It’s with great sadness that we report the passing of our longtime friend and colleague Danna Bell. Danna served the Library of Congress for more than 25 years and was a core member of our K-12 education team, where she played a crucial role in virtually every program area, including this blog.

Trained as an archivist, with degrees from Miami University of Ohio and Long Island University, Danna came to the Library after working at the NAACP, the National Equal Justice Library, the Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library, SUNY Stony Brook, and Marymount University.

Danna found joy in helping others—particularly teachers and students—discover the treasures of the Library’s collections, and in connecting people with information and with each other. As the voice of the Ask a Librarian service for questions from teachers, she guided several generations of educators to just the right resources, and she lent her seemingly limitless knowledge of the Library’s collections to countless K-12 projects through the years. She also was a powerhouse of this blog, bringing her distinctive voice and love of history to dozens of posts and shepherding more than a thousand through the editorial and publishing processes.

As essential as she was in her work at the Library, Danna was also endlessly generous with her energy and expertise outside the office. She was a national leader in her profession, serving as the chair of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference and as the 69th president of the Society of American Archivists, and gave her time to organizations as varied as the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and National History Day.

Much as her colleagues admired and respected Danna as a skilled and accomplished professional, we also cherished her as a friend, mentor, and personality like no other: a devoted pet owner, an acerbic commentator on the passing scene, an enthusiastic amateur fashion critic, an inexhaustible knitter, a generous soul who loved to help others and loved to laugh. She will be sorely missed, and we’re grateful that she worked with and inspired us.

Lee Ann Potter, Director, Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office, the Library of Congress

When Danna served as the President of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), she provided remarks at an event and declared that she had “heavenly co-workers with great minds and passionate hearts.”  I did not just remember what she had said, I wrote it down on a yellow post it note that I have kept in my desk drawer for years. Danna absolutely fit her own collegial description. Her vast knowledge of the collections, her keen research ability, her genuine curiosity were some of her many talents. But her ability to nurture the curiosity of others by sharing her knowledge and helping their research were truly her gifts. We miss her. But we are so fortunate that those gifts that she shared with us will forever linger and perpetually connect us back to her.

Emily Kilgore, Director of Education and Engagement, The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library

I met Danna in summer 2018 when I began my position as Director of Education and Engagement at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. Danna served on the museum board and as my chair on the education committee, and was my biggest cheerleader as we navigated through how to engage with teachers in distance learning. Danna suggested I partake in the TPS self-paced course, and that opened a door to two in-person summer institutes as well as completing my requirements to become a TPS coach.

While attending the summer 2024 institute, Danna worked with us as we researched how to elevate voices in primary sources, and used her magic to help me find a specific collection, and encouraged me to use the manuscript reading room. She insisted they were very nice and would be very excited to help me pull a collection, and she was right, as my experience was wonderful. I will never forget her telling me “See, I told you we are all nice nerds here!” At the LOC and through her time on our museum’s board, she was always so supportive of me and I will miss her encouragement, her incredibly smart jokes and her laugh.

Michelle Krowl, Civil War and Reconstruction Specialist, Manuscript Division, the Library of Congress

Danna was a valued member of the Library’s Archives Forum Steering Committee. She never failed to suggest session topics of interest, connect us with relevant speakers, and volunteer to do whatever needed to be done. She also contributed her vibrant personality to our meetings, and we could count on Danna to share a good story or a laugh with appreciation at humorous conversation threads (of which there were many over the years). We will greatly miss both the personal and professional sides of our friend Danna, and all she contributed to the Archives Forum.

It’s with great sadness that we report the passing of our longtime friend and colleague Danna Bell. Danna served the Library of Congress for more than 25 years and was a core member of our K-12 education team, where she played a crucial role in virtually every program area, including this blog.

Trained as an archivist, with degrees from Miami University of Ohio and Long Island University, Danna came to the Library after working at the NAACP, the National Equal Justice Library, the Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library, SUNY Stony Brook, and Marymount University.

Danna found joy in helping others—particularly teachers and students—discover the treasures of the Library’s collections, and in connecting people with information and with each other. As the voice of the Ask a Librarian service for questions from teachers, she guided several generations of educators to just the right resources, and she lent her seemingly limitless knowledge of the Library’s collections to countless K-12 projects through the years. She also was a powerhouse of this blog, bringing her distinctive voice and love of history to dozens of posts and shepherding more than a thousand through the editorial and publishing processes.

As essential as she was in her work at the Library, Danna was also endlessly generous with her energy and expertise outside the office. She was a national leader in her profession, serving as the chair of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference and as the 69th president of the Society of American Archivists, and gave her time to organizations as varied as the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and National History Day.

Much as her colleagues admired and respected Danna as a skilled and accomplished professional, we also cherished her as a friend, mentor, and personality like no other: a devoted pet owner, an acerbic commentator on the passing scene, an enthusiastic amateur fashion critic, an inexhaustible knitter, a generous soul who loved to help others and loved to laugh. She will be sorely missed, and we’re grateful that she worked with and inspired us.

Lee Ann Potter, Director, Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office, the Library of Congress

When Danna served as the President of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), she provided remarks at an event and declared that she had “heavenly co-workers with great minds and passionate hearts.”  I did not just remember what she had said, I wrote it down on a yellow post it note that I have kept in my desk drawer for years. Danna absolutely fit her own collegial description. Her vast knowledge of the collections, her keen research ability, her genuine curiosity were some of her many talents. But her ability to nurture the curiosity of others by sharing her knowledge and helping their research were truly her gifts. We miss her. But we are so fortunate that those gifts that she shared with us will forever linger and perpetually connect us back to her.

