While one side of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport campus was packed with long lines on Monday, another part of the airport was quieter and awaiting the arrival of some of the nation’s historic founding documents.
The National Archives’ Freedom Plane landed just after noon at Signature Aviation, carrying historical records as part of an eight-city tour commemorating America’s 250th anniversary. On board: an 1823 engraving of the Declaration of Independence, a U.S. Senate markup of the Bill of Rights and more.
The documents will be on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center from March 27 to April 12. Admission is free, but visitors must pre-register online. The center has already pre-registered 12,000 visitors, representatives said. Weekdays are your best opportunity to see the exhibit.
“They’ve rarely, if ever, been outside of Washington,” said Sheffield Hale, President and CEO of Atlanta History Center.
Atlanta is the second stop on the “National Archives Freedom Plane Tour: Documents That Forged the Nation” tour. Kansas City, Missouri and Atlanta are the first two stops, respectively, with future stops in Los Angeles, Houston, Texas; Denver, Colorado; Miami, Florida; Dearborn, Michigan; and Seattle, Washington.
Among the documents traveling aboard the aircraft are the 1823 engraving of the Declaration of Independence, the 1774 Articles of Association; the 1783 Treaty of Paris; and Oaths of Allegiance signed by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr.
The collection also includes a rare draft printing of the Constitution; the U.S. Senate’s markup of what became the Bill of Rights, and the tally of votes approving the Constitution at the Constitutional Convention.
“[That] page documents the vote on the final text of the Constitution,” a statement reads on Freedomplane.org. “Eleven of the 13 states voted because Rhode Island did not send delegates to the convention, and two of New York’s three delegates had already departed, thus leaving the delegation without a quorum.”
Members of the National Guard carried the documents from the plane in what appeared to be wood and aluminum containers.
Patrick Madden, CEO of the National Archives Foundation, traveled with the documents to Atlanta from Kansas City. He said, they’ve stood the test of time and represent the hope of “a more perfect union” and offer “a renewed civic spirit.”
Hale connected the documents to Atlanta’s own legacy and the home of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. just 10 miles away.
“From Atlanta, [King] carried [an] unfinished promise to the Lincoln Memorial and declared that the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were a promissory note on which every American [is] entitled to collect,” Hale said.
King called on the U.S. to “Be true to what you said on paper,” he added, and the touring documents represent the city’s “aspirations,” “success,” “failures,” and “resilience.”
Atlanta City Council President Marci Collier Overstreet, speaking on behalf of Mayor Andre Dickens, said the city is honored to be selected as one of only eight stops on the tour, and described the exhibit as a “once in a generation opportunity.”
“This tour invites all of us to reflect on the courage, the vision, and the sacrifice that’s forged our nation and to recommit ourselves to the ideals of liberty, democracy and the unity that continue to define it,” Overstreet said. “Atlanta has always been a city where history meets progress…”
Anne-Laure Desjonquères, consul general of France in Atlanta, highlighted the international significance of the exhibit, with the inclusion of the Treaty of Paris, which recognized American independence in 1783.
“As the United States’ oldest ally, France is proud to join the United States this year in celebrating the 250th anniversary of American independence,” she said, adding that the two countries supported each other in their “darkest hours,” including during World War I for the U.S. and World War II for France.
