FILIPINO SPEAKER
The history of the Library of Congress is the story of the accumulation of diverse functions and collections. As a repository of information and knowledge, its collections in all formats now contain more than 103 million items--books (about 20 million), films, maps, photographs, music, manuscripts, and graphics--from all over the world. The scope of these collections is universal; materials have been acquired in more than four hundred and fifty languages. The Library is open to everyone over high school age, and more than two million tourists visit it annually.
My first glimpse of the Capitol Building in Washingon D.C.
Oh, the CNN of the radio. The VOICE OF AMERICA Headquarters in Washington D.C.
What a sweet smile! I love Washington D.C. so much.
You will never knew how happy I was unless you will go here.
The building is equipped with 55 radio studios, seven television studios, a digital stereo master control facility capable of switching 512 incoming circuits and 448 outgoing circuits, and three intake centers to record live radio and television reports from VOA correspondents worldwide. The recently deployed Dalet Digital Media System provides radio broadcasters with the capability to edit and produce radio programs from their desktop computers. The Dalet system is also used throughout the studio facilities and broadcast automation systems for radio production and on-air broadcasts.History: VOA began in response to the need of peoples in closed and war-torn societies for a consistently reliable and authoritative source of news. The first VOA broadcast originated from New York City on February 24, 1942, just 79 days after the United States entered World War II. Speaking in German, announcer William Harlan Hale told his listeners, "Here speaks a voice from America. Every day at this time we will bring you the news of the war. The news may be good. The news may be bad. We shall tell you the truth."
The Voice of America (VOA) is an international multimedia broadcasting service funded by the U.S. government. VOA broadcasts 1,000 hours of news, informational, educational, and cultural programs every week to an audience of some 87 million people worldwide. VOA programs are produced and broadcast in 44 languages through radio, satellite television, and the Internet.
Tuning in to VOA: VOA broadcasts via shortwave, AM, and FM radio, satellite television and the Internet via www.voanews.com. Section 501 of the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 prohibits VOA from broadcasting into the United States.
Schedule Information: A VOA Program Guide is available online. It includes schedules, frequencies, and articles. Shortwave frequencies are also available separately. To receive print versions, you can send an e-mail to letters@VOA.gov or write to the Audience Mail Unit, Voice of America, 330 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20237.
VOA Television: Television programs are produced in English and other languages, including Albanian, Azeri, Bosnian, Croatian, French, Indonesian, Mandarin, Persian, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Ukrainian, and Uzbek.
Transmitting Stations: A global network of transmitting stations (including three domestic) operated by the International Broadcasting Bureau, along with some leased stations, send VOA's programs to its international audience via satellite, shortwave, and medium wave.
VOA Headquarters: VOA is headquartered in Washington, D.C., at the foot of Capitol Hill on Independence Avenue, between 3rd and 4th Streets, S.W. Most programming is produced at this location and broadcast to listeners, viewers, and affiliate stations around the world.
Interview for IYF behind is the Capitol Building.
I've talked about the VOICE OF THE YOUTH NETWORK in the Philippines. www.voty.org
Choy at the U.S. Supreme Court
Choy at the Capitol Building
"A government of the people, by the people, for the people"
--Abraham Lincoln
With its majestic and imposing nine million ton cast iron dome topped with the statue Freedom, the US Capitol Building shines as a beacon of freedom and democracy to every man, woman and child on Earth. Since 1800 (except during its reconstruction after being burned during the War of 1812) senators and representatives of every race and creed, who have been elected by the people, have been meeting in the US Capitol to discuss and create legislation for the benefit of the American people. Here at the Capitol, the entire world witnesses the peaceful secession of power in the US from one President to another. It is here that inspiring words "with malice towards none and charity for all", "we have nothing to fear but fear itself" and "ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country", and endless more have enkindled the American spirit and pressed the nation forward in times of hope and despair; and war and peace. And, here too, hundreds of thousands of mourners have come in silence to pay their final respect to 27 distin-guished and outstanding Americans who have lain in State in the rotunda. Whether you take a tour, walk through on your own, watch the Senate or House in session, the Capitol is a MUST SEE while visiting in Washington, DC!
