Now through Feb. 5, an exhibit honoring critical figures and events surrounding the evolving concept of freedom will be on display at the Delaware Main Library, 84 E. Winter St. “Freedom: A History of US” is a traveling exhibition, on loan to the Delaware County District Library from the Gilder Lehrman Institute.
The exhibition marks the first public display of many personal letters and documents. Among the highlights are: a rare 1776 printing of the Declaration of Independence, a secretly printed draft and official copy of the US Constitution, Lincoln’s handwritten notes of speeches, and letters by leading figures such as Frederick Douglass, Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King.
On Martin Luther King Day, this Monday, a special open house will take place at the Main Library from 2 to 5 p.m. Light refreshments will be served during the open house. The library will be open the entire day, with various programs dedicated to Dr. King’s work in the American civil rights movement.
We hope you will join us to see this one-of-a-kind exhibit and to celebrate the journey of freedom in the United States. While you’re here, enjoy the perusing the vast books we have in our collection that speak to the freedoms our nation enjoys and that we have fought for.
• The King Years: Historic Moments in the Civil Rights Movement by Taylor Branch. A chronicle of key events in the civil rights movement traces how it evolved from a bus strike to a political and social revolution.
• Douglass and Lincoln: How a Revolutionary Black Leader and a Reluctant Liberator Struggled to End Slavery and Save the Union by Paul Kendrick. Describes how Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass set the groundwork in three historic meetings to abolish slavery in the United States, despite their differing perspectives on the war and the institution of slavery.
• American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence by Pauline Maier. Historian Maier examines the Declaration as both the defining statement of our national identity and the moral standard by which we live as a nation and tells how it came to be.
• Failure is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words by Lynn Sherr. Juxtaposed with contemporary reports and biographical essays, the words of this legendary suffragist reveal Susan B. Anthony as a loyal, caring friend, and an eloquent, humorous crusader.
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed by Bradley Greenburg. The end of slavery is no guarantee of freedom. When 12 year old Clayton McGhee journeys north with his parents and grandparents in search of a new life, they must build a homestead with their own labor and defend their right to own land from powerful vested interests and deep rooted prejudice.
• Grant Park by Leonard Pitts Jr. Weaves together the stories of two veteran journalists from Martin Luther King’s final days in Memphis to the 2008 presidential election.
