April 8, 2012 "Creating the United States” To Close on May 5

Imagination and vision played critical roles in the creative act of forming a self-governing United States of America. The collections of the Library of Congress are unquestionably the world’s best source for documenting that process.

Made possible by generous support from the Xerox Corporation and Roger and Susan Hertog, “Creating the United States” offers a remarkable opportunity to learn in a fresh new way how the nation’s founding documents—the Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Bill of Rights—were forged out of insight, invention, creativity and rigorous debate.

Since the exhibition’s opening in April 2008, approximately 2 million visitors have viewed “Creating the United States.” Saturday, May 5 will be the final day for visitors to experience this landmark exhibition. On view 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, the exhibition is free and open to the public in the Southwest Gallery of the Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First Street S.E., Washington, D.C.

“The exhibition has become a staple of civics education as we continue to train teachers from across the nation to use the Library’s unparalleled online resources in the classroom,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

The exhibition combines artifacts drawn from collections across the Library and state of the art technology that draw visitors into the creation and meaning of the documents upon which U.S. democracy is based.

Interactive touch screens offer the opportunity to delve deeper into the process of creating these cornerstone texts, reaching back to antecedent texts that informed the founders and providing the opportunity to zoom in to enlarge text making it easier to examine the editorial process.

Those interactives as well as the materials displayed in the exhibition are online at the Library’s website at myloc.gov/exhibitions/creatingtheus/.

High praise for the exhibition came from Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough who, at the exhibition’s public opening, said: “I saw yesterday an exhibition, which every American ought to see, ‘Creating the United States.’ If visitors to this, our capital city, whether they’re from our own country or from abroad, were to see only one exhibition, one building, one place during their visit, ‘Creating the United States’ would be the one to see, here at the Library of Congress.”

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.