FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 29, 2015
Contact: Kristen Schulze Muszynski
Work: 626-8404/ Cell: 441-7638

Maine State Archives sponsoring Magna Carta exhibit at Maine Historical Society

PORTLAND ? In commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the granting of Magna Carta, the Maine State Archives and Maine Department of the Secretary of State are sponsoring a traveling exhibit focused on this historic document?s role in the formation of democratic government.

?Magna Carta: Enduring Legacy, 1215-2015? is produced by the American Bar Association and Library of Congress, and features images of objects from Library of Congress collections that illustrate Magna Carta?s influence throughout the centuries and explain the document?s storied history.

This exhibit will be hosted by the Maine Historical Society, 489 Congress St., Portland, from June 30 through July 12. It will be open to the public during regular museum hours, and is included in regular museum admission.

The Maine State Archives is sponsoring the Magna Carta exhibit as a highlighted event during the annual summer conference of the National Association of Secretaries of State, which is taking place in Portland from July 9-12. On Thursday, July 9 at 3:30 p.m., visiting secretaries will visit the Maine Historical Society to view not only the Magna Carta exhibit, but also the society?s ?Pursuit of Liberty: The Search for Compromise in the Declaration of Independence? exhibit, which features a rare Dunlap broadside of the Declaration of Independence.

An opening reception for ?Magna Carta: Enduring Legacy, 1215-2015? is slated for Wednesday, July 1, from 5 -7 p.m., featuring remarks at 6 p.m. from Danielle Conway. Conway is an authority in public procurement law and entrepreneurship, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, and the first African American dean of University of Maine School of Law. Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap is also scheduled to give brief remarks at the opening reception. Registration is required; email lwebb@mainehistory.org or call 774-1822, Ext. 216.

 

About the American Bar Association
With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

About The Library of Congress
The Library of Congress, the nation?s oldest federal cultural institution and the largest library in the world, holds more than 158 million items in various languages, disciplines and formats. The Library serves the U.S. Congress and the nation both on-site in its reading rooms on Capitol Hill and through its award-winning website at www.loc.gov.

About the Law Library of Congress
The Law Library of Congress was established in 1832 with the mission to make its resources available to members of Congress, the Supreme Court, other branches of the U.S. government and the global legal community and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of law for future generations. With more than 5 million items in various formats, the Law Library of Congress contains the world?s largest collection of law books and other resources from all countries and provides online databases and guides to legal information worldwide through its website at www.loc.gov/law/.