Washingtond D. C. is very warm. The heat is such it spoils what would otherwise be a good place to visit for a fastidious person. I took the light rail in from Baltimore and suffered the heat on the platform from the outset. I don’t mind the heat except that I don’t like to smell like I’ve been sweating.
The public transportation is efficient and grim. I finished a book on the Southern Agrarians on the flight to Baltimore and I’ve been reading Weaver’s book on the Southern Tradition, so the experience of the public transportation was worse than it has been. I’m used to public transportation from the awful times in Mexico City. For some reason I thought I would like it, probably because I’ve been reading how Tozer gave up his car so he could use the time reading. I did read a bit on the train.
The Library of Congress is easy to get into if you find the right building. The MSS archives are in the Madison building. I got a reader’s card in 15 minutes and was looking at Bryan’s correspondence half an hour later, maybe less – the security guard was obtuse. The librarirans are very helpful. This always surprises me since I’m used to the Central Seminary way of helping.
The goods are there, although Bryan didn’t save a lot of the personal correspondence. He saved selectively. Still, he saved enough. The Scopes trial was not considered a defeat if the number and tenor of Western Union Telegrams received July 20-22 are anything to go by. There is also correspondence with Norris, Riley and some other luminaries. On the whole, a very interesting collection I only managed to scratch. I wanted to go and to stay. If I do any studying in Washington D. C. it will have to be in the fall or winter. How can one read feeling dirty?
