Northwest News Radio

zach. we're just riffing here, but did you come on wednesday to the opening party? i came for the opening press thing, press thing and the party. patrick, man from the national archives said asked me about the mac on the back of the deck. i had no idea what he was talking about. okay, that's fine, all right. so moving on from there's no, there is not a map, so you would have us believe yeah, just making sure no map on the back. okay. you'll enjoy the movie. it's a good movie. i recommend you check it out. second one, not so great. anyway, getting back to this, it's not the actual declaration of independence that's here, it's something else. want you tell us about it? yeah, well, this is a really interesting thing. the original declaration of which a few hand-made copies. exists was so faded in the national archives. in the early 18 th century that john quincy adams decided, we really need to have a more permanent copy that will withstand the test of time. so they engaged. engraver named william stone, and he made. 50 copies of the declaration. you're very precise and grieving. that replicates to the? minute detail. the actual declaration, all those bold signatures, john hancock and all the rest. and it has become really the standard image of the declaration, because the real declaration, the one that was actually signed on that hot july day in philadelphia in 1776, the signatures were smudged, the copy was worn. the parchment is fragile and deteriorating. so what you'll see in this exhibit? is what's known as the stone engraving from the 1820s. but it's the closest we have to what the original declaration looked like when it was brand new. so it really is a powerful document. only a few of those exist. and the national archives has a copy. that what's on display at mohi gotcha now? you have a few other things that's up there as well. letters from george washington. yeah, i mean. it's really kind of amazing art because it shows the progression of democracy we have. the articles of association, which was the first time the continental congress got together and decided that. you know, we have a beef with england we aren't, we're still english citizens, we're not rebelling against the king. but we have some pretty serious disagreements. all the way up to the declaration, which was really the statement of our independence, that we were going to become a free and sovereign nation. and then, how do we govern ourselves? so the constitution, one of the early draft versions of the constitution. where you can see people actually making edits right on the document. and then, of course, the bill of rights, which were the first amendments to the constitution, and you see those edited as well. including some rights that are scratched out and others are preserved. the treaty of paris that really established america as an independent nation in a global sense. benjamin franklin signature is on that, along with others. and then the oaths of allegiance of george washington, alexander hamilton and aaron burr. and this is where. these leaders of the revolution signed an oath saying that they were pledging their allegiance to the united states, this brand new nation, and not subjects of the king of england. that was a treasonous offense. but they were putting their lot in their spirit and their fight and their entire lives with the united states and every soldier in the revolution, the thousands and thousands of soldiers each signed one of those oaths and we have the one from george washington on display. we all hang together or all hang separately. separately and they hung together through the worst conditions, those cold winters at valley forge, they weren't sufficiently funded, they didn't have the right equipment. and it was a long, long war it took many years against the world's biggest and best army. but the spirit of independence that still animates the united states today it was that spirit that kept them going and that eventually led to that victory. now i was looking when i came in this morning. there is a line around the building, not outside the building, inside the building to get into this exhibit. is this the most popular exhibit you guys have ever had? i think it is. i really do, and for many people it's once in a lifetime for all of us it's really once in a generation. because these documents are on their last viewing. during this 250th year of american independence from seattle, they will go back to the national archive, and the archivists have told us that these very documents will go into the vault for 10 years in order to conserve them and make sure they're not exposed to the elements beyond their display here in seattle. so it's once in a generation. it's a really rare opportunity, and so people are coming. the good news is, though, that the wait time those lines are long, but the wait time usually is not much more than 15 min. it looked like it was moving pretty speedily, pretty quickly. yeah, now, when you guys do this, i assume you have to compete with other museums for exhibits like this, and there are other museums in washington. how did you guys get this one? well, you know, there are eight cities across the country. none of them are in the original 13 colonies. so there are all museums that are in the midwest or the west, or a museum in florida, because that wasn't when the original 13? and i think when they thought of the north-west, they thought hey, what's the best city in the north-west? it's seattle and what's the history museum in seattle, and that's mohi. so we're very honored and very lucky. and the displays up until august 16. until august 16, and that's when the august is that when the freedom plane comes back. can pick them up and take? indeed it does, and. aria military escort brought those documents off the plane. they were treated. as the national treasures that they are, they were loaded into a specially equipped van with a washington state patrol escort to the museum, were displaying them in the highest level of environmental and security standards and will reverse that process. they will go back with a military escort they'll be loaded back onto the freedom plane which, by the way, is a built in seattle. boeing 737. so we've got to give kudos to that and they'll go back to the national archives and then go back to the vault. amazing, my friends. if you want to see the founding documents of our nation, come on down to the museum of history and industry. they are on display from now until august 16, when they go back into a vault where you may not see them again in your lifetime. this is truly a once in a lifetime experience. leonard garfield thank you so much for your time today really do appreciate it. thank you. it's been a lot of fun, always a pleasure. northwest connect will continue.