NEW YORK, NY (April 11, 2008)—The new Museum and Visitor Center at Gettysburg National Military Park will feature a unique contribution from the Gilder Lehrman Institute when the facility opens on April 14—the Gilder Lehrman Special Exhibits Gallery. The Gilder Lehrman Institute supported the creation of the gallery and has provided rare primary sources from its collection of over 60,000 documents for the inaugural exhibition.

The current exhibition, I Take Up My Pen, is an installation featuring letters between soldiers and their loved ones during the Civil War. These rare and important documents from the Gilder Lehrman Collection will help museum visitors understand the perspectives of the men and women who lived through the conflict. The letters provide personal insights into both the war and the era in which it was fought. Many of the documents have never been exhibited before. To see an online version of this exhibition on the Gilder Lehrman website, click here.

A joint project of the Gettysburg Foundation and the National Park Service, the new $103 million Museum and Visitor Center aims to bring the war to life for visitors. “We want this new Gettysburg experience to inspire visitors about the past, to encourage them to want to learn more about the events that have shaped our country and, in the process, to become better citizens,” said Robert C. Wilburn, president and CEO of the Gettysburg Foundation.

The museum is located adjacent to the Gettysburg battlefield. In addition to the Gilder Lehrman Special Exhibits Gallery, the facility will feature eleven permanent galleries, a feature film entitled A New Birth of Freedom, multimedia and interactive stations, a computer resource room, and the Ford Motor Company Fund Education Center.

The Gilder Lehrman Collection, on deposit at the New-York Historical Society, contains more than 60,000 documents detailing the political and social history of the United States. The collection's holdings include manuscript letters, diaries, maps, photographs, printed books and pamphlets ranging from 1493 through modern times. The Collection is particularly rich with materials in the Revolutionary, Antebellum, Civil War and Reconstruction periods. Highlights of the Collection include signed copies of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Thirteenth Amendment, a rare printed copy of the first draft of the Constitution, and thousands of unpublished Civil War soldiers' letters.

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The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
19 West 44th Street, Suite 500
New York, NY 10036
www.gilderlehrman.org