Scope and Content Note
The papers of Armand Hammer (1898-1990) date from circa 1508 to 1989 and include items gathered for an exhibition honoring Hammer which featured highlights from his archival collection. The items were on display at the Library of Congress in January and February of 1989. The correspondence documents Hammer's activities as citizen diplomat, humanitarian, and art collector from 1922 through 1988 and includes letters from presidents Jimmy Carter, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and Franklin D. Roosevelt; first ladies Lady Bird Johnson and Eleanor Roosevelt; Soviet officials I͡U. V. Andropov, Leonid Il'ich Brezhnev, K. U. Chernenko, Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev, and Vladmir Il'ich Lenin; and other officials and dignitaries such as Menachem Begin, J. Paul Getty, Anwar Sadat, Jonas Salk, and Margaret Thatcher. Another item is a facsimile edition of the Codex Hammer, a notebook of Leonardo da Vinci, circa 1508. A photograph album entitled "Dr. Armand Hammer Presents His Papers to the Library of Congress" shows scenes from the opening of the exhibit in 1989.