The Week Ahead… & Some Photos from Last Week

The Week Ahead… & Some Photos from Last Week

by Larry Janezich

Posted February 22, 2026

Last Monday, to mark the celebration of Presidents’ Day, the Library of Congress opened the floor of the Main Reading Room to the public – anyone who had a timed entry ticket to the building.  Here’s the view just inside the main entrance. 

View to the right.

And the view to the left.

The central structure in the Reading Room is known as the central desk, which sits directly under the 160-foot, domed ceiling.  The mahogany structure allowed the librarians to monitor the reading room, the card catalog, and access to book conveyor systems.  Prior to today’s digitalized card catalogue, a reader looked up a book’s location in the stacks in the card catalogue which surrounded the central desk, submitted a blue request slip to a librarian at the central desk who sent it by pneumatic tube to the level below which returned the book to the desk via conveyer belt, from which it was delivered to the seat where the researcher was working. 

Here’s a view of the dome.

And, zooming in, a mural of twelve seated figures, male and female, are arranged against a wall of mosaic patterning. They represent countries, or epochs, which in 1897, when the building was constructed, were thought to have contributed the most to the evolution of western civilization.

The top of the dome features a painting – Human Understanding – by Edwin Blashfield.  The female figure is in the act of lifting the veil of ignorance and looking forward to intellectual progress. 

For more on The Main Reading Room, go here:  https://bit.ly/4aKnra5

The Week Ahead…

Monday, February 23

ANC6B February 2026 Public Safety Committee will hold a hybrid meeting at 6:30pm. 

Meeting location will be 700 Pennsylvania Ave SE; Second Floor, Conference Room 1 (entry adjacent to Trader Joe’s).

• For info on how to join the virtual meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda:  TBA

ANC6B Parks & Public Spaces Taskforce Meeting (In Person Only)

Meeting location will be 700 Pennsylvania Ave SE; Second Floor(entry adjacent to Trader Joe’s).

Agenda:  TBA

Tuesday, February 24

ANC6A Alcohol Beverage and Cannabis Committee will hold a virtual meeting at 7:00pm.

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6a.org/community-calendar/

Among items on the draft agenda:

Alcohol Applications

• Discussion of a substantial change request to a Retailer’s Class “C” Restaurant to change hours of operation and alcoholic beverage sales, service, and consumption, and hours of live entertainment, for AG Restaurant and Lounge, 816 H Street NE.

ANC6B will hold virtual Executive Committee Meeting.

• For info on how to join the meeting, go here:  https://anc6b.org/

Agenda: 

• The standard business of the Executive Committee is adoption of upcoming meeting agendas and setting the agenda for the next meeting of the full ANC.

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Capitol Hill Corner would also like you to know about:

Go here to see a list of upcoming events for this week and to sign up to join FreeDC:  https://freedcproject.org/

Wednesday, February 25

Hill Center Event 

Screening of Documentary Film, “The Last Battlefront: Quest for the Vote in DC”

This one-hour documentary is the first historical film on the right for self-government in Washington, D.C. told through the lives and voices of its citizens.

7:00 – 9:00pm.  $12. 

Get tickets here:  https://bit.ly/4saaSMl

Sunday, March 29

Hill Center Event

Stone Room Concerts @ Hill Center Featuring Eastern-European Jewish Folk Music with Seth Kibel & The Kleztet

5:00 – 7:00 pm.  $23

Get tickets Here  https://bit.ly/4rpyQ68

ONGOING

National Gallery of Art

Mary Cassatt: An American in Paris.  West Building. 

Now through August 30, 2026.

Mary Cassatt’s art and life reflect an independent spirit that defied expectations for women in her time.  Explore three galleries in the National Gallery’s impressionist collection to look closely at how she worked. Some 40 paintings, drawings, and prints—largely drawn from our rich holdings of her work—show an artist shaped by tradition yet radically modern.

Admission is always free and passes are not required.

UPCOMING:

Folger Theater

Tuesday, Mar 10 – Sunday, Apr 12

As You Like It

by William Shakespeare

Envisioned by Artistic Director Karen Ann Daniels

Directed by Timothy Douglas

TICKETS: Starting at $20

Get tickets here:  https://bit.ly/4kGKaIC 

Rosalind and her cousin Celia are forced to leave the court where they find respite and adventure in nature, inevitably succumbing to the madness of love and delightfully unpredictable circumstances.

This production offers a love note to DC, imbuing the Forest of Arden with the familiar vibes, culture, and characters that mark the District as a singular, resilient, and redemptive place of belonging.