A Library of Congress Living Legend was someone recognized by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

for creative contributions to American life. Those honored include artists, writers, activists,

film maker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

s, physicians, entertainers, sports figures, and public servants. Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden retired the program in 2018.

List of honorees

* Hank Aaron (d. 2021) *

Madeleine Albright Madeleine Jana Korbel Albright (born Marie Jana Korbelová; May 15, 1937 – March 23, 2022) was an American diplomat and political scientist who served as the 64th United States secretary of state from 1997 to 2001. A member of the Democrat ...

(d. 2022) * Muhammad Ali (d. 2016) * Mario Andretti * Ernie Banks (d. 2015) *

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an internati ...

* Tony Bennett * James H. Billington (d. 2018) * Big Bird (original performer Caroll Spinney d. 2019) * Larry Bird * Herblock (d. 2001) * Judy Blume * Julian Bond (d. 2015) *

T. Berry Brazelton Thomas Berry Brazelton (May 10, 1918 – March 13, 2018) was an American pediatrician, author, and the developer of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS). Brazelton hosted the cable television program ''What Every Baby Knows'', and wr ...

(d. 2018) * Gwendolyn Brooks (d. 2000) * Dave Brubeck (d. 2012) * Kobe Bryant (d. 2020) * William F. Buckley, Jr. (d. 2008) * Carol Burnett * Laura Bush * Ben Carson * Benny Carter (d. 2003) * Johnny Cash (d. 2003) * Vinton Cerf *

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

(d. 2004) *

Linda Chavez Linda Lou ChavezStated on ''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'', May 20, 2012, PBS (born June 17, 1947) is an American author, commentator, and radio talk show host. She is also a Fox News analyst, Chairman of the Center for Equal ...

* Julia Child (d. 2004) * Beverly Cleary (d. 2021) * David Copperfield * Bill Cosby * Walter Cronkite (d. 2009) * Merce Cunningham (d. 2009) * Michael DeBakey (d. 2008) *

Sylvia Earle Sylvia Alice Earle (née Reade; born August 30, 1935) is an American marine biologist, oceanographer, explorer, author, and lecturer. She has been a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998. Earle was the first female chief scien ...

* Marian Wright Edelman * Ahmet Ertegun (d. 2006) * Suzanne Farrell * John Kenneth Galbraith (d. 2006) *

Andrew Goodpaster Andrew Jackson Goodpaster (February 12, 1915 – May 16, 2005) was an American Army General. He served as NATO's Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), from July 1, 1969, and Commander in Chief of the United States European Command (CI ...

(d. 2005) *

Stephen Jay Gould Stephen Jay Gould (; September 10, 1941 – May 20, 2002) was an American paleontologist, evolutionary biologist, and historian of science. He was one of the most influential and widely read authors of popular science of his generation. Goul ...

(d. 2002) *

Katharine Graham Katharine Meyer Graham (June 16, 1917 – July 17, 2001) was an American newspaper publisher. She led her family's newspaper, '' The Washington Post'', from 1963 to 1991. Graham presided over the paper as it reported on the Watergate scandal, w ...

(d. 2001) *

Archie Green Archie Green (June 29, 1917 – March 22, 2009) was an American folklorist specializing in laborlore (defined as the special folklore of workers) and American folk music. Devoted to understanding vernacular culture, he gathered and commente ...

(d. 2009) * Thomas Hampson *

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...

* Mickey Hart * Al Hirschfeld (d. 2003) *

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with ...

(d. 2003) *

Marta Casals Istomin Marta Casals Istomin (born November 2, 1936), who uses the surnames of her first husband, Pablo Casals, and her second husband, Eugene Istomin, is a musician from Puerto Rico, and the former president of the Manhattan School of Music. She served ...

* Glenn R. Jones (d. 2015) * Quincy Jones *

Jenette Kahn Jenette Kahn (; born May 16, 1947) is an American comic book editor and executive. She joined DC Comics in 1976 as publisher, and five years later was promoted to president. In 1989, she stepped down as publisher and assumed the title of edito ...

Max Kampelman Max Kampelman (born Max Kampelmacher; November 7, 1920 – January 25, 2013) was an American diplomat. Biography Kampelman was born in New York, New York to Jewish Austrian immigrant parents on 7 November 1920. He grew up in the Bronx, New York ...

