I was at a great lecture this evening on a subject I’m predisposed to find interesting, Houghton history). I was introduced to this 1477 manuscript that never got the initial letters it was designed to have, so curator/collector Philip Hofer, one of Houghton’s founding fathers, commissioned an eminent calligrapher TO DRAW SOME IN. IN 1955. https://id.lib.harvard.edu/alma/990097581700203941/catalog
Our manuscript of the first opera by a Black American composer (being staged tonight for the first time in history) is on loan to the Folger, and they made a short video of the exhibit installation.
When I moved here from Twitter it was with a resolution to as much as possible post about things that make me happy rather than things that make me angry. That resolution has only become more important to maintaining my mental health as the things that make me angry, not to mention goddamn terrified, have accelerated. I hope it isn’t mistaken for a lack of interest, or worse, an endorsement of the things that are going on now.
This February 14th, the Library of Congress will host a Frederick Douglass Day transcribe-a-thon to create searchable texts of materials related to African American history in its collections.
