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US Library of Congress Spotlights its American 'Treasures'

'The (US) Library of Congress holds more than 178 million items in its collections, perhaps the most comprehensive collection of human knowledge ever assembled in one place,' says Hayden. Photo: AFP
'The (US) Library of Congress holds more than 178 million items in its collections, perhaps the most comprehensive collection of human knowledge ever assembled in one place,' says Hayden. Photo: AFP
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US Library of Congress Spotlights its American 'Treasures'

'The (US) Library of Congress holds more than 178 million items in its collections, perhaps the most comprehensive collection of human knowledge ever assembled in one place,' says Hayden. Photo: AFP
'The (US) Library of Congress holds more than 178 million items in its collections, perhaps the most comprehensive collection of human knowledge ever assembled in one place,' says Hayden. Photo: AFP

The US Library of Congress houses more than just books, with a new exhibit opening this week highlighting some of the institution's most diverse and symbolic treasures from the nation's history.

From the contents of Abraham Lincoln's pockets the night of his assassination to early Spiderman sketches, a hundred treasures from the United States and beyond are on display from Thursday, AFP reported.

The library, located in a vast and elegant building in the heart of Washington, will showcase, for example, the first map of the newly independent United States compiled, printed and published in America by an American, which was printed in 1784 by engraver Abel Buell.

Also on hand are jaw-dropping photos of the first atomic explosion in the New Mexico desert, under the eyes of the "father" of the bomb, Robert Oppenheimer.

"The Library of Congress holds more than 178 million items in its collections, perhaps the most comprehensive collection of human knowledge ever assembled in one place," said its director, Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.

The exhibit, officially titled "Collecting Memories: Treasures from the Library of Congress," features only a tiny fraction of the institution's vast troves of millions of books, audio documents and photographs, as well as objects of all kinds, including numerous musical instruments.

The library, opened in 1800, is home to the largest collection of flutes in the world, says Carol Lynn Ward Bamford, who takes care of instrument collections in the library's music division.

However, only one is a part of the exhibition, a crystal flute that belonged to former US president James Madison, who lived from 1751-1836.

The instrument is particularly symbolic because it was saved from the White House when it was burned by British troops in 1814.

Entrusted to the library by Madison's family, it was exceptionally taken out of storage in 2022 to be played by US hip hop star and classically trained flautist Lizzo.

Also on display are another president's belongings -- Abraham Lincoln's glasses, his handkerchief and his wallet, recovered from him following his assassination at a theater in April 1865.

Stephanie Stillo of the library's rare book division called the objects "definitely some of the most iconic that we're going to have in the gallery."

"There's kind of a mythology around Abraham Lincoln, and this is all very humanizing, I think in many ways. So we have a glasses case, this little circular object up here is a glasses cleaner," she went on, enumerating other belongings the 16th president had on him.

He was also carrying glowing press articles about himself, which he always kept with him, Stillo said. These clippings, which are not part of the exhibit for conservation reasons, could be shown in a few months, she explained.

This hodgepodge of objects on display, above all, embodies the lives of ordinary people through the centuries, she said.

From images filmed during a wedding in 1944 to contemporary testimonies about the Covid-19 pandemic to the story of a Japanese professor who survived the bombing of Hiroshima, the library examines how to preserve individual and collective memories.

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Varieties

Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
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Danish Archaeologists Unearth 50 Viking Skeletons

Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA
Massacred 10th century Vikings found in a mass grave at St John’s College, Oxford. Photograph: Thames Valley Archaeological Services/PA

The excavation of a large Viking-era burial site in Denmark has unearthed 50 unusually well-preserved skeletons that archaeologists expect will help shed light on the lives of the Nordic people best known for their seafaring exploits in the Middle Ages.

The skeletons, discovered near Denmark's third-largest city Odense, were kept intact by high water levels and favorable soil conditions that prevented them from decomposing, according to Michael Borre Lundoe, the excavation leader from Museum Odense, Reuters reported.

"Normally when we excavate Viking graves, we'd be lucky if there were two teeth left in the grave besides the grave goods. But here we have the skeletons fully preserved," said Lundoe.

"The skeletons are so amazing. They are so well preserved. There are five fingers, five toes. And that opens up a whole new set of possibilities for discoveries," he said.

Rare artifacts such as knives, glass pearls and brooches dated between year 850 to 970 were also found at the excavation, which began six months ago.

Lundoe said the grave gifts indicate most of the people were part of a small community of farmers, although a woman of higher status was buried with a silver-ornamented knife and a piece of glass which was rare in the Viking Age.

Archaeologists took soil samples to search for pollen to determine which season the person was buried in and what textiles they wore.

An x-ray of a soil block from the site revealed an oval brooch, an iconic Viking Age jewelry piece associated with women's garments, covered with wood and human remains.

On the back of another brooch with period-specific ornaments, mineralized woven textile fragments provided evidence of the type of dress worn in the Viking Age, the archaeologists said.

Most of the skeletons have been removed from the graves and packed in cardboard boxes at the museum to dry out before the examination and final cleaning.