Emily Kilgore, Director of Education and Engagement, The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library

I met Danna in summer 2018 when I began my position as Director of Education and Engagement at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. Danna served on the museum board and as my chair on the education committee, and was my biggest cheerleader as we navigated through how to engage with teachers in distance learning. Danna suggested I partake in the TPS self-paced course, and that opened a door to two in-person summer institutes as well as completing my requirements to become a TPS coach.

While attending the summer 2024 institute, Danna worked with us as we researched how to elevate voices in primary sources, and used her magic to help me find a specific collection, and encouraged me to use the manuscript reading room. She insisted they were very nice and would be very excited to help me pull a collection, and she was right, as my experience was wonderful. I will never forget her telling me “See, I told you we are all nice nerds here!” At the LOC and through her time on our museum’s board, she was always so supportive of me and I will miss her encouragement, her incredibly smart jokes and her laugh.

Michelle Krowl, Civil War and Reconstruction Specialist, Manuscript Division, the Library of Congress

Danna was a valued member of the Library’s Archives Forum Steering Committee. She never failed to suggest session topics of interest, connect us with relevant speakers, and volunteer to do whatever needed to be done. She also contributed her vibrant personality to our meetings, and we could count on Danna to share a good story or a laugh with appreciation at humorous conversation threads (of which there were many over the years). We will greatly miss both the personal and professional sides of our friend Danna, and all she contributed to the Archives Forum.

It’s with great sadness that we report the passing of our longtime friend and colleague Danna Bell. Danna served the Library of Congress for more than 25 years and was a core member of our K-12 education team, where she played a crucial role in virtually every program area, including this blog.

Trained as an archivist, with degrees from Miami University of Ohio and Long Island University, Danna came to the Library after working at the NAACP, the National Equal Justice Library, the Washingtoniana Division of the DC Public Library, SUNY Stony Brook, and Marymount University.

Danna found joy in helping others—particularly teachers and students—discover the treasures of the Library’s collections, and in connecting people with information and with each other. As the voice of the Ask a Librarian service for questions from teachers, she guided several generations of educators to just the right resources, and she lent her seemingly limitless knowledge of the Library’s collections to countless K-12 projects through the years. She also was a powerhouse of this blog, bringing her distinctive voice and love of history to dozens of posts and shepherding more than a thousand through the editorial and publishing processes.

As essential as she was in her work at the Library, Danna was also endlessly generous with her energy and expertise outside the office. She was a national leader in her profession, serving as the chair of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference and as the 69th president of the Society of American Archivists, and gave her time to organizations as varied as the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and National History Day.

Much as her colleagues admired and respected Danna as a skilled and accomplished professional, we also cherished her as a friend, mentor, and personality like no other: a devoted pet owner, an acerbic commentator on the passing scene, an enthusiastic amateur fashion critic, an inexhaustible knitter, a generous soul who loved to help others and loved to laugh. She will be sorely missed, and we’re grateful that she worked with and inspired us.

Lee Ann Potter, Director, Professional Learning and Outreach Initiatives Office, the Library of Congress

When Danna served as the President of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), she provided remarks at an event and declared that she had “heavenly co-workers with great minds and passionate hearts.”  I did not just remember what she had said, I wrote it down on a yellow post it note that I have kept in my desk drawer for years. Danna absolutely fit her own collegial description. Her vast knowledge of the collections, her keen research ability, her genuine curiosity were some of her many talents. But her ability to nurture the curiosity of others by sharing her knowledge and helping their research were truly her gifts. We miss her. But we are so fortunate that those gifts that she shared with us will forever linger and perpetually connect us back to her.

Emily Kilgore, Director of Education and Engagement, The Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library

I met Danna in summer 2018 when I began my position as Director of Education and Engagement at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library. Danna served on the museum board and as my chair on the education committee, and was my biggest cheerleader as we navigated through how to engage with teachers in distance learning. Danna suggested I partake in the TPS self-paced course, and that opened a door to two in-person summer institutes as well as completing my requirements to become a TPS coach.

While attending the summer 2024 institute, Danna worked with us as we researched how to elevate voices in primary sources, and used her magic to help me find a specific collection, and encouraged me to use the manuscript reading room. She insisted they were very nice and would be very excited to help me pull a collection, and she was right, as my experience was wonderful. I will never forget her telling me “See, I told you we are all nice nerds here!” At the LOC and through her time on our museum’s board, she was always so supportive of me and I will miss her encouragement, her incredibly smart jokes and her laugh.

Michelle Krowl, Civil War and Reconstruction Specialist, Manuscript Division, the Library of Congress

Danna was a valued member of the Library’s Archives Forum Steering Committee. She never failed to suggest session topics of interest, connect us with relevant speakers, and volunteer to do whatever needed to be done. She also contributed her vibrant personality to our meetings, and we could count on Danna to share a good story or a laugh with appreciation at humorous conversation threads (of which there were many over the years). We will greatly miss both the personal and professional sides of our friend Danna, and all she contributed to the Archives Forum.

The final project of my TPS internship in the fall of 2024, this album is a series of separate but connected lesson plans designed for students to learn about how patriotism and propaganda were promoted through different forms of media during World War I. Designed for a high school-level History class learning about WWI or early 20th-century United States, or an English class examining the language and rhetoric of propaganda through different mediums. 

The final project of my TPS internship in the fall of 2024, this album is a series of separate but connected lesson plans designed for students to learn about how patriotism and propaganda were promoted through different forms of media during World War I. Designed for a high school-level History class learning about WWI or early 20th-century United States, or an English class examining the language and rhetoric of propaganda through different mediums.