101 Independence Avenue SE. That is where the Library of Congress currently stands, how it got to that point is a very interesting story. From New York to Philadelphia to Washington D.C., destroyed by fire, rebuilt, and then burned down again. The Library of Congress was and still is a testament to time and the elements. In this essay I plan to discuss the Library of Congress not as it is now on 101 Independence Avenue, but from its roots, how it was at the beginning. Giving a timeline of important events and discussing their importance, discussing the early librarians and their importance, and talking about the buildings the LOC has used for its home.
1774
At this time, what we now know as Congress was called the Continental Congress, and they were located in Philadelphia. The Library Company of Philadelphia ordered that their library be available for the members of the Continental Congress. In the library at the time were approximately 2,033 entries according to www.librarycompany.org.
1789
On March 4, the First Congress of the United States began their sessions in the city hall in New York City. There the New York Society Library was made accessible to the members of Congress. The New York Society Library at the time held close to 5,000 volumes according to www.nysoclib.org.
Also happening the same year on August 6, Massachusetts representative Elbridge Gerry was one of many who felt that Congress should have a library of its own. So he authored the first measure to establish a library for Congress. “A committee be appointed to report a catalogue of books necessary for the use of Congress, with an estimate of the expense, and the best mode of procuring them.” (Cole, 3)
1800
On April 24, President John Adams signed a bill moving the Capitol to Washington D.C. Part of the bill states that a library is to be established there with five thousand dollars being appropriated towards the purchasing of books. “The books will be housed in a “suitable apartment” in the Capitol, and a joint congressional committee will oversee the purchase of the books, furnish a catalog, and “devise and establish” the Library’s regulations.” (Cole, 4)
Later on June 20, the committee ordered books from a bookselling firm in London called Cadell & Davies.
1802
In January of this year, President Thomas Jefferson signed a bill titled “An Act Concerning the Library for the use of Both Houses of Congress.” (Cole, 4) In the act borrowers were limited to the President, Vice-President, and members of Congress. Also the act called for a librarian to be appointed by the President, where the position would pay “at a salary not exceeding $2 per diem (per day) for every day of necessary attendance.” (Johnston, 34)
Also during January, President Jefferson appointed clerk of the House of Representatives, John J. Beckley to be the first Librarian of Congress. So he had the task of organizing and collecting the “212 folios, 164 quartos, 581 octavos, and 7 duodecimos” (Conaway, 15) as well as holding fulfilling his duties as the clerk of the House of Representatives. All together the collection numbered 964 volumes plus 9 maps and charts.
1807
On April 8, Librarian of Congress and clerk of the House of Representatives, John J. Beckley dies. On November 7 of the same year Jefferson appoints Patrick Magruder to become the second Librarian of Congress. Magruder was also named clerk of the House of Representatives earlier in October, which means like John Beckley, Magruder was both the Librarian of Congress and clerk for the House.
1812
In this year the first classified catalog is issued, and in the library’s collection was 3,076 volumes and 53 maps, charts and plans. Also occurring during this year is that library rules were adjusted so that members of Congress would be exempt from overdue charges. And on March 2, “President Madison approves a joint resolution of Congress that authorizes the judges of the Supreme Court to use the books in the Library.” (Cole, 7)
1814
On August 24, the British attacked Washington D.C. and in turn set fire to the capitol destroying the Library of Congress. Some seventeen hundred British soldiers met in Maryland and headed on towards the capitol. Also destroyed in the attack was, “the War Office, the Treasury, the Executive Mansion, the offices of the National Intelligencer, and a bridge over the Potomac.” (Conaway, 23) Some of the books were saved though, original texts were saved as Magruder frantically tried to evacuate the Library before the onslaught was to occur. So mostly duplicates were the books destroyed by the fire. The fire was assisted in the burning by the books themselves, as books are very flammable because they are paper, and the structure itself was made out of timber and old shingles. At the time many condemned the act, even comparing it to the destruction of the great Alexandrian Library. The fire also had an effect on Patrick Magruder, who after the fire faced accusations from Congress that he could have done more to save the books of the Library.
To help the rebuilding process, former President Thomas Jefferson offered to sell his personal library to the Library of Congress. His collection was quite a diverse one; he ordered books continually from dealers in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid, and London. He estimated that his library had between 9,000-10,000 books. In November, an estimate of Jefferson’s books finds that he had 6,487 volumes, which were worth $23,950.
1815
On January 28 of 1815, Patrick Magruder resigned as the clerk of the House of Representatives and Librarian of Congress. President Madison felt like the job Magruder did was not very good, he felt like Magruder was having a hard time being the clerk of the House and Librarian of Congress at the same time. Therefore Patrick Magruder became the last person to be both the Librarian of Congress and the clerk of the House of Representatives at the same time.
