Current:Home > MyInside some of the most unique collections at the Library of Congress as it celebrates 224th anniversary -Excel Wealth Summit
Inside some of the most unique collections at the Library of Congress as it celebrates 224th anniversary
View
Date:2025-04-14 02:24:26
The nation's capital is full of towering statues and monuments honoring American presidents and legends. But inside the Library of Congress, it's possible to find more obscure and real-life mementos of those same icons.
The Library of Congress was founded in 1800, and will celebrate its 224th anniversary this year. It's the largest library in the world and adds about 10,000 items to its collection each day. That collection plenty of unusual relics, like locks of hair.
For centuries, long before photography was affordable, it was common practice to send or gift locks of one's hair as a sentimental keepsake, according to Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden.
"Think about it. That was a tangible way of having something of the person after they're gone," Hayden said.
The Library of Congress' collection includes a lock of President Ulysses S. Grant's hair, which he sent his wife as a gift in 1864, and a piece of President Abraham Lincoln's hair that was collected posthumously after his assassination in 1865. And it's not just presidents: The library also has a coil of hair from Ludwig van Beethoven that a fan collected after the composer died in 1827.
Hair has multiple cultural significances, Hayden said.
"When you think about people who've had health challenges, especially going through let's say chemotherapy, and just the trauma of losing hair, it it signifies so many things, and it signifies things in different ways in different cultures," Hayden said.
However, the library didn't exactly seek out these unusual relics. They tend to surface unexpectedly when the library receives other historical belongings, according to Michelle Krowl, a specialist at the library. James Madison's hair was found inside a locket that he tucked into a love letter, as one example.
"The hair samples that we have come with larger collections," Krowl said. "It's usually diaries, letters, other things that have intellectual and research value."
Hair is just one unique example of the enormous range of the Library of Congress' collection of artifacts, books and more. The library has a total of more than 175 million items, filling 836 miles of shelves. That's longer than the distance between Washington, D.C. and Daytona Beach, Florida.
The repository also includes the world's largest flute collection. Among the 1,700 flutes is James Madison's crystal flute, which was featured in a viral performance by pop star and classically trained flautist Lizzo in 2022. The library also holds a collection of more than 2,000 baseball cards from the turn of the 20th century.
Some of the most distinctive items in the library are viewable online through an online repository.
"We want to make sure that when we look at a digital future and digitizing collections that we digitize first the things that are unique, not the best-sellers or different books like that, but also things that capture the imagination but are very, very unique," Hayden said.
- In:
- Library of Congress
- Washington D.C.
Scott MacFarlane is a congressional correspondent. He has covered Washington for two decades, earning 20 Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. His reporting resulted directly in the passage of five new laws.
TwitterveryGood! (7638)
Related
- EU countries double down on a halt to Syrian asylum claims but will not yet send people back
- Is price gouging a problem?
- Wealthy Nations Continue to Finance Natural Gas for Developing Countries, Putting Climate Goals at Risk
- In Three Predominantly Black North Birmingham Neighborhoods, Residents Live Inside an Environmental ‘Nightmare’
- Are Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp down? Meta says most issues resolved after outages
- Adele Pauses Concert to Survey Audience on Titanic Sub After Tragedy at Sea
- Homes evacuated after train derailment north of Philadelphia
- In a Major Move Away From Fossil Fuels, General Motors Aims to Stop Selling Gasoline Cars and SUVs by 2035
- Can Bill Belichick turn North Carolina into a winner? At 72, he's chasing one last high
- Inside Clean Energy: Biden’s Oil Industry Comments Were Not a Political Misstep
Ranking
- Backstage at New York's Jingle Ball with Jimmy Fallon, 'Queer Eye' and Meghan Trainor
- Wealthy Nations Continue to Finance Natural Gas for Developing Countries, Putting Climate Goals at Risk
- 39 Products To Make the Outdoors Enjoyable if You’re an Indoor Person
- These Stars' First Jobs Are So Relatable (Well, Almost)
- At site of suspected mass killings, Syrians recall horrors, hope for answers
- Distributor, newspapers drop 'Dilbert' comic strip after creator's racist rant
- Does the 'Bold Glamour' filter push unrealistic beauty standards? TikTokkers think so
- Warming Trends: Americans’ Alarm Grows About Climate Change, a Plant-Based Diet Packs a Double Carbon Whammy, and Making Hay from Plastic India
Recommendation
The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
A Chicago legend, whose Italian beef sandwich helped inspire 'The Bear,' has died
Adidas reports a $540M loss as it struggles with unsold Yeezy products
See Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian Bare Her Baby Bump in Bikini Photo
The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
Birmingham firefighter dies days after being shot while on duty
Kim Kardashian Shares Twinning Photo With Kourtney Kardashian From North West's Birthday Party
Over $30M worth of Funkos are being dumped