Week 29 – Library of Congress in a Heatwave

This week I’ve been in Washington, DC, doing research at the Library of Congress, looking at the papers of Henry L. Dawes (of “Dawes Act” or “Severalty Act” and “Dawes Commission” fame, or infamy). My coauthor and I are doing a biography of Henry and his daughter Anna Laurens Dawes. Despite how often his name is cited in Native American history and the history of the American West, almost nothing has been written on him. Nothing has been done on Anna, who was his administrative assistant for many years and an author and activist in her own right.

It has been brutally hot in DC, as in most of the rest of the country, so I’ve not taken time to do much photography when we’ve had free time. As a result, the pictures are basic. Shots from the plane from Grand Rapids to DC, and a picture of Thomas Jefferson, who was, with John Adams, founder of the Library of Congress and its chief patron in the early years.

Here’s a few of the plane on the ground in Grand Rapids about 6:00am and in air soon after take-off.

Here’s a two more, one mid-flight, and one positioning ourselves for landing at Reagan National about 7:45am. The shadows in the images are on the windows of the plane.