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Nelson Mandela Retrospective On Display At NY Public Library

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) - The New York Public Library is paying tribute to Nelson Mandela with a two-part, multi-media retrospective.

"The Struggle For Justice: Nelson Mandela, A Tribute," will be on display through Dec. 21 at two locations.

One is showing at the library's Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem. The other is at the library's main building on Fifth Avenue.

The exhibitions feature items from the Schomburg's archives that chronicle Mandela's achievements and contributions. They include his anti-apartheid struggle, his 27-year imprisonment and his rise as South Africa's first black president.

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Among the artifacts are ballots from his 1994 presidential election.

"He was so much more than what we have come to expect from each other, and from our leaders. He never wavered in his pursuit of democracy even as he understood it would never reach perfection. He would not be put off by carping from those who said he pushed too hard or not hard enough, or even by threat of death," NYPL President Tony Marx said in a letter posted on the library's website. "He seemed to achieve the miraculous in avoiding a civil war in South Africa and bringing an end to apartheid, setting an example for the globe. "

Mandela died in Johannesburg on Dec. 5. He was 95.

President Barack Obama, three past U.S. presidents and scores of other world leaders were in Johannesburg Tuesday for a memorial service.

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