MEDIA ADVISORY
New Exhibition “Collecting Memories” to Open in New Treasures Gallery
Media Preview June 10 Offers First Look at New Gallery Featuring Treasures from Across the Library, including Lincoln’s Handwritten Gettysburg Address
The Library of Congress will host a media preview of its new exhibition, “Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress” on June 10. This is the inaugural exhibition in the new David M. Rubenstein Treasures Gallery and will be on view through December 2025.
“Collecting Memories” explores how cultures preserve memory, including the role of the Library in preserving collective memories representing entire societies, important moments in history and individual lives. The exhibition draws from the Library’s rich holdings of Americana and international collections, bringing together a mix of voice recordings, moving images, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, art, maps, books and more.
Treasures on view will include President Abraham Lincoln’s handwritten Gettysburg Address from 1863, handwritten lyrics from “The Sound of Music,” Maya Lin’s original drawings for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, as well as historical photographs, moving images and a wide variety of objects among more than 120 treasures featured in the initial rotation.
Exhibition Media Preview
- When: Monday, June 10,
- 9:30 a.m. coffee reception
- 10 a.m. remarks
- 10:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. self-guided tours and interviews
- Where: Library of Congress Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street SE, Washington, DC (media check-in inside Carriage Entrance)
- Who: Remarks by Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden; philanthropist David M. Rubenstein; David Mandel, director of the Center for Exhibits and Interpretation; Cheryl Regan, exhibition curator. Curators available for interviews in gallery.
- RSVP: Media interested in covering the event must RSVP on this registration page in advance by June 5. Please contact Brett Zongker with any questions at bzongker@loc.gov.
- Media Assets: Please visit our virtual newsroom for additional materials and press images from the exhibition at newsroom.loc.gov.
A companion book, “Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress,” will be available in hardcover and paperback in bookstores and the Library of Congress Shop.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States — and extensive materials from around the world — both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov; access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov; and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
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Media Contact: Brett Zongker, bzongker@loc.gov
PR 24-051
05/28/2024
ISSN 0731-3527