Exhibits

NAL's lobby exhibits feature current trends in gardening. Subject covered include gardening for native wildlife and growing heirloom fruits and vegetables.

Special Collections opened an exhibit on Mark Catesby in 2000 on the first floor of the library. English born, Catesby (1682-1749) was the first naturalist to document North American plants and animals. His life's work, The Natural History of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama Islands, published 1731-1748, contains 220 etched plates as well as detailed descriptions of flora and fauna. It is considered one of the great achievements of 18 th century science and art. This exhibit features 14 images by Catesby.

In 1993, correspondence of Thomas Jefferson, third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence, was discovered in the collection of USDA historian Everett Edwards. The eleven letters were to, from, and about Thomas Jefferson (1786-1819). This exhibit consists of two letters. One concerns the exchange of millet seed and Persian melon seed; the other concerns Jefferson's invention of the mould board plough.

Wall exhibits in the multi-purpose room and the staff conference room complement the Thomas Jefferson Correspondence Collection and emphasize Jefferson's strong ties to the land. A collage of photographs of Monticello, which Jefferson designed, and a model of the mould board plough which Jefferson invented--together with letters to and from Jefferson on agricultural matters--illustrate his roles as author, architect, and agriculturalist. Images from rare books depict some of the many kinds of fruits and ornamental plants he grew.

Smokey Bear, the U.S. Forest Service’s popular icon of wildfire prevention, was created during World War II to publicize the need to protect a critical natural resource—wood. To combat the incidence of human-caused forest fires, the U.S. Forest Service established the Cooperative Forest Fire Prevention (CFFP) program in 1942. The CFFP adopted Smokey as its official symbol two years later. Smokey Bear’s famous slogan, “Only you can prevent forest fires,” was added in 1947 by the Wartime Advertising Council, known today as the Ad Council.

In 1832 naturalist Prince Maximilian, ruler of Neuwied, Prussia conducted an early expedition to the American West...

Everyone seems to love popcorn. Although Americans are now such avid consumers of popcorn, and its agricultural history is long, its commercial history is comparatively short.

On May 15, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed into law an act of Congress establishing "at the seat of Government of the United States a Department of Agriculture."

When Beans Were Bullets was a collaborative poster exhibit between curator and public historian Cory Bernat and the National Agricultural Library in 2010. Bernat examined the evolution of poster styles, propaganda messages and advertising history during the two time periods through displaying 80 poster reproductions on fence panels. She highlighted the dramatic difference in style and content that emerged between the two wars, as emotional appeal displayed a fact-based industry.

In March 2006, a collaborative exhibit between the National Agricultural Library and the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh opened at NAL.

The exhibit explores the work of Joseph Prestele and his three sons, all of whom were botanical illustrators and lithographers. The exhibition was on display at the Hunt Institute from September through December 2005 and was on display at the NAL through 15 June 2006 in the main reading room on the first floor.

For more details, see the Hunt Institute Web site.