Library of Congress Junior Fellows Display Collection Treasures
The Library of Congress Junior Fellows Summer Interns yesterday presented more than150 rare and unique items from 15 Library divisions. “Display Day” was open to the public for the first time since the program’s inauguration in 1991.
The display provides the opportunity for fellows to discuss the historic significance of the collection items they have researched and processed during their 10-week internships. Examples included:
- An early draft and a stage manager’s copy of playwright Tennessee Williams’s “The Glass Menagerie” from approximately 1944
- Blueprints for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal
- A letter handwritten by Abraham Lincoln on the subject of Shakespeare
- Undergraduate lab drawings and Boy Scout and Eagle Scout membership cards that belonged to Pulitzer Prize-winning entomologist E. O. Wilson
- Preliminary drawings of the Louvre Pyramid and presentation drawings of the East Building of the National Gallery of Art created by architect I. M. Pei
- A postcard from Jackie Kennedy Onassis to I. M. Pei, sent in 1989
- Paper samples cut from books of various ages to demonstrate paper deterioration
- A Theobald Boehm and Rudolph Greve flute in C, created in Munich between 1839 and 1846
- Spanish legal documents, including a will and a land receipt from the 1500s and trial proceedings from the 1850s
- Cassette tapes with audio of Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Gabriela Mistral and Argentine poet Jorge Luis Borges, recorded in the 1950s
- Images of bald eagles from the Library’s digital collections used in a new educational activity booklet for student visitors to the Library
- Letters, artwork, and papers sent by prominent writers, including Ted Berrigan and Charles Bukowski, to the St. Mark’s Poetry Project
- Illustrated children’s books translated into Yiddish, including fairytales by the Brothers Grimm and “The Elephant’s Child” by Rudyard Kipling, from the 1910s and 1920s
To view the complete list of display items, visit this Library link.
Working under the direction of Library curators and specialists in various divisions, 37 Junior Fellows—selected from more than 900 applicants across the country—explored the institution’s unparalleled collections and resources. They were exposed to a broad spectrum of library work: research, copyright, preservation, reference, access, standards, information management and digital initiatives.
Through the Junior Fellows Program, the Library of Congress furthers its mission to provide access to a universal record of knowledge, culture and creativity as exemplified by its collections, while supporting current and future generations of students and scholars.
The Junior Fellows Program is made possible through the generosity of the late Mrs. Jefferson Patterson and the Knowledge Navigators Trust Fund. A lead gift from H. F. (Gerry) Lenfest, former chairman of the Library’s James Madison Council private-sector advisory group, established the Knowledge Navigators Trust Fund with major support provided by members of the council. For more information about the Junior Fellows Program, visit loc.gov/hr/jrfellows/.
The Library of Congress is the world’s largest library, offering access to the creative record of the United States—and extensive materials from around the world—both on-site and online. It is the main research arm of the U.S. Congress and the home of the U.S. Copyright Office. Explore collections, reference services and other programs and plan a visit at loc.gov, access the official site for U.S. federal legislative information at congress.gov, and register creative works of authorship at copyright.gov.
