Genuine local folk culture, including folk music, was more common in pre-World War II America before television and the accelerating pace of communication leveled distinctions. Associates of the Library of Congress, especially the

The popular rumor is false: the Library of Congress doesn�t actually keep a copy of every book published in the U.S. Even so, it houses millions of books, maps, photographs and other artifacts in one of the largest knowledge archives in the world. Houdini�s scrapbook? The Library of Congress has it.

 The History Channel documentary �The Real National Treasure� (out on DVD) offers a q...