On March 21, President Madison appointed local novelist and journalist George Watterston to be the third Librarian of Congress. He becomes the first Librarian that does not have to also serve as clerk of the House of Representatives.
In order to build a larger collection for the members of Congress, Watterston puts out a call for “American authors, engravers, and painters” transmit copies of their works to the Library to serve “not only as a literary history of this now interesting country, but [also] to exhibit the progress and the improvement of the arts.” (Cole, 10)
1816
In January of 1816, the Joint Committee on the Library recommended $10,000 to be appropriated towards the purchase of books and maps. Also recommended is an increase in the salary of the Librarian, and it is decided that the Librarian of Congress should be appointed not by the President, but by the Joint Library Committee. So later in April the President approves the act to raise the salary of the Librarian of Congress to $1,000 annually, and the privilege of using the Library is extended to the U.S. Attorney General and the members of the diplomatic corps.
1817
To encourage the Library of Congress to be used more by the members of Congress, a box was placed in the Library so that members could deposit suggestions as to what titles should be included in the collection. Also pleas from Librarian Watterston to have a new structure built for the Library are published. “In all other countries, such a structure would be an object of national pride.” (Cole, 12)
1818
Also at the end of 1818, President Monroe approved an act that authorized the Joint Library Committee, “cause suitable apartments, in the north wing of the Capitol, to be fitted up and furnished for the temporary reception of the Library of Congress.” (Cole, 12)
1825
On December 22, a candle left burning in the gallery starts a fire in the Library. The fire is controlled before it can do any major damage to the 14,000-volume collection. So it was the second fire for the Library of Congress, with the last one coming eleven years earlier in 1814.
1829
On May 28, the newly elected President Andrew Jackson, replaced George Watterston with John Silva Meehan to be the new Librarian of Congress. Meehan was a local printer and publisher, and he was in charge of the Library’s approximately 16,000 volumes.
1841
On January 14, President Van Buren approves a resolution that says one copy of the catalog of the Library of Congress, “be presented to each of the incorporated universities, colleges, athenaeums, and historical societies in the United States, not exceeding three hundred in number, and to the American Antiquarian Society.” (Cole, 16)
1846
President James Polk, approves an act where a section of it states that “the Library of Congress along with the Smithsonian Institution, receive as a deposit one copy of each copyrighted “book, map, chart, musical composition, print, cut, or engraving.” (Cole, 19)
1851
On December 24, the third fire of the Library of Congress happened. It destroyed approximately 35,000 of the Library’s 55,000 volumes, including nearly two-thirds of Jefferson’s library. After an investigation into the origin of the fire, it is determined that faulty chimney flues caused it.
1852
On March 19, President Franklin Pierce approves an appropriation of $72,500 to repair the recently burned Library of Congress. Used in the rebuilding of the Library were fireproof materials because of the past burnings of the Library.
1861
On May 24, President Abraham Lincoln decides to appoint John G. Stephenson as the fifth Librarian of Congress. Previously, the President had deferred the appointment duties to Congress, but Lincoln decided to appoint Stephenson.
So on June 3, Librarian John G. Stephenson takes his position as Library of Congress, inheriting a book collection that contains approximately 70,000 volumes.
In September of that year Stephenson decides to get rid of the Assistant Librarian, Edward Stelle, who served as Assistant Librarian for both George Watterston and John Silva Meehan. He hires Ainsworth Rand Spofford, who was a Cincinnati bookseller and newspaperman to become the new Assistant Librarian.
1864
Throughout the year Assistant Librarian Spofford was petitioning to become the Librarian of Congress. He forwards letters to the President, that are signed by Senators and Congressmen saying they would prefer it if Spofford was the Librarian.
On December 22, John G. Stephenson submitted his resignation, effective December 31, 1864. So when December 31 comes around, Lincoln appoints Spofford to become the sixth Librarian of Congress. Spofford already familiar with the Library’s collection, he inherits a “collection of approximately 82,000 volumes, and an annual appropriation of approximately $20,000, which includes $2,000 to purchase lawbooks and $5,000 to purchase books for the general collection.” (Cole, 29)
1866
On April 5, President Andrew Johnson approves an act, which transfers the 40,000 volume Smithsonian Library to the Library of Congress. In the act, the Smithsonian is able to use the collection, and the general public can have access to it “for purposes of consultation.” (Cole, 31) In the Smithsonian collection were mostly scientific works and publications of learned societies.
1869
On November 29, “after an extensive survey, Boston Public Library superintendent Justin Winsor determines that the Library of Congress, with a collection of 175,000 volumes, is the largest in the United States.” (Cole, 34)
1872
Librarian Spofford points out to Congress that overcrowding has made the Library unsafe for students. He estimates that by the year 1975, the Library will have 2,500,000 volumes, so he feels that a new building should be erected to house the Library.
