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Have Exhibit, Will Travel

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Contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets. April 14, 1865. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.
Contents of Abraham Lincoln’s pockets. April 14, 1865. Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

True or false? Visiting Washington, D.C. is the only way to enjoy the collections of the Library of Congress. False. The Library offers a rich treasure trove of its collections. Not only that, it loans items to other institutions and agencies for their exhibitions, as well as offers other institutions and cultural organizations the opportunity to host touring exhibitions from the Library’s diverse exhibition program.

Just in time for baseball season, facsimile items from the Library’s vast baseball collections are on view at Nationals Stadium in D.C. and in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as part of the “Baseball Dreams: They Played the Game” exhibit. Featured in both displays are historic photographs of America’s favorite pastime.

Particularly relevant with the 150th anniversary of the end of the Civil War and Lincoln’s assassination are exhibitions at Fords Theatre and Henry Ford Museum in Michigan that mark the anniversary of the assassination. The Henry Ford Museum showcases facsimile lithographs from the Library’s collections, while Ford’s Theatre’s “Silent Witness: Artifacts of the Lincoln Assassination” has been loaned the contents of Lincoln’s pockets the night he was shot at the venue.

"Magna Carta: Enduring Legacy, 1215-2015."
“Magna Carta: Enduring Legacy, 1215-2015.”

The Library collaborated with the American Bar Association to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215 with a facsimile traveling exhibit that will be making the rounds until Feb. 7, 2016. Copies of Magna Carta-related rare documents and artifacts from the collections have been touring courthouses, law schools, universities and public libraries, including Buffalo’s federal courthouse, Utah State University’s Merrill-Cazier Library, University of Michigan Law School, Georgia Bar Center and Oklahoma City State Supreme Court.

If you’re ever in Los Angeles, California, you’ll want to visit the Library of Congress Ira Gershwin Gallery located in the Walt Disney Concert Hall. The gallery hosts Library exhibits highlighting the institutions performing arts collections. Currently on view is the “American Ballet Theatre: Touring the Globe for 75 Years” exhibit. Following its closing in August this year, “Grand Illusion: The Art of Theatrical Design” moves into the space and will be on view through February 2016.

For more information on the Library’s exhibitions, many of which are available on line, and the Library’s traveling exhibitions program, go here.

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