A new traveling exhibition will display rare original records of the nation’s founding as part of nationwide events marking the 250th anniversary of American independence.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
The National Archives announced a nationwide traveling exhibition that will bring original founding-era documents to cities across the United States, allowing the public to view some of the nation’s most significant historical records outside Washington for the first time.
The exhibition, known as the Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation, was unveiled Jan. 20 and is designed to commemorate America’s 250th anniversary by showcasing original documents at special exhibits in eight U.S. cities.
James Byron, senior adviser to the archivist of the United States, said the materials selected for the tour offer direct insight into the nation’s origins and early governance.
“It is my pleasure … to make accessible to the American people across our nation for the first time, historic and consequential documents fundamental to America’s founding and the beginning of American government,” Byron said during the announcement event. He described the records as “instructional, revealing, exciting,” noting that many have never previously left the nation’s capital.
Among the documents included are signed oaths of allegiance from George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Aaron Burr dating back to their service in the Continental Army. According to the Epoch Times, The collection also features the Articles of Association of 1774, drafted by the Continental Congress in response to Britain’s so-called Intolerable Acts, alongside other rare 18th-century records.
Visitors will be able to view the Treaty of Paris, signed in 1783 by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, which formally ended the Revolutionary War. Also included is one of only 50 surviving copper plate engravings of the U.S. Constitution commissioned by President John Quincy Adams, as well as David Brearley’s confidential printed draft of the Constitution bearing handwritten notes by the founders.
“These documents are either precursors to the Declaration and reflect mounting frustrations with British rule, or they document the Declaration’s immediate result, how subjects of King George III became citizens of the United States and formed a new nation, and then a new government,” Byron said.
The project draws inspiration from the 1976 Freedom Train, which carried founding documents around the country during the bicentennial celebration. This time, the exhibition will travel aboard a specially designed Boeing 737, known as the Freedom Plane, which is scheduled to begin its journey later this year.
The tour will launch at the National World War I Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, from March 22 through March 27. Additional stops include Atlanta; Los Angeles; Houston; Denver; Miami; and Dearborn, Michigan. The exhibition will conclude at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle, where it will run from July 30 through Aug. 16.
“We tried to select areas in which folks can drive a few hours at most to see the exhibition,” Byron said. “Hopefully, by allowing folks across the country to get up close to and experience this history, it will inspire our fellow Americans to champion our nation’s founding ideals into the future.”
The tour is supported through partnerships with the National Archives Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports the work of the National Archives, as well as Boeing, Comcast Corporation, Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble.
Rodney Slater, chairman of the National Archives Foundation and a former U.S. secretary of transportation, said the tour is intended to encourage civic reflection during the milestone anniversary year.
“As we move into this banner year, the 250th anniversary of our nation’s founding, it is more critical than ever to give Americans a chance to get up close and personal with their nation’s history,” Slater said. “The tour invites reflection and dialogue and a renewed civic spirit, reminding us that the ideals enshrined in these records are not relics of the past, but living promises that depend on each generation preserving them, protecting them, and projecting them forward.”
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