The D.C. Public Library is calling on sports memorabilia collectors around the region to contribute to an upcoming exhibition.
“We’re inviting District residents and anybody with a connection to D.C. sports to lend us their objects,” the library system’s executive director, Richard Reyes-Gavilan, said. “Those objects and those stories are going to be part of a massive, citywide exhibition between April and October of 2027.”
It was announced Tuesday morning at a presentation at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Reyes-Gavilan said 2027 will be one the “most exciting” years for sports in D.C.
“Capital One Arena will reopen following a three-year modernization and transformation,” he said. “A new stadium for the Washington Commanders will be breaking ground, that’s also very cool. D.C. is going to host this little event called the NFL Draft.”
With all the attention focused on D.C. sports, the library wants to be part of it. “Hail to the Fans” will be a seven-month exhibit of memorabilia and stories featuring all the District’s sports teams. For former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson III, who is on the exhibit’s advisory council, the memorabilia hold memories.
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It was announced Tuesday morning at a presentation at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library. Reyes-Gavilan said 2027 will be one the “most exciting” years for sports in D.C.
“Capital One Arena will reopen following a three-year modernization and transformation,” he said. “A new stadium for the Washington Commanders will be breaking ground, that’s also very cool. D.C. is going to host this little event called the NFL Draft.”
With all the attention focused on D.C. sports, the library wants to be part of it. “Hail to the Fans” will be a seven-month exhibit of memorabilia and stories featuring all the District’s sports teams. For former Georgetown basketball coach John Thompson III, who is on the exhibit’s advisory council, the memorabilia hold memories.
“I know in my garage, in my brother’s garage, in my sister’s garage, there’s so many memorable pieces of memorabilia that have stories with them.”
You’d expect a Division 1 NCAA coach and son of an NBA player to have a lot of sports mementos in the garage, but Reyes-Gavilan said the exhibit is about the stories behind the objects.
“We’re a library preserving the stories that define our city’s shared sports identity.”
Superfans were in attendance, including the D.C. Defenders’ “Lemon Guy” and 15-year old Capitals fan Keelan Moxley, who brought the hockey puck Brett Connolly gave her in 2018.
Among the attendees was an impressive collection of memorabilia to whet the appetite for what’s to come. Tuesday’s event featured Alex Ovechkin’s locker, a John Riggins jersey, a ball signed by the inaugural Washington Mystics team and more.
The exhibit will run from April through October of 2027; most of it will be at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library on G Street NW, with smaller exhibits displayed at neighborhood libraries throughout the city. If you have something you want to share with your fellow fans, fill out the library’s online form.
And yes, you will get your things back when the exhibit wraps up.