WASHINGTON — Just a little more than a year after Black Lives Matter signs were taken down from a fence in Lafayette Park, The Library of Congress has digitized some of the pieces of artwork, signs and photographs.
Volunteers removed the more than 800 signs in 2021. Some of those pieces were sent to the Library of Congress, while others now sit at Howard University. A partnership between the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore and the DC Public Library is working to digitize the pieces of history.
According to the Library of Congress blog, 33 of the pieces are now on the library's website.
This isn't the first time the Library of Congress has collected protest art. The largest collection is the Yanker Collection of Political and Propaganda Posters, according to the Library of Congress blog.
Nadine Seiler saved more than 700 mementos attached to each section of steel. Seiler is one of many “fence guardians,” friends who camped alongside what they eventually named “The Black Lives Matter Memorial Fence.”
Seiler and fellow fence guardian Karen Irwin work to find homes for each item, asking interested businesses, non-profits and organizations to contact them via their BLM Memorial Fence Facebook page.
The Library of Congress named Seiler as the fence's de factor curator along with partner Irwin.