. Mural of Archaeology by Walter Shirlaw. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[North Corridor, Great Hall. View of the U.S. Capitol at sunrise, seen through a window below a mural by Charles Sprague Pearce that shows female figures with quotation from Confucious that begins "Give instruction ...." Library of Congress Thomas Jeffers

[East Corridor, First Floor. Mosaic in domed lobby at head of stairway leading to ground floor, with quotation "Knowledge is power." Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Second Floor, East Corridor. Mural depicting Tragedy in the Literature series by George R. Barse, Jr., Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

Great Hall, second floor, north. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C. (LOC)

[Exterior view. South entrance (Independence Avenue), sculpted stairway with stylized owl and elaborate lamp. Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Owl above door to center reading room on fifth floor. Library of Congress John Adams Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Aerial view from the south of the Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

[Exterior view. Torch of Learning, cupola, and dome. Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, Washington, D.C.] (LOC)

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