Yes. We really are THE Library of Congress.

We invited your tags and comments and you responded. Wow, did you respond!
Thank You. The identifying information is appreciated--many of our old photos came to us with very little description.

We placed only one tag ("Library of Congress") and two machine tags on each photo when we loaded them. Any other tags you see were added by the community; we are generally not controlling the content of Flickr tags, notes and comments (read our comment and posting policy).

For more details on what we are doing, FAQs are available on the photos and newspapers and we are updating them as we learn more from our pilot.

What is the Library of Congress?

We serve as the national library for the United States, based in Washington, DC. With more than 142 million items preserved on some 650 miles of bookshelves, we're also the world's largest library.

In addition to books, we have photos, maps, databases, movies, sound recordings, sheet music, manuscripts, and information in many other formats. Millions of items are online, and the full array of collections is available in DC, right across from the U.S. Capitol building

What are photographs doing in a library?

We've been acquiring photos since the mid-1800s when photography was the hot new technology. Because images represent life and the world so vividly, people have long enjoyed exploring our visual collections. Looking at pictures opens new windows to understanding both the past and the present. Favorite photos are often incorporated in books, TV shows, homework assignments, scholarly articles, family histories, and much more.

The Prints & Photographs Division takes care of 14 million of the Library's pictures and features more than 1 million through online catalogs. Offering historical photo collections through Flickr is a welcome opportunity to share some of our most popular images more widely.

REMINDER: The mission of the Library of Congress is to make its resources available and useful. The Library offers broad public access to a wide range of information, including historical materials that may contain offensive language or negative stereotypes. Such materials must be viewed in the context of the relevant time period. The Library of Congress does not endorse the views expressed in such materials.


To learn more about us ...

Read our blogs:

* Picture This: Library of Congress Prints & Photos blog

* The Library of Congress blog

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Pinterest

Follow us on Instagram

Explore the Library's Web site

Visit the Prints & Photographs Reading Room

Visit the Newspaper & Current Periodical Reading Room

Visit the Performing Arts Reading Room

Check out the FAQs for the historic photos in the Flickr pilot project ...

Check out the FAQs for the historic newspapers in the Flickr pilot project.