Washington – Housed in the Library of Congress, the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution, is a treasure trove of past and present in the new “Collecting Memories” exhibit that opened this week.
“What we want people to see just by looking at an example, a small sample of the treasures of the Library of Congress, is that these are their memories,” librarian Carla Hayden told CBS News. “This is their stuff. It’s the national library.’
The exhibition features rare artifacts from centuries of history, beginning with a handwritten draft of President Abraham Lincoln’s historical documents Gettysburg Address in 1863, and a photo of Lincoln from that day.
“That’s the only photo we, or anyone, has of him at Gettysburg,” Hayden said.
The exhibit also includes the contents of Lincoln’s pockets from the night he was assassinated, including a pocket watch, two pairs of glasses, a handkerchief and a wallet with his name.
There is also a crystal flute first lady Dolly Madison who was saved when the White House was burned down by the British in 1814 and rose to fame again after pop star Lizzo visited the library and performed it at one of her concerts in September 2022.
“After Ms. Lizzo played that flute, we had a teacher contact us and say, ‘I think there will be more kids who want to play the flute after seeing that,’” Hayden said. “…It took off and people said, ‘What else does the Library of Congress have?'”
With more than 178 million items, the library has narrowed the exhibit down to just over 100 of its most prized possessions, including Oscar Hammerstein’s “Do-Re-Mi” lyric sheet from “The Sound of Music,” the original Spiderman drawings, the designs of the Washington Monument and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and the sewing machine used to make the AIDS Memorial quilt.
“These are the things we want everyone to see,” Hayden said. “You don’t have to be the president of the United States. You don’t have to be a visiting ambassador… You can see it, it’s free, and you can have that pinch-me moment.”
