The Library of Congress occupies a unique place in American civilization. For nearly 200 years, it has collected and preserved the nation's intellectual heritage. The collection of nearly 119 million items housed in the Library represents America's "creative legacy," and ranges from books, maps and manuscripts to photographs, motion pictures and music.
Although since 1870 the law has required that every copyrighted "book, pamphlet, map, chart, musical composition, print, engraving or photograph" be sent to the Library, there are still many other materials that do not fall under this law but nonetheless belong in the national library. Many of these materials have been acquired through gifts -- either through the generosity of the creator or owner of the material, or through the beneficence of someone who has purchased the items for the collections. These gifts have benefited countless users of the Library's collections, many of whom travel from across the country, even the world, to gain access to these materials.
The contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets on the night he was assassinated, on display in the "American Treasures of the Library of Congress" exhibition, made possible by Xerox, and donated to the Library in 1937 by Lincoln's granddaughter, Mary Lincoln Isham.
As its gift to the nation during its Bicentennial, the Library will make available on its Web site (www.loc.gov) 5 million items. A significant portion of these materials came to the Library as gifts. These materials can now be shared with anyone having access to the Internet.
This self-portrait daguerreotype by Robert Cornelius, Philadelphia, 1839, is believed to be the first photograph of the human face.
With this in mind, and "to encourage participation in the Bicentennial by friends and donors, we are sponsoring a 'Gifts to the Nation' program in which a gift to the Library of Congress will benefit our millions of patrons nationwide," said Dr. Billington. "We have compiled a list of special acquisitions aiming to enrich the collections and make them available to the broadest possible public."
Without its benefactors, the Library would not have such treasures as the diaries of Orville and Wilbur Wright; the music of George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Leonard Bernstein; the outstanding Stern Collection of Abraham Lincoln materials, its largest collection of manuscripts -- the NAACP archives; or the Rosenwald Collection of rare illustrated books from as far back as the 15th century, in addition to many other items.
"There are significant materials the Library is seeking to strengthen its collections; many of these can only be acquired through donations," said Associate Librarian for Library Services Winston Tabb. "As with all collections, the Library will preserve these gifts and make them available for future generations."
The Library's curators have identified these possible acquisitions. The Gifts to the Nation program is an opportunity to support the acquisition of these important cultural legacies, as well as the work of the scholars and curators who bring them to life.
A very special undertaking is the effort to rebuild the original core of the Library -- Thomas Jefferson's vast and diverse personal collection -- which he sold to Congress after the British burned the U.S. Capitol, where the Library was housed, in 1814. Tragically, in 1851, nearly two-thirds of Jefferson's library was destroyed in another Capitol fire. Jefferson believed that there was "no subject to which a member of Congress may not have the occasion to refer," and reconstructing his wide-ranging collection, the scope of which is reflected in the current Library of Congress holdings, will provide new insights into the mind of one of our nation's greatest thinkers and reinforce the Jeffersonian principle upon which the Library of Congress was built -- that free access to information and knowledge is one of the cornerstones of democracy.
A 1999 gift of $1 million from Jerry and Gene Jones is supporting this effort. The Joneses are members of the Library's private sector advisory group, the James Madison Council, which is headed by John Kluge.
Other gifts include:
- Thanks to the generosity of Edwin Cox, the Library has established for the first time in its history an endowment specifically to support these acquisitions. The "American Legacy Endowment" will help ensure that important materials, especially those that tell the story of America's past, will be held by the nation's library for study on site and through the National Digital Library Program.
- In an exchange of letters between Stonewall Jackson, Gen. Shields and Gen. Nathaniel P. Banks in 1862, Jackson discusses his refusal to exchange Union prisoners because Union troops have been firing on his hospital staff. Jackson letters are very rare, and these letters have been purchased with the help of Madison Council member Alyne Massey.
- The Library's purchase of the first American Haggadah, published in 1837, was aided by a gift of Lenier Temerlin of the Madison Council. The haggadah -- a Hebrew liturgical text that is recited in the home during the Passover meal -- is Judaism's most beloved book.
- A Persian celestial globe on a wooden sphere, ca. 1650 (above), was donated by the Madison Council. This is the only know Islamic globe in the United States made of wood.
- The archives of dance legend Martha Graham, acquired through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, contain the complete manuscript, photographic and book collections of the most important American choreographer of the 20th century.
- A Bicentennial symposium, "Democracy and the Rule of Law in a Changing World Order" has been funded by Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Welters, Friends of the Law Library and New York University Law School.
- The Xerox Foundation, which funded the current exhibition "American Treasures of the Library of Congress," will also support "World Treasures of the Library of Congress," opening next spring.
On Nov. 18, during the fall meeting at the Library of the Madsion Council, Library curators showed members a selection of items the Library is interested in acquiring:
- The original archives of Orville and Wilbur Wright, which includes all material documenting the creation of the world's first aviation company. This collection would add to the Wright materials already in the Library of Congress.
- The first edition of the first map of Kentucky, produced in 1784 by John Filson. This map includes Filson's statement of appreciation to Daniel Boone and James Harrod, the frontiersmen who furnished details on which the map is based.
- The Max Liebman collection of 16mm kinescope prints of more than 400 hours of original 1950s television programming, including 140 original broadcasts of "Your Show of Shows."
- The papers of Philip Roth (b. 1933), one of the most important writers in America.
- The foremost collection of Hebraica in private hands -- an assemblage of more than 10,000 items. Acquiring this collection would catapult the Library's Hebraica collections into the first rank of Judaica institutions around the world and provide resources to create a comprehensive and unique research center.
The Library is also seeking donations to create endowed chairs to create a scholarly community to mine and put to use the great depth and scope of the collections and share their knowledge with the world. A gift from Alexander Papamarkou is funding a chair in education at the Library beginning next year. The scholar filling this position will contribute to the educational initiatives of the National Digital Library Program.
"With our Gifts to the Nation program the Library hopes to increase its already remarkable collections and make them even more responsive to the research needs of the nation," said Mr. Tabb.