A brief history of the library of Congress
The oldest cultural institution in the nation's capital, the Library of Congress occupies a unique place in American civilization. Established as a legislative library in 1800, it grew into a national institution in the nineteenth century, a product of American cultural nationalism. Since World War II, it has become an international resource of unparalleled dimension and the world's largest library. In its three massive structures on Capitol Hill, the Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison Memorial Buildings, the Library of Congress brings together the concerns of government, learning, and librarianship--an uncommon combination, but one that has greatly benefited American scholarship and culture.
The Library of Congress has been shaped primarily by the philosophy and ideas of its principal founder, Thomas Jefferson, who believed that a democratic legislature needed information and ideas in all subjects to do its work. It was established by Congress on April 24, 1800, with an appropriation of five thousand dollars, as the government prepared to move from Philadelphia to the new capital city of Washington. From the beginning, however, the institution was more than a legislative library, for an 1802 law made the appointment of the Librarian of Congress a presidential responsibility. It also permitted the president and vice president to borrow books, a privilege that eventually was extended to the judiciary, officials of government agencies, and, under certain conditions, members of the public. Originally located in the Capitol Building, the Library moved to its own building in 1897. At the same time, Congress gave the Librarian of Congress sole responsibility for making the Library's rules and regulations and invested in the Senate the authority to approve a president's nomination of a Librarian of Congress.
Thomas Jefferson took a keen and continuing interest in the Library. In 1814, when the British invaded Washington, they destroyed the Capitol, including the Library of Congress. By then retired to Monticello, Jefferson offered to sell his personal library of more than six thousand volumes to Congress. The purchase was approved in 1815, doubling the size of the Library. It also expanded the scope of the collections. Anticipating the argument that his collection might be too wide-ranging and comprehensive for use by a legislative body, Jefferson argued that there was "no subject to which a member of Congress may not have occasion to refer." The Jeffersonian concept of universality is the philosophy and rationale behind the comprehensive collecting policies of today's Library.
The individual responsible for transforming the Library of Congress into an institution of national significance was Ainsworth Rand Spofford, Librarian of Congress from 1864 to 1897. Spofford applied Jefferson's philosophy on a grand scale. He linked the Library's legislative and national functions, building a comprehensive collection for both the legislature and the nation. In obtaining greatly increased support from Congress, Spofford employed a combination of logic, flattery, and nationalistic rhetoric. In 1867 his acquisitions made the Library of Congress the largest library in the United States. Spofford's other major achievements were the centralization in 1870 of all U.S. copyright activities at the Library--which ensured the continuing growth of the collections by stipulating that two copies of every book, pamphlet, map, print, and piece of music registered for copyright be deposited in the Library--and construction of a separate building, a twenty-six year struggle not completed until 1897.
Spofford's concept of the Library of Congress as both legislative library for the American Congress and national library for the American people has been wholeheartedly accepted by his successors. Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939, extended this philosophy still further. To Putnam, a national library was more than a comprehensive collection housed in Washington. It was "a collection universal in scope which has a duty to the country as a whole." He defined that duty as service to scholarship, both directly and through other libraries.
Choy at "The Wall" Vietnam Veterans Memorial
"The Wall" The National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
From 1950 to 1953, the United States joined with United Nations forces in Korea to take a stand against what was deemed a threat to democratic nations worldwide. At war's end, a million and a half American veterans returned to a peacetime world of families, homes, and jobs - and to a country long reluctant to view the Korean War as something to memorialize. But to the men and women who served, the Korean War could never be a forgotten war.
Choy with Dorothy fom Kenya and Ilona from Netherlands at the Korean War Veterans Memorial
This gallery contains pictures and stories of Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Known simply as "The Wall", this monument is one of the most visited sites in the city of Washington.
After watching the film "The Deer Hunter" in 1979, Vietnam Veteran Jan C. Scruggs first conceived of the idea for a Vietnam Veterans Memorial. A Yale architectural student, Maya Lin, submitted the winning design.
"The Wall" was built in Constitution Gardens in Washington, D.C., through private donations from the public, and dedicated in 1982.
This Gallery also contains images and text about the Vietnam Women's Memorial that stands near "The Wall" and honors the military and civilian women who served and sacrificed during the Vietnam War. Some of their names are with their brothers' on "The Wall."
Diane Carlson Evans, RN, is the founder of this Memorial project. She served in the Army Nurse Corps from 1966 to 1972 and was in Vietnam from 1968-69. The sculptor is Glenna Goodacre, who created the Women's Memorial in bronze.
