Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Mary Pickford

I work on the third floor of the Madison Building - one of the three Library of Congress buildings on Capitol Hill. Also on the third floor is the Mary Pickford Theater. A variety of events are held there for Library employees, guests, and the general public. All of the events hosted there are free to the public. My husband and I attended a Beatles documentary of sorts, and viewed a program about what  Persepolis might have looked like at an event sponsored by the Middle Eastern Division. I've gone to the area a couple times for Library meetings, and pass by it daily on my afternoon walk. What strikes me about the Pickford Theater is the picture hanging on the wall of a time and place when movies were considered a great distraction that began with the silent films. We were big time movie goers in our family- just about every Sunday after dinner out, we would go to whatever was playing whenever we decided to show up, only to wait for the movie to start again until it came to the part where we first arrived. I'm not sure about the history of the Mary Pickford Theater at the Library, but I do know of her, and how things have changed since her name was so well known by just about everyone (at least my age).

On display in the lobby

The official plaque

Way before my time- a hat cleaners shop next to the movie theater!

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