Books That Shaped America - An Exhibition

All images via LOC.gov

The Library of Congress is hosting an exhibition titled Books That Shaped America which consists of 88 books that the LOC deems influential to our contemporary American culture. 

The goal of the exhibition is not to list the best books of American literary history but instead to compile a list of books that have shaped our current way of thinking. 

The complete list can be found here. 

What do you think of the list? You can vote for the books and suggest titles the library may have missed. 

The exhibition runs through September 29, 2012 (better hurry!) and is located in the Southwest Exhibition Gallery, Thomas Jefferson Building. 

I think this is a fabulous way to look back at our contemporary culture and ponder the literature that has shaped our personhood. 

- Grace

Century of the Child

From now until November 5, 2012 MoMA is showing an exhibition titled Century of the Child. 

The exhibition traces the history of children from around the world through the toys they play with and the items they interact with on a regular basis. 

The show features the years from 1900 to 2000. 

The exhibit is broken up into seven sections and each decade has its own title and theme. 

1900's-1910's theme is: New Century, New Child, New Art

Froebel Gift 2

C. 1890

1910's-1920's: Avant-Garde Playtime

Child's Wheelbarrow

1923

Gerrit Rietveld (same guy who designed Red Blue Chair) 

1920's-1930's: Light, Air, Health

Children During a Light-Therapy Session

1937

1920's-1940's: Children and the Body Politic

SAKAMPF Board Game

1933

1940's-1960's: Regeneration

Rooftop Kindergarten 

1947-52

Le Corbusier and Blanche Lemco Van Ginkel 

1960's-1990's: Power Play

Holdraketa and Original Box

c. 1960

1960's-2000's: Designing Better Worlds

School in a Box

1994

UNICEF

The exhibition site looks amazing on its own. 

This is one exhibition catalog I MUST order. 

- Grace