The Gettysburg Address: Issues Related to Display and Preservation
(Letter Report, 01/26/94, GAO/RCED-94-12).

Of the five known original manuscripts of the Gettysburg Address, two
are in the collection of the Library of Congress.  Since 1979, the
Library's two drafts have been displayed during the spring and the
summer at the Gettysburg National Military Park, which is run by the
Park Service.  The Library plans to substitute a high-quality facsimile
for display at the park after 1994, a move the Park Service opposes.
This report discusses (1) the risks inherent in exhibiting a draft at
the park or elsewhere, (2) whether the Park Service has met the
Library's exhibition and preservation requirements and can meet future
requirements, and (3) the estimated cost of exhibiting the document at
the park in the current or an upgraded facility versus the cost of
building a comparable facility at the Library.  GAO notes that
exhibiting the drafts at the park has allowed millions of Americans to
see the original documents in a historic setting and that the Park
Service seems capable of meeting evolving exhibition and preservation
requirements.  The conference report accompanying the fiscal year 1994
legislative branch appropriations act supports exhibiting an original
draft in Gettysburg and encourages the Library and the Park Service to
reopen discussions on extending the loan of the address.  Ultimately, it
is Congress' call as to where the drafts should be displayed.

--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------

 REPORTNUM:  RCED-94-12
     TITLE:  The Gettysburg Address: Issues Related to Display and 
             Preservation
      DATE:  01/26/94
   SUBJECT:  Historic preservation
             Archives
             Records (documents)
             Records management
             Cost analysis
             Government facility construction
             Public records
             Libraries
             National parks

             
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