1873
President Grant approves an appropriation for a commission to select a plan and oversee the location and erection of a building for the Library of Congress. The act also authorized for a competition to design plans for the structure to occur.
1876
Librarian Spofford reports to Congress that “the Library has exhausted all shelf space and that “books are now from sheer force of necessity, being piled upon the floor in all directions.” (Cole, 36) He asks that Congress hurry and take “quick action on a new library building.”
1886
On April 15, President Grover Cleveland approves an act that authorizes the construction of a new building for the Library of Congress. It is to be located across from the east plaza from the Capitol. $5,000 is appropriated to begin construction on the building.
1890
On August 28 at 3 pm the cornerstone for the new building is laid. There was no ceremony or other formalities for the historic event.
1891
In February, Librarian Spofford reports to Congress “the great portion of the Library now unprovided with shelf room renders the embarrassment of producing books with promptitude extreme.” He says that the Library has now approximately 650,000 books and about 207,000 pamphlets.
1893
On October 28, Spofford reports to Congress that trying to catalog the books and publications of the Library are virtually impossible because the collections are “now scattered in sixteen separate halls and storage rooms in the Capitol.” (Cole, 48)
1895
On December 2, Spofford gave a special report where he recommends that the Library be expanded into nine separate departments: printed books, periodicals, manuscripts, maps and charts, works of art, cataloging, binding, copyright, and superintendence of the building and grounds.
1897
In February the new building is completed and ready for occupancy. On the 19th of February President Cleveland approves a new law that states that “the President’s appointment of a Librarian of Congress must be approved by the Senate; the Librarian is given sole authority and responsibility for making the “rules and regulations for the government” of the Library.
On April 22, the superintendent for the construction of the Library, Bernard Green, reported to Congress that “the net cost of the new building was $6,032,124.54, a sum $200,000 less than the total construction appropriation.” (Cole, 57)
On June 30, President McKinley nominates John Russell Young to be the next Librarian of Congress. According to newspaper reports Spofford, who was 72 years old at the time, informed the President he was not going to be a candidate for renomination as Librarian of Congress. But in July when Young takes office, “he immediately appoints Spofford to be Chief Assistant Librarian.” (Cole, 58)
November 1 at 9 am, the new Library building officially opens to the public. The press quickly praises the architecture and interiors. “The first volume asked for about three minutes after the door was opened was ‘Roger Williams’ Year Book,’ of so recent a date that it had not been received.” (Cole, 61) Later that week, a reading room for the blind is opened. On the twentieth of November, the transfer of Library materials is completed, it was estimated that a total of 800 tons of material was moved.
1899
On January 17, Librarian Young dies after battling serious illness for a year. Assistant Librarian Spofford then becomes Acting Librarian of Congress.
On April 5, former superintendent of the Boston Public Library, Herbert Putnam becomes the eighth Librarian of Congress. As Librarian, Putnam inherits a collection of approximately 900,000 volumes, a staff of 134 and an appropriation of $280,000.
John J.
Beckley
John Beckley became the first Librarian of Congress in 1802. Beckley was a good friend of then President Thomas Jefferson, which some say could have led to his appointment. Before becoming the Librarian of Congress, Beckley held many administrative positions, he was secretary of the Phi Beta Kappa Society at the College of William and Mary, and he was the Clerk of the House of Representatives during the first Congress. While Congress was in Philadelphia, Beckley served as unofficial chairman of the Republican Party. Beckley was responsible for printing the Library’s first catalog, which totaled 964 volumes with 9 maps and charts. “Beckley acted as willing host for the new Library of Congress, providing informal tours to dignitaries and other visitors increasingly attracted to the Capitol in 1804.” (Conaway, 18) He took good care of the Library and “He left the Library well organized and –fittingly – well defended against the encroachments both of politics and anti-intellectualism that remained an undercurrent in American public life.” (Conaway, 18)
Patrick
Magruder
Patrick Magruder became the second Librarian of Congress in 1807. Before becoming Librarian of Congress, Magruder was an associate judge in the circuit county court, and he was elected as a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives. He did not do a lot for the Library; he usually passed things off to his assistants and “played no decisive role in Library affairs beyond the duties required by Congress.” (Conaway, 20) When the British attacked the Capitol in 1814, the Library was destroyed and Magruder’s lack of record-keeping was brought up because not only were books destroyed in the attack, but important documents from the U.S. Treasury documenting expenditures. So as a result Magruder was held accountable for $18,167.09. Magruder’s term as Librarian of Congress sparked some changes that would assist the Library grow in the future, “(President) Madison and others recognized—owing in part to Patrick Magruder’s botched record keeping—that the Library’s management required the attention of a person devoted to books and undistracted by the daily operations of Congress.” (Conaway, 31)
George
Watterston
In 1815, George Watterston became the third Librarian of Congress. He was considered a minor literary celebrity, being a journalist, pamphleteer, poet and novelist. Watterston felt that the arrangement of the old Library was “incorrect and injudicious.” (Conaway, 32) Congress disapproved though of the expense of Watterston’s catalog, which was $1,356.50 and the fact that he did not consult them first before going ahead and printing it. He continued to try an persuade Congress for a more comprehensive library, saying, “in other countries a library of deposit was “an object of national pride.” (Conaway, 34) On December 22, 1825 a burning candle lit a fire in the gallery of Congress. Watterston was accused of neglect by Federalists, but was kept on as Librarian when John Quincy Adams took office. He did not fare so well when Andrew Jackson was elected President though, Jackson decided to replace Watterston with John Silva Meehan in 1829.
