By Sarah Sole for This Week Community News

Starting this week, New Albany community members will be able to see and touch some of the documents that played a role in the nation’s history.

Such famous documents as the Gettysburg Address and the Federalist Papers are scheduled to be displayed from April 5 to May 11 at the New Albany branch of the Columbus Metropolitan Library, 200 Market St.

The Remnant Trust exhibit is being funded by the Cindy and Keith Berend Family Fund through the New Albany Community Foundation. The Remnant Trust, an educational foundation established in 1997, maintains a collection of manuscripts, first editions and early publications centering on liberty and human dignity.

Keith Berend, a local doctor and member of the community foundation’s board of trustees, said he heard about Remnant Trust by meeting its founder, Brian Bex, and a major benefactor of the foundation who has since died, Dane Miller. He said he became intrigued the more he learned about it.

The process of examining the documents by reading and feeling them seemed much more interesting than learning about them in textbooks or viewing them from behind glass, Berend said.

“It’s a fascinating way to learn about history,” he said.

All documents in the collection are original works, manuscripts and first- or early-edition items, said New Albany Community Foundation president Craig Mohre.

“We’re very grateful for this opportunity,” he said.

Mohre said students from New Albany-Plain Local Schools were expected to assist in moving the documents to the library April 5.

The exhibit will be moved to the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts for the community foundation’s Jefferson Series lecture by presidential historian and author Jon Meacham on May 11.

“We’re appreciative to the library and the school district and the McCoy for partnering with us on this,” Mohre said.

The exhibit will be available for free public viewing from 1 to 7 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays at the library, said branch manager Joe Yersavich.

The documents will be in the library’s main area, he said.

“I think it’s a great opportunity to show the importance of the written word,” Yersavich said.