In case you missed our earlier post, today in 1890, Congress formally designated Yosemite a National Park, the third in the system. Happy Birthday Yosemite!

The hundreds of stereoscopic images of Yosemite in the NYPL’s collection attest to the popularity of the park as a tourist destination. Make your own GIF of one of these cards with the Stereogranimator - check it out right here.

This Land Is Your Land
Words and Music by Woody Guthrie

This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island; 
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters 
This land was made for you and Me.

As I was walking that ribbon of highway, 
I saw above me that endless skyway: 
I saw below me that golden valley: 
This land was made for you and me.

I’ve roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps 
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts; 
And all around me a voice was sounding: 
This land was made for you and me.

When the sun came shining, and I was strolling, 
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling, 
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting: 
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking I saw a sign there 
And on the sign it said “No Trespassing.” 
But on the other side it didn’t say nothing, 
That side was made for you and me.

In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, 
By the relief office I seen my people; 
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking 
Is this land made for you and me?

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway; 
Nobody living can ever make me turn back 
This land was made for you and me.

© Copyright 1956 (renewed), 1958 (renewed), 1970 and 1972 by Woody Guthrie Publications, Inc. & TRO-Ludlow Music, Inc. (BMI)

Happy birthday to Woody Guthrie! The musician would have been 100 today. Learn more about his life and work at The New York Public Library.

(Source: woodyguthrie.org)

Apparently today is the 25th anniversary of the animated GIF. To celebrate, make one of your own with the library’s Stereogranimator. Over 28,000 GIFs have been made on the site so far, which is kind of awesome/scary.

I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.

— Anne Frank (b. June 12, 1929)

Before You Become a Poet, Work in a Bar

Before he was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, John Masefield scrubbed floors in a saloon at Greenwich Avenue and Sixth Avenue in the Village.

My guess, that’s good training to be a poet or a writer of any kind.

His birthday is today, June 1.

Here’s the first part of one of his poems:

“Sea Fever”

I must go down to the seas again,
to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship
and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song
and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and
a grey dawn breaking

- John Flood, Hudson Park Branch Library

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819. Happy birthday, you poet of the people! Explore the NYPL’s collection of Whitman Manuscripts here: http://ow.ly/bgLIN

Happy birthday Brooklyn Bridge! Today in 1883 our lovely bridge opened to the public. The NY Times has the short history of the day. Or, come over to the Manuscripts and Archives Division, where you can pour over the architectural plans and drawings of parts of the Bridge, including images of the Brooklyn anchorage and tower, derricks, and other equipment used in the bridge’s construction.

On April 12, 1861, the US Civil War began with the shelling of the Union-held Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina.

The Library has an incredible collection of sketches made by Civil War staff artists from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. They documented battles, preparations, camp life, and the deaths of generals and other military leaders.

The sketch above shows “Rebels preparing to bombard Fort Sumter—scene on Cummings Point.”