On Dec. 13, 2007, the Library debuted a new, continuing exhibition, “Exploring the Americas,” which features items from the Jay I. Kislak Collection, and Martin Waldseemüller’s 1507 World Map—the first document of any kind to use the word “America.” (See related story.)
Cathryn Keller, in a special to The Washington Post, said that “despite its low-key opening and perhaps because of its modest scale, the show is not only accessible but surprisingly moving and powerful.”
Other outlets running news of the exhibition were the Miami Herald, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Waco Tribune-Herald, Dayton Daily News, Rocky Mount (N.C.) Telegram, Daily Advance (N.C.), Springfield (Ohio) News-Sun, Morning Call (Pa.), AXcess News, Washington DC Convention and Tourism Corporation, dcist blog and Web sites About.com, palmbeachpost.com, hollandsentinel.com, artknowledgenews.com and floridatrend.com.
In many of the articles, John Hébert, chief of the Library’s Geography and Map Division, noted the surprising accuracy of the map. “It’s the first map to depict a separate and full western hemisphere with the two oceans that will become the Atlantic and the Pacific,” he told Agence France Presse.
David Alexander of Reuters focused on Waldseemüller’s “misgivings about what he had done,” (the mapmaker named the continent after Amerigo Vespucci). He named the landmass “Terra Incognita” on a chart produced six years later. According to Hébert, it is possible that the power of politics between Spain and Portugal played a role in the reversal.
New York Times reporter Wyatt Mason said that Waldseemüller was misled into believing that Vespucci had actually discovered the area before Columbus but later must have “wised to his own credulity.”
Roll Call reporter Emily Yehle said the exhibition overall “looks like any other at first glance. The difference is the unobtrusive kiosks, which let visitors look at the those same objects much more closely.” She went on to describe the Library’s larger, interactive visitors experience—scheduled to open in April 2008—that will include the “Exploring the Early Americas” exhibition.
Noting the Microsoft announcement were Government Computer News, Associated Press, The Salt Lake Tribune, Seattle Times, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, St. Petersburg Times, San Jose Mercury News, Washington Examiner, Web sites infoworld.com, itworld.com, CNNMoney.com, enews20.com, Digital Media Wire, pcworld.com, washingtonpost.com, fcw.com, computerworld.com and g4tv.com.
“The films selected for inclusion in the list aren’t necessarily the ‘best’ or most popular films made, but are selected because of their artistic character, their historical significance or their reflection of both the good and bad sides of the American culture,” said Brooks Boliek of the Hollywood Reporter.
Many outlets picked up on one of the more unusual selections—a home movie titled “Our Day,” recorded in 1938 by Wallace Kelly. The film offers “exceptional images of small-town Southern life, ones that counter the stereotype of impoverished people eking out a living during the Depression.”
Stories about the Librarian’s film selection also ran in the Associated Press, CNN, Daily Variety, New York Observer, New York Times, Chicago Sun Times, Newsday, Philadelphia Enquirer, VNU Entertainment News Wire, WENN Entertainment News Wire, Broadcast News, Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette, Grand Rapids Press, The Star-Ledger (New Jersey), Buffalo News, The Providence Journal, Ventura County Sunday Star, Honolulu Advertiser, The Courier-Journal (Kentucky), Hindustan Times, Voice of America and Web sites washingtonpost.com, nymag.com, contactmusic.com, zap2it.com, about.com and ew.com (Entertainment Weekly).
Canadian outlets that picked up the film story included The Standard, The Calgary Herald, CBC News, National Post, The Gazette, Times Colonist, Vancouver Province, Toronto Star and The Chronicle Herald.
