Join the U.S. Capitol Historical Society for another installment of its Capitol Dialogue series featuring a conversation between award-winning journalist Norah O’Donnell and 14th Librarian of Congress, Dr. Carla Hayden.
O’Donnell’s latest book, We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America, tells the stories of unsung American women from 1776 to today who changed the course of history in their fight for freedom and helped shape a more perfect union. In this dialogue with Dr. Hayden, she will reflect on the research and writing of this book, and how we can—we must—look through these women’s eyes to see anew the first 250 years of American history.
This program is free and open to the public by registration.
Norah O'Donnell
Norah O’Donnell is a multiple Emmy Award-winning journalist with nearly three decades of experience covering the biggest stories in the world and conducting impactful, news-making interviews. She is CBS News’ Senior Correspondent, focused on big interviews and projects for the network, and spent five years as the anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News the oldest and most revered evening news broadcast in America. O’Donnell anchors CBS News Election Specials and is a 60 Minutes contributing correspondent. She is married to the bacon-loving Geoff Tracy, otherwise known as Chef Geoff, and is the mother of three children.
Dr. Carla Hayden
Dr. Carla Hayden is a Senior Fellow at the Mellon Foundation and served as the 14th Librarian of Congress from 2016 to 2025. Nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate, she was the first woman and first African American to lead the Library of Congress.
As Librarian of Congress, Dr. Hayden worked to make the Library and its unparalleled collections more accessible to all Americans. She expanded digitization and public engagement, modernized the Library’s technology, and launched the Of the People initiative with support from the Mellon Foundation to broaden participation in and access to the Library’s collections.
Before joining the Library of Congress, Dr. Hayden served for more than two decades as CEO of Baltimore’s Enoch Pratt Free Library. She previously held leadership and library positions at the Chicago Public Library, the University of Pittsburgh, and Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry.
A former president of the American Library Association, Dr. Hayden was the first African American to receive Library Journal’s Librarian of the Year Award. She holds a B.A. from Roosevelt University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
