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LC Celebrates Bicentennial
with Concert and Legends Lunch

The Library of Congress celebrated its 200th birthday April 24 with a day-long party that included a concert on the Capitol lawn, a luncheon for American “living legends” hosted by Cokie Roberts, and a dinner for donors.

Thirty-four of the 84 legends selected by the library attended the lunch, including Big Bird (who wore a red-and-blue-striped tie), Gen. Colin Powell, physicians T. Berry Brazelton and Michael DeBakey, singers Pete Seeger and Bobby Short, cartoonist Al Hirschfeld, and feminist Gloria Steinem. The free public concert on the East Lawn of the Capitol featured Seeger, Kathy Mattea, and Mickey Hart, as well as Latin, jazz, bluegrass, and other musicians.

The library also marked its bicentennial by launching a new Web site for children and opening an exhibit of items from Thomas Jefferson’s personal library, which formed the basis for LC’s original collection. The U.S. Postal Service issued a new 33-cent stamp depicting the library’s main reading room, and the U.S. Mint issued a set of commemorative coins.

Posted May 1, 2000.

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LC Celebrates Bicentennial with Concert and Legends Lunch

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LC Celebrates Bicentennial
with Concert and Legends Lunch