The Kislak Family Foundation is donating $10 million to create a new exhibition at the Library of Congress that will share a fuller history of the early Americas, featuring the acclaimed Jay I. Kislak Collection of artifacts, paintings, maps, rare books and documents, the Library announced today. The new Kislak Gallery will be part of a reimagined visitor experience at the national library in the years ahead.
Image Source: LOC
The Kislak Foundation gift will develop the exhibition gallery and establish a permanent endowment fund at the Library to maintain and renew the exhibition in the future. This major gift was announced on the 125th birthday of the Library’s historic Thomas Jefferson Building, a moment to celebrate the Library’s history and its future.
“The Kislak Family Foundation continues to be such a special partner to the Library of Congress in telling the magnificent story of our world,” said Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. “With this generous gift, we are honored to continue Jay Kislak’s legacy through this newly renovated gallery that thoughtfully shares with visitors the rich and complex histories of those who came before us.”
Image Source: LOC
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In 2004, Kislak first donated nearly 4,000 items from his collection to the Library of Congress. Select pieces from the collection were featured in a previous exhibition. This extraordinary gift to the American people included rare masterpieces of Indigenous art, maps, manuscripts and cultural treasures documenting more than a dozen Native cultures and the earliest history of the Americas.
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An external advisory committee of scholars and curators will help shape and challenge the exhibition’s development. Ralph Appelbaum Associates is designing the exhibition.
The Library of Congress is committed to observing legal and ethical standards in acquiring and displaying cultural artifacts. Kislak acquired many of the pieces between 1981 and 2003. He donated his collection to the Library of Congress in 2004 so that the public might better appreciate the history and cultures of the civilizations in the ancient and early Americas.
Gary Price (gprice@gmail.com) is a librarian, writer, consultant, and frequent conference speaker based in the Washington D.C. metro area.
He earned his MLIS degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.
Price has won several awards including the SLA Innovations in Technology Award and Alumnus of the Year from the Wayne St. University Library and Information Science Program. From 2006-2009 he was Director of Online Information Services at Ask.com.
