By Keith R. Berend for This Week Community News

Have you ever wondered where great works, such as the documents that shaped America’s form of government, are housed?

I’m referring to the books, manuscripts and papers that influenced our founders and helped shape our democracy.

Too often, I suspect they are buried in the archives of universities or private collectors and, sadly, accessible only to a fortunate few.

Believing that great ideas belong to everyone and that we must keep those ideas alive for future generations, the Remnant Trust makes available a world-class collection of manuscripts and first edition works in their original form.

The Remnant Trust was established so ordinary citizens could have the opportunity to hold, examine, read and discuss such works as the Declaration of Independence, the Magna Carta and the Federalist Papers, and such authors as Frederick Douglass, Aristotle, Marx, Smith, Hobbes and many more.

I learned of the Remnant Trust from a colleague. When I learned the New Albany Community Foundation, through its Jefferson Series, would be bringing two of America’s great historians to our community, my wife and I decided to underwrite an exhibit comprised of works assembled by the Remnant Trust.

For the next few weeks, leading up to Jon Meacham’s lecture at the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts on May 11, some of the following works will be on display at the New Albany branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library:

  • John Adams, A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America, 1788
  • Frederick Douglass, Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, 1893
  • The Federalist, 1788
  • The Gettysburg Address, 1863
  • John Locke, Two Treatises of Government, 1689
  • Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
  • Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, 1785
  • Aristotle’s Ethics, 1488
  •  Jonathan Elliot, The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, 1827
  • Rev. La Roy Sunderland, Anti-Slavery Manual, 1837
  • Cicero, De Officiis, 1446
  • Homer, The Odyssey, 1617
  • The U.S. Constitution, 1787

We are proud to be associated with this unique opportunity for our students, teachers and the entire community to access this rare collection. It is our hope that it complements and enriches the coming presentations from these treasured American historians.

We’re grateful to the community foundation for helping our family execute grants that positively impact the community. We’re grateful to the library and school district for collaborating with the foundation and the Remnant Trust to make this rare opportunity available to the students, teachers and community.

The New Albany Community Foundation, library and schools are committed to creating a culture that embraces lifelong learning. I’m sure our founders would be pleased.