Your group won’t have to go all the way to Washington, D.C., this year if they’re looking for an authentic way to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Some of the nation’s founding documents will soon be making their way across the country to museums and history centers in eight major cities. In a nod to the Freedom Train mobile museum from America’s 1976 Bicentennial, a Freedom Plane will this time be bringing the documents to history buffs nationwide.
“There is no more noteworthy an occasion than America’s 250th ‘birthday’ to share this history,” said Jim Byron, senior advisor to the archivist of the United States, in prepared remarks announcing the Freedom Plane initiative on Jan. 20. “Hopefully by allowing folks across the country to get up close to and experience this history, we’ll inspire our fellow Americans to champion our nation’s founding ideals into the future.”
Byron noted that many of these founding documents will leaving the National Archives building for the first time ever. All are original documents, except for an original engraving of the Declaration of Independence, which is one of roughly 50 known to exist. The other documents going on tour are: the 1774 Continental Association calling for a trade boycott against British merchants; Oaths of Allegiance signed by George Washington, Aaron Burr, and Alexander Hamilton; the Treaty of Paris which ended the Revolutionary War; a 1787 draft of the U.S. Constitution; and the voting record from the Constitutional Convention.
The Freedom Plane—a 737 on loan from Boeing—will visit eight cities accompanied by handlers from the National Archives, who will ensure the documents’ safety as they are transferred to their temporary homes for display. The first stop on tour is the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, with its exhibit running from March 6-22. The Freedom Plane will also be making stops in Atlanta, Georgia; Los Angeles, California; Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Dearborn, Michigan; and Seattle, Washington.
For the full schedule and more information, visit freedomplane.org.
Main Image: Freedom Plane model; Credit: National Archives Foundation