(d. 2013) * George Kennan (d. 2005) * Jackie Joyner Kersee * B.B. King (d. 2015) * Billie Jean King * Jeane Kirkpatrick (d. 2006) * John Kluge (d. 2010) *

Ursula K. Le Guin Ursula Kroeber Le Guin (; October 21, 1929 – January 22, 2018) was an American author best known for her works of speculative fiction, including science fiction works set in her Hainish universe, and the '' Earthsea'' fantasy series. She was ...

(d. 2018) * Annie Leibovitz * Miguel León-Portilla (d. 2019) * Carl Lewis * John Lewis (d. 2020) *

Mario Vargas Llosa Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...

* Alan Lomax (d. 2002) * Yo-Yo Ma *

Robert McCloskey John Robert McCloskey (September 15, 1914 – June 30, 2003) was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He both wrote and illustrated eight picture books, and won two Caldecott Medals from the American Library Association for t ...

(d. 2003) * David McCullough (d. 2022) * Mark McGwire * Rita Moreno *

Toni Morrison Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford; February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019), known as Toni Morrison, was an American novelist. Her first novel, '' The Bluest Eye'', was published in 1970. The critically acclaimed '' S ...

(d. 2019) * Odetta (d. 2008) * Gordon Parks (d. 2006) *

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, philanthropist, and businesswoman, known primarily for her work in country music. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton made her album ...

* Katherine Paterson * I. M. Pei (d. 2019) * Jaroslav Pelikan (d. 2006) * Itzhak Perlman * Colin Powell (d. 2021) * Leontyne Price * Tito Puente (d. 2000) * Sally K. Ride (d. 2012) *

Cal Ripken Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed " The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his pos ...

Cokie Roberts Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. Her career included decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio, PBS, ...

(d. 2019) * Frank Robinson (d. 2019) * Fred Rogers (d. 2003) *

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophicall ...

(d. 2018) *

Bob Schieffer Bob Lloyd Schieffer (born February 25, 1937) is an American television journalist. He is known for his moderation of presidential debates, where he has been praised for his capability. Schieffer is one of the few journalists to have covered all f ...

* Gunther Schuller (d. 2015) *

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of many major accolades, incl ...

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notabl ...

(d. 2014) * Maurice Sendak (d. 2012) * Bobby Short (d. 2005) *

Stephen Sondheim Stephen Joshua Sondheim (; March 22, 1930November 26, 2021) was an American composer and lyricist. One of the most important figures in twentieth-century musical theater, Sondheim is credited for having "reinvented the American musical" with sho ...

(d. 2021) *

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

* Ralph Stanley (d. 2016) *

Gloria Steinem Gloria Marie Steinem (; born March 25, 1934) is an American journalist and social-political activist who emerged as a nationally recognized leader of second-wave feminism in the United States in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Steinem was a c ...

* Isaac Stern (d. 2001) *

Barbra Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand (; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment, and is among the few performers awar ...

William Styron William Clark Styron Jr. (June 11, 1925 – November 1, 2006) was an American novelist and essayist who won major literary awards for his work. Styron was best known for his novels, including: * '' Lie Down in Darkness'' (1951), his acclaimed f ...

(d. 2006) * Harold Varmus *

Gwen Verdon Gwyneth Evelyn "Gwen" Verdon (January 13, 1925October 18, 2000) was an American actress and dancer. She won four Tony Awards for her musical comedy performances, and served as an uncredited choreographer's assistant and specialty dance coach for t ...

(d. 2000) * Lew Wasserman (d. 2002) * Fred L. Whipple (d. 2004) * Joseph Wilson (d. 2015) * Tiger Woods *

Herman Wouk Herman Wouk ( ; May 27, 1915 – May 17, 2019) was an American author best known for historical fiction such as ''The Caine Mutiny'' (1951) for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. His other major works include ''The Winds of War'' and ...

(d. 2019) {{div col end

References

External links

Library of Congress to Honor "Living Legends"
(press release, with initial honorees). April 14, 2000. Public Affairs Office. Library of Congress official website
Living Legends
(full list). Library of Congress official website, archived from the Internet Wayback Machine. Original site no longer extant. Living Legend Arts awards in the United States Medicine awards Governance and civic leadership awards American sports trophies and awards 2000 establishments in the United States 2018 disestablishments in the United States

List of honorees

See also

References

External links