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Lincoln's Life Masks (1:43)

Life masks of Abraham Lincoln taken in 1860 and 1865 reveal the physical changes that the president experienced during four years of war.

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Videos (23)

  • Lincoln's Life Masks
    Lincoln's Life Masks

    Video Clip (1:43)

    Life masks of Abraham Lincoln taken in 1860 and 1865 reveal the physical changes that the president experienced during four years of war.

    Video Clip (1:43)
  • Who is Spiderman?
    Who is Spiderman?

    Video Clip (2:58)

    The chemistry of Stan Lee's script and Steve Ditko's art made the tale of a high school outcast accidently bitten by a radioactive spider an instant success. An anonymous donor gave the first Spider-Man drawings to the Library in 2008.

    Video Clip (2:58)
  • A Key to Victory
    A Key to Victory

    Video Clip (2:22)

    D-Day raised-relief map of Utah Beach prepared U.S. troops for the 1944 invasion of Normandy.

    Video Clip (2:22)
  • Branch Rickey Scouting Reports
    Branch Rickey Scouting Reports

    Video Clip (3:25)

    Most famous for helping to break baseball's color barrier, Branch Rickey is also credited with developing the minor leagues. Take a look at Rickey's scouting report of Don Drysdale and a heartfelt correspondence with Jackie Robinson.

    Video Clip (3:25)
  • The Book that Changed the World
    The Book that Changed the World

    Video Clip (2:18)

    The Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Western Europe using movable metal type, introducing text reproduction to the masses.

    Video Clip (2:18)
  • What was in Lincoln's Pockets?
    What was in Lincoln's Pockets?

    Video Clip (2:16)

    Ordinary items such as spectacles, a handkerchief and confederate cash were discovered inside the pockets of President Abraham Lincoln the night he was assassinated.

    Video Clip (2:16)
  • Lincoln's Inaugural Bible
    Lincoln's Inaugural Bible

    Video Clip (2:09)

    Chief Justice Roger B. Taney administered the oath of office to Abraham Lincoln using a Bible purchased for the occasion. The ceremony was witnessed by Clark of the Supreme Court, William Thomas Carrol, who recorded the occasion in the Bible, which has special significance for President Obama.

    Video Clip (2:09)
  • Lincoln's Grammar Book
    Lincoln's Grammar Book

    Video Clip (2:25)

    Abraham Lincoln devoted intense effort to self-education through reading. His grammar book survives as a testament to this self-made man's pursuit of knowledge.

    Video Clip (2:25)
  • Wright Brothers
    Wright Brothers

    Video Clip (3:01)

    The Wright Brothers made the world's first powered flights. Check out their photos and journals and get an inside look at the men behind the legend.

    Video Clip (3:01)
  • The Original Gettysburg Address
    The Original Gettysburg Address

    Video Clip (2:58)

    Original or facsimile? The original Gettysburg Address bears creases in it it from when Abraham Lincoln placed it in his pocket.

    Video Clip (2:58)
  • Columbus' Book of Privileges
    Columbus' Book of Privileges

    Video Clip (2:13)

    Columbus compiled documents that were proof of assets bestowed upon him by the monarchs of Spain.

    Video Clip (2:13)
  • How To Get Into Princeton
    How To Get Into Princeton

    Video Clip (3:11)

    Hand-sketched map from 1777 helped George Washington plan for the Battle of Princeton during the American Revolutionary War.

    Video Clip (3:11)
  • A Tale of Two Books
    A Tale of Two Books

    Video Clip (2:44)

    Walt Whitman and Henry David Thoreau exchange books with each other in 1856.

    Video Clip (2:44)
  • The Founding Fathers Unite
    The Founding Fathers Unite

    Video Clip (2:51)

    Who wrote which parts of the anonymous Federalist Papers? Madison and Jefferson disagree.

    Video Clip (2:51)
  • The Book That Saved a Life
    The Book That Saved a Life

    Video Clip (2:53)

    A copy of the 1913 French pocket edition of Kim by Rudyard Kipling had deflected a bullet and saved the life of Maurice Hamonneau, a French legionnaire and the last survivor of an artillery attack near Verdum, in World War I, by a mere twenty pages.

    Video Clip (2:53)
  • First Telegraph Message
    First Telegraph Message

    Video Clip (2:55)

    Morse's first telegram marked the beginning of the telecommunications revolution.

    Video Clip (2:55)
  • Migrant Mother Photo
    Migrant Mother Photo

    Video Clip (3:06)

    The Migrant Mother image is one of a series of photographs that Dorothea Lange made in February or March 1936 in Nipomo, California.

    Video Clip (3:06)
  • Magical Mementos
    Magical Mementos

    Video Clip (2:58)

    Harry Houdini's scrapbooks document his entire career.

    Video Clip (2:58)
  • Civil War Sketchbook
    Civil War Sketchbook

    Video Clip (2:35)

    Confederate topographical engineer Jedidiah Hotchkiss' sketchbook -- created with meticulous detail while on horseback -- helps Gen. Stonewall Jackson to master terrain during the Civil War.

    Video Clip (2:35)
  • Accounts Receivable Book Seized During the War of 1812
    Accounts Receivable Book Seized During the War of 1812

    Video Clip (3:15)

    During the War of 1812, the British army, under Admiral Cockburn, captured Washington, D.C. Just before setting fire to the Capitol Building, Admiral Cockburn chose the only item labeled as "President of the U. States," from the President's ceremonial office as a memento.

    Video Clip (3:15)
  • The Union Sends a Message
    The Union Sends a Message

    Video Clip (3:00)

    1863 "Wallpaper Edition" of the Daily Citizen newspaper is created as resources is scarce during the Civil War.

    Video Clip (3:00)
  • Lucy Burns Photograph
    Lucy Burns Photograph

    Video Clip (1:50)

    Suffrage leader Lucy Burns (1879-1966) was imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia, probably in November 1917, after she and others were arrested for picketing the White House in support of a federal amendment granting women the right to vote.

    Video Clip (1:50)
  • Globe Shows Ocean Floor
    Globe Shows Ocean Floor

    Video Clip (2:00)

    Marie Tharp's papers in the Geography and Map Division contain more than 32,000 pieces including a handmade globe of the earth showing the ocean floor and the location of the mid-Atlantic Ocean ridge.

    Video Clip (2:00)

Photo Galleries (3)

  • Abraham Lincoln
    Abraham Lincoln

    19 Photos

    See pictures from the life and presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

    (19 Photos)
  • Civil War: Gettysburg
    Civil War: Gettysburg

    12 Photos

    Explore the historic Civil War battle of Gettysburg through photographs of the battlefield, the soldiers, and the memorials.

    (12 Photos)
  • Suffrage and the Women Behind It
    Suffrage and the Women Behind It

    7 Photos

    In 1920, American women voted for the first time, thanks to pro-suffrage activists such as Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

    (7 Photos)

Interactives (2)

Read More about This Week's Hidden Treasure

Examine some of the Library of Congress' most historically meaningful and culturally relevant artifacts from its treasured collections.

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    Swamp People Troy Mask

    Want the ultimate Big Head? The Swamp People Troy Mask is for Cajuns and Cajuns at heart.

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