Lilly Library displays treasures for 50th anniversary

A celebrity appearance took place at the Lilly Library on Friday.

Out from its dark, humidity-controlled vault, George Washington’s letter accepting the presidency of the United States was on display during the library’s 50th-anniversary celebration. The sensitive ink risked exposure to light for a rare four-hour period. Though the regal cursive was barely discernible, the April 14, 1789 date seemed to jump from the page.

“The library brings things to life,” said retired professor Don Cook, who joined the IU faculty in 1959, the year before the Lilly opened.

Cook was in the building for its opening 50 years ago and has had the rare experience to watch it develop through its lifetime.

“It wasn’t primarily a research collection. That’s really what has happened over the last 50 years,” Cook said. “There’s a lot of history all around you that you wouldn’t think of looking in a library for.”

L.C. Rudolph, retired curator of books, came out to celebrate the anniversary with his wife.

“Well, the Lilly’s putting on quiet the show tonight,” he said as he hung his coat in the crowded coat room. Moving into the reading room, his wife Elizabeth paused to observe the recent renovations.

“My, it is different from when I was here last,” she said, noticing the sense of light replacing a dark, subdued feeling. The heavy, hanging drapes are gone. New furniture, carpet and paint cover the room.

L.C. Rudolph moved throughout the room where he worked 25 years ago, taking in the changes and catching up with old friends.

“With this being his home for so many years, it’s like his own baby, so to speak,” Elizabeth Rudolph said.

Many male attendees wore suits and ties, as if attending a dinner party – a respectful tribute to the items of history housed within these walls. With a few hundred people in the library, there was little room to move as people patiently waited to see the items on display.

In the Main Gallery, a portrait of George Washington painted by Thomas Sully hangs over Albrecht Durer’s “Apocalipsis,” published in 1498.  A man peers closer at the page, his nose almost touching the glass case as he gets a better look at the image of “The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse.”

The library gathered its most prized pieces to display for the “Treasures of the Lilly Library” anniversary exhibit.

Director Breon Mitchell spoke of meeting with past directors in 1968 before he thought he would ever become a director. Mitchell also mentioned an ongoing digitization process and celebratory events planned throughout the 50th year.

“The Lilly Library isn’t just for the University,” he said. “It’s for the community, the nation, the state. It’s an international treasure.”