BOOKPATHS

Washington, D.C.

Washington D.C. hopes that Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol will “bring a boost of literary tourism" to the Capitol.

Indeed, what ‘Da Vinci Code and Brown's other hit, ‘Angels and Demons’, did for London, Paris and Rome, local officials and businesses are hoping ‘The Lost Symbol’ will do for Washington.

Among the sites appearing in the book: the Capitol building, where George Washington laid that cornerstone and where many more Masonic symbols lurk inside; the Smithsonian Institution's famous Castle; and the far less-known ‘Kryptos’ sculpture at the CIA building across the river in Virginia; and a normally ignored statue of one Albert Pike, a sovereign grand commander of the Scottish Rite of Masons. – Jeffrey Brown, The News Hour

Emancipation Hall at the Capitol Visitor Center, Washington, D.C.

A bust of Sojourner Truth was unveiled at the Capitol yesterday, 126 years after the death of “the fierce advocate who railed against slavery and for women’s rights”

The 60-minute ceremony, straddling the noon hour, was a feel-good celebration, capping a 10-year struggle to enshrine the 19th-century legend in the Capitol. There were gospel songs and tribute songs and hats worthy of Easter Sunday. – from “Truth’s Rightful Place on the Hill,” by Neely Tucker, The Washington Post

Ford’s Theatre, Washington, D.C.

James Swanson, author of two books about Lincoln’s death, visits Ford’s Theatre with Morning Edition’s Renee Montagne.

And [Lincoln] came up these stairs with his guests. When he arrived, the audience finally realized the president was here, and so the orchestra broke into a performance of 'Hail To The Chief,' and the actress suspended the play and made a tribute to Lincoln. And it's up this very same route that Booth came. With full view of the stage, full view of the performance, the sound of the theater, the laughter — and then Booth stopped. – from “At Ford’s Theatre, Lincoln’s Death Revisited,” NPR’s Morning Edition

Washington, D.C.

Charles McGrath visits The Library of Congress.

My main purpose in going to Washington was to visit the Library of Congress, which had until now existed for me only as a cataloging phrase in the front of books. That there was a real place called the Library of Congress — and that Congress ever thought it needed a library in the first place — seemed to me very encouraging, and I found it with no trouble at all: right across the street from the Capitol and probably the most striking building in all Washington. – from “The Great Library Jefferson Began, and How It Grew,” by Charles McGrath, The New York Times

Smithsonian, Washington, D.C., U.S.

Visit Julia Child’s kitchen at the Smithsonian.

“With this kitchen, the Museum has acquired an "object" that perfectly represents Julia Child's extraordinary influence on the way Americans think about their food and its history.” – from Smithsonian Website

Washington, D.C.

The Newseum, “a 250,000-square-foot museum of news,” opens today.

“’Visitors will come away with a better understanding of news and the important role it plays in all of our lives,’ said Newseum Executive Director and Senior Vice President Joe Urschel. ‘The new Newseum is educational, inspirational and a whole lot of fun.’" – from the Newseum Website

Washington, D.C.

William L. Hamilton talks with Edward P. Jones during a drive through “his territory.”

“Edward P. Jones’s territory is Washington. Mr. Jones, 56, the author of The Known World, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2004, was born and reared there. The stories of his first book, Lost in the City, are set there, as are those of All Aunt Hagar’s Children (Amistad/HarperCollins), his new collection.” – from “Edward P. Jones’s City, His Own Known World,” by William L. Hamilton, New York Times

Washington, D.C.

Marcel Berlins talks with George Pelecanos, whose “hard-boiled crime thrillers,” including his latest, The Night Gardener, “have been compared to Balzac and Zola.”

“Pelecanos’s first novel came out in 1992 when he was 35 and there has been one a year since. He’s not yet 50, so he could end up with 25 or more novels to his name. They will all be about Washington. He has no desire to move himself or his novels elsewhere. They will cover many eras and many social truths. The comparisons made by some reviewers with Zola and Balzac may not seem so far-fetched.” – “Washington in Black and White,” by Marcel Berlins, The Times

Washington, D.C.

Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on this date in 1963. Over 200,000 people gathered for the civil rights rally at the Lincoln Memorial.

United States

President John Adams established the Library of Congress on April 24, 1800. It is now “the largest library in the world, with more than 130 million items on approximately 530 miles of bookshelves.”