John Silva
Meehan
In 1829 John Silva Meehan became the fourth Librarian of Congress. Meehan was a former publisher, and was the editor of the newspaper United States’ Telegraph. The job Meehan had at that time was more work than the previous Librarians. The Library was getting larger and growing annually with the book purchases. So Meehan had the task of arranging books and classifying them as well. John Silva Meehan served as Librarian of Congress for 30 years, and for nine Presidents. Meehan was a good guy; he liked his job and did what was best for the Library and America’s Congress, unlike previous Librarians. “If nothing else, Meehan stands as a paragon of civility at the outset of the least civil time in American history.” (Conaway, 52)
John G.
Stephenson
John G. Stephenson was the fifth Librarian Congress, but he was really more occupied with fighting in the war. He named Ainsworth Rand Spofford, or A.R. to be his Assistant Librarian, and it was A.R. Spofford that did most of the work for the Library. Stephenson actually was a colonel in the army, and suffered 1,153 casualties in the battle of Gettysburg. It is questioned that Stephenson’s motives were to use the position of Librarian of Congress for financial and political reasons. He retired at the end of December 1864.
Ainsworth
Rand Spofford
A.R. Spofford was officially named the sixth Librarian of Congress on December 31, 1864. But to many he was the unofficial Librarian during Stephenson’s tenure. Spofford would travel to Philadelphia, New York, and Boston to visit publishers and bookstores to get books and make arrangements to have the Library’s books binding. He would request for better holdings for the Library as well as extending the Library’s hours. “The Librarian’s reputation for honesty and fairness combined with his impressive knowledge of books and undeniable energy, naturally led the Committee members to defer to him in virtually all library matters.” (Conaway, 68) Spofford suggested to Congress that they should try to get the Smithsonian Library over to the Library of Congress. In addition to the Smithsonian Library, Spofford wanted the private library of Peter Force to be a part of the Library of Congress. Force was the former mayor of Washington and had a collection of 22,529 books, 40,000 pamphlets, and about 1,000 volumes of newspapers. Spofford took on the task of conducting an inventory on Force’s library at the asking of Congress. In 1867 Congress agreed to purchase the library for $100,000. Spofford is credited with the idea to allow the Library to have its own building, and he argued to make the Library of Congress the Library of the nation. In the year 1897, the Library of Congress’ new building was finished and no one was happier than Ainsworth Rand Spofford. He was 72 years old at the time and after he resigned in July of that month, he was kept on as the Chief Assistant.
John
Russell Young
Young was smart to retain Spofford as the Chief Assistant because no one knew the Library better than him. He reorganized the Library; creating a reading room, an art gallery, a hall for maps and charts, separate departments for manuscripts and music, and a law library. “Young wanted the Library of Congress to be a great institution of research and he worried about the nature, extent, and condition of the collection.” (Conaway, 93-94) But perhaps the job affected his health, he regularly was affected by aches and chills, “his friends feared he was working himself to death,” (Conaway, 95) In 1899 Librarian Young died after he slipped and fell.
Herbert
Putnam
Before he became the eighth Librarian of Congress, Herbert Putnam was the head of the Boston Public Library, one of the largest in the U.S. He also followed Young in keeping Spofford on to work in the Library. Putnam went on to be the Librarian of Congress from 1899-1939, keeping the great Library on course to the great facility it is now.
The story of the Library of Congress is a fascinating one, twists and turns occurring almost every year, librarians pleasing some of the people sometime and none of the people other times. All these factors were involved and shaped the great national library of the United States. Each event somehow played a part in the creation of it, and every Librarian did something whether good or bad to move the Library forward, better prepared for the future. The future is still not here yet, there are many more years to come for the Library of Congress and it was a great journey that it had to go through to get this far.
Works
Cited
Cole,
John Y. For Congress and the Nation. Washington:
Library of Congress, 1979.
Conaway, James. America’s
Library: The Story of the Library of Congress 1800-2000.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000.
Johnston, William. History of the Library of Congress: Volume 1 1800-1864. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904.