Library of Congress Photo Collection

The New York Times ran a story on Monday about a collection of American color photographs from 1939-1943 that's on display starting Thursday at the Library of Congress.

When I was actively posting to dollarshort.org, the Library of Congress website was a rich resource for links and inspiration for my posts. Being a history buff, I especially appreciated the opportunity to view photos of ordinary people in ordinary situations.

The online exhibit of photographs is a great way to spend some web browsing time. My favorite photo is this one of Polish and Italian school children. My grandmother is Italian and my grandfather is Polish and they could easily look like any of these children if we had color photographs of them.

To compare the difference between a color photo and a black & white one and its impact in making someone seem "real" rather than just an old person in an old photo, compare these two photos of the same subject:

So what does this have to do with anything that would appear in Mena's Corner? Nothing more than the fact that these photographs are online makes me happy that we have the Internet. And, I hope that what we're doing here helps keep digital memories easier to create.