WASHINGTON – Friday, May 9, 2025 – The United States Capitol Historical Society expresses its sincere appreciation for Dr. Carla Hayden and her nine years of service as the 14th Librarian of Congress. As the head of our national library, she brought a renewed vigor to the work of providing research, reference, and informational support to the Congress while also making one of the world’s largest libraries more accessible to the American People.
The Society presented its highest honor, the Freedom Award, to Dr. Hayden in 2020, announcing at the time that “Democracy itself stands on the shoulders of reliable, factual, universally available sources of information. Under Dr. Hayden’s forward-thinking leadership, the Library of Congress works tirelessly every day to advance public understanding of and appreciation for freedom through making the Library’s vast and diverse collections accessible to its users throughout the country.” The award ceremony, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, featured laudatory remarks from Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Senators Roy Blunt, Ben Cardin, and Barbara Mikulski, patriotic philanthropist David M. Rubenstein, Secretary of the Smithsonian Lonnie Bunch III, Archivist of the U.S. David Ferriero, U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, Pulitzer-prize winning historian Jon Meacham, and distinguished Yale Historian Dr. Joanne B. Freeman.
“Our nation is better for her faithful service,” Society President/CEO Jane L. Campbell remarked upon learning of Dr. Hayden’s departure from the Library. “The U.S. Capitol Historical Society was chartered by Congress ‘to foster and increase an informed patriotism,’ and we’ve had no better partner than the Library of Congress under Dr. Hayden’s visionary leadership. She will be missed dearly.”
