Lopresti co-authors article on 1861 U.S. House library scandal

Rob Lopresti (Western Libraries) has co-authored an article with August A. Imholtz titled "Reckless and Unwarranted Inferences: The US House Library Scandal of 1861." It is in the current issue of Library and Information History.

The article discusses a story that appeared in the New York Times just before the Civil War, claiming that the congressmen from seceding states were stealing books from the Library of Congress in order to start a new library in the south. The newspaper story turns out to have been based on gossip, bad journalism and shoddy library management. A copy of the article is available in the Western Collection in Wilson Library.