February 14, 2011 25th Anniversary of Philippine Revolution To be Marked With Program, Display in the Asian Reading Room

Press Contact: Audrey Fischer (202) 707-0022
Public Contact: Reme Grefalda (202) 707-6096

What began in February 1986 as a student-led uprising against Ferdinand Marcos, then president of the Philippines, evolved into a non-violent mass protest joined by society matrons, nuns and priests, storekeepers, citizen groups and Filipinos from all walks of life. The Library of Congress Asian Division will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the 1986 People Power Revolution that toppled Marcos’ 20-year regime with a program to be held at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 23 in the Asian Reading Room, located in Room 150 of the Thomas Jefferson Building at 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C. The event is free and open to the public; tickets are not required. Speakers will include Philippine Ambassador Willy Gaa and Jon Melegrito, communications director for the National Federation of Filipino American Associations (NaFFAA). Melegrito was a key activist in the anti-Marcos protest movement in Washington, D.C. The program will feature a small display of photographs of the revolution taken by Australian freelance photojournalist Alfred Hardy, who recently donated his photographs of the revolution to the Library’s Philippine Collection. Hardy was in Asia in February 1986 to participate in various marathons and had just completed a run in China on his way to Manila when the political turmoil occurred. Excerpts from his diary entries from that era annotate the display. The display, which will run from Feb. 21 through March 2, will also include posters that depict a period of marshall law under the dictator. Founded in 1800, the Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution. The Library seeks to spark imagination and creativity and to further human understanding and wisdom by providing access to knowledge through its magnificent collections, programs and exhibitions. Many of the Library’s rich resources can be accessed through its website at www.loc.gov and via interactive exhibitions on a personalized website at myLOC.gov. The Library of Congress is a central repository for all types of Asian publications that are not broadly available at other locations in the United States. Initiated in 1869 with a gift of 10 works in 934 volumes offered to the United States by the Emperor of China, the Library’s Asian collection of more than 2 million items is the largest and most comprehensive outside of Asia. For more information, visit the Asian Reading Room at www.loc.gov/rr/asian/ .

###

PR 11-033
2011-02-15
ISSN 0731-3527