Library of Congress launches new ‘Collecting Memories’ exhibit in bid to attract more tourists

WASHINGTON – O Library of Congress is opening an eclectic new exhibition based on the institution’s vast historical archive and designed to make the library a more popular and accessible destination for visitors and tourists.

“Collecting Memories” – which opens to the public on June 13 – is an intensely curated exhibition that brings together items as varied as ancient Hebrew religious texts, the contents of President Abraham Lincoln’s pockets, when he was murdered in 1865, the first sketches of Spider-Man and videos of Carlos Santana in concert.

“These items are an expression of our collective history,” said Carla Hayden, official librarian of Congress. “We want people to see themselves in our exhibition.”

The new exhibit is part of a campaign to make the Library of Congress more attractive to regular tourists and school groups. David Rubenstein, the prominent local philanthropist who donated $10 million to the initiative, said the goal was to make the Library of Congress a regular part of tourist itineraries, along with the monuments and various museums.

“You don’t normally go to the Library of Congress because you don’t know that the Library of Congress is more than just a library,” Rubinstein said.

Housed in the Thomas Jefferson Building, next to the Supreme Court and across the street from the Capitol, the dimly lit exhibit hall is filled with images and antiques. Slide shows are displayed on the walls, and glass display cases display vivid tapestries, ancient texts, photographs and historical curiosities like former President James Madison’s crystal flute and Lincoln’s pocket knife and wallet – including a $5 bill from Confederation. The life story of Omar Ibn Said, an African man kidnapped into American slavery, is told through his own autobiography, written in Arabic.

David Mandel, director of exhibitions at the library, said the goal was to make visitors feel “surrounded by and immersed in the library’s collections.”

The exhibition will run for around 18 months, until the end of 2025. Some of the more delicate items on display will be removed at six-month intervals to protect them from exposure. The 127 items on display are all drawn from the Library of Congress’ internal collections, which number more than 178 million pieces.

At times, the selections seem almost random, but the curators have incorporated small connections and juxtapositions – something Mandel described as the “synergies between the stories.”

An illustrated 15th-century Hebrew text sits next to a colorful Ethiopian religious book written in Amharic. Previously top-secret photographs of the original Trinity tests nuclear explosion are positioned next to a handwritten report from a Japanese survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, describing the ordeal and aftermath.

A section focused on refugee experiences combines photos of Syrian refugees who arrived in Michigan in 2015 with a 1949 “declaration of identity” belonging to famous Jewish historian and philosopher Hannah Arendt, who at the time was a German refugee in America and classified as stateless. . .

A multi-screen video wall plays a changing mix of old videos, ranging from ordinary family home movies from the 1950s to footage of Charlie Chaplin and clips of the Rockettes performing. Ancient tablets of Sumerian cuneiform writing—possibly the earliest examples of written language—share space with clips of D.C. native Duke Ellington performing while a black dance troupe performs an acrobatic Lindy Hop.

“The stories told by these items still inspire and surprise, decades or even centuries after they were created,” Hayden said.

Visitors to the new exhibition must secure timed entry passes, which are available free of charge at loc.gov/visit.