The Vietnam Women's Memorial was dedicated over Veterans Day weekend of November 10-12, 1993.
White House
"I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under the roof."John Adams, dedicatory prayer made on the first night of occupancy, in November 1800
The passing of more than four decades has brought a new perspective to the war and its aftermath. The time has come, in the eyes of the Nation, to set aside a place of remembrance for the people who served in this hard-fought war half a world away. The Korean War Veterans Memorial honors those Americans who answered the call, those who worked and fought under the trying of circumstances, and those who gave their lives for the cause of freedom.
Choy with Patrick at the Old War Department
The White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, was originally constructed 1792-1800, the work of James Hoban. It was reconstructed in 1815 after being burned by British soldiers during the War of 1812. It has been the home of every president of the United States since John Adams. The exterior of the main structure, despite some additions and minor changes, remains much as it was in 1800. The interior has been completely renovated using the historic floor plan. It is significant for its Federal architecture, as a symbol of the presidency, and for the important decisions made within its walls over the years.
Millions of visitors from all over the world consider a visit to Washington, DC incomplete without experiencing the White House. This stately, palatial structure which has been home to all of America's Presidents and First Families (except George and Martha Washington) has become an international symbol of the US presidency. In all of the world, the White House stands alone as the only home of a head of state open to the people on a regular basis. Images of America's past and present embodied in the walls of this 132 room mansion-- from Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats, or Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sedat and Monachem Begin signing the Middle East Peace Accord, to Abraham Lincoln signing the Emancipation Proclamation, personify the White House as the spirit and hope of America.
Choy at the Lincoln Memorial
"In this temple as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the Union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."
These are a few of my favorite photographs from my different travels. Feel free to browse them as you like. If you want one click your right mouse button and choose "Save As" from the menu.
George Washington, the most national man of his generation, known as "the Father of our Country," took his oath of office as the first President of the United States in 1789.Many monuments have been erected in his honor and cities, counties, colleges and even people have been named after him. The tallest structure in the Nation's Capital at the height of 555 feet 5 1/8 inches honors George Washington in the center of our national mall. Within the Washington Monument are 897 steps and an electric elevator taking 70 seconds to reach the top for a spectacular view of the Nation's Capital. Maryland marble was used to complete the monument but for almost 25 years, it stood incomplete at the height of about 153 feet because of lack of funding and the growing disagreement between the North and South resulting in the Civil War. When construction resumed a marble slightly different in tone was used resulting in a noticeable ring on the shaft. The monument is an obelisk which is an ancient symbol in Egypt representing immortality. Similarly, George Washington is immortal in the hearts of his countrymen.
Choy at the Washington Monument
"...First in War, First in Peace and First in the Hearts of his Countrymen..."Lighthorse Harry Lee
Red Castle
"To the United States of America, to found at Washington, under the name to(sic) the Smithsonian Institution, an Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge among men"James Smithson's Will
These words are inscribed above the 19 foot statue inside of this impressive memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the country during one of the most difficult times in American history -- the Civil War. More Americans lost their lives during the Civil War than all Americans who died during World War I, World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam Conflicts combined. As a result of the tremendous carnage at the battle of Gettysburg, Lincoln delivered the famous Gettysburg Address, at one time memorized by school children throughout the nation. President Lincoln managed to rise above tribulation while practicing the virtues of tolerance and honesty and his life mind and character have become an enduring inspiration to the world.
The memorial, classical in design resembles the Parthenon, the temple to the Goddess Athena in Athens, Greece. It symbolizes the unity of our nation with 36 columns representing the 36 states that existed at the time the memorial was dedicated in 1922. In addition to the statue are two inscriptions: the Gettysburg Address and Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.
Did you know that the Smithsonian Institution is not just a museum, but the largest museum complex in the entire world? Sometimes referred to as the nation's attic, the Smithsonian is a vast array of museums, research centers, laboratories, libraries, and study rooms used to promote the study and understanding of mankind, past, present and future.
The Castle is the place to be if you want to learn more about the Smithsonian Institution and how to make the best use of your time while you're in Washington! An excellent introductory film will help you understand and focus your visit to your particular areas of interest. You'll also find maps and interactive computer screens that will enable you to easily locate all of the different museums, memorials, sites, and restaurants in Washington, DC. And before you leave, if you're not already a member, you can join the Smithsonian here and then be eligible for discounts at the many museum shops.
