Smithsonian Institution Features Church

The heritage of the Latter-day Saints will be featured in a special display planned for the American Bicentennial celebration by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

A display of artifacts concerning Church history and Church government will be part of an exhibit entitled “Government of the People, by the People, for the People” to be on display on the second floor of the east wing of the Smithsonian museum from December 1974 to December 1976.

The major purpose of the exhibit is to demonstrate how various religious groups in the history of the United States implemented governments of their own without outside assistance, and to display the principles and foundations of those religious governments.

The theme of the Church display will include an original Mormon handcart; a receipt from the Perpetual Emigration Fund; a Deseret Alphabet Primer Number Two, with translation information; a copy of the Book of Commandments from the Library of Congress; a reproduction of the original plat of the City of Zion, which was used to lay out Salt Lake City, Kirtland, Nauvoo, and many other cities; and a series of early Church photographs, including pictures of Salt Lake City and the Mormon pioneer wagon trains.

Several other religious groups will also be featured in the Smithsonian exhibit.