It was designed to display the bill of rights, and it opened in 1936. Only the bill of rights occupied the case. We had to wait until 1952 to bring all three founding documents together. The story of how the declaration and constitution came to the archives is the one we never tire of hearing. Now i would like to introduce jessie krantz, historian of the National Archives. She became the first historian in 2013. She was previously with [indiscernible] with the center for legislative archives and has been with the agency since 1999. Please welcome jessie krantz. [applause] jessie thank you, david. I am very happy that steve could be with us today during American Archives month to talk about his new book american treasures. It shows not only the important record created by other federal agencies but also the record that we as a National Archive has created ourselves. In writing his book, he discusses several different sets of records, but the nearest and dearest to my heart is that record of the National Archives. These help tell our story has an institution, how we came to be, how we got here. The document traits are growth and development, ranging correspondence from the first armistice of the United States, rdw conger, to the digital activities we just transferred into the collection. Our records also provided the background steve needed to talk about the declaration of independence and the constitution came here from the library of congress. It was a pleasure to work with steve, it is a pleasure and honor to work with him now. He is a historian, a professor, a public speaker, and a prolific author. The drug america to civil war, assaultaning, the to civil war,rica and great ties are just two of his publications. He has a degree in history and teaches in boston. He is an awardwinning reporter and has contributed to American History magazine and the boston globe. You can read more about his new book in the prologue of the National Archives. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Stephen Puleo. [applause] Stephen Puleo thank you, jessie. Thank you, david. Welcome to you all today. I need to say this. David and jessie have been terrific supporters and encouragers on this book. If the rest of the archives staff is as wonderful as them, i can tell you the declaration and constitution and bill of rights are in very, very good hands. I want to thank you folks for being here today. Visitors here, people from outside of washington . How many do we have . Good representation of that. I am from boston. For me to speak in this esteemed theater, this building, is like somebody taking batting practice or playing at fenway park. It is a real shrine. For me, this is a fabulous place to be. Im thrilled to be here. For you folks who could be doing many, many other things in this great city, hundreds of other things, i appreciate you being here. This book for me has been a real labor of love. It is on one level a story of how the declaration of independence, the constitution, the gettysburg address were moved out of washington by the library of congress, where they were at a time in the aftermath of pearl harbor, and they were moved for safety reasons, fear of sabotage and bombs, etc. , destroying these priceless documents. Those three documents, along with a few others moved to fort knox, kentucky for safekeeping. They began what would become the largest relocation of american documents in history for safekeeping. Thousands of others would get moved to other locations during the Second World War for safekeeping. Just one thread, one narrative thread that american treasures worked on, but i realized as i was doing the research, in order to really understand the why, why are these documents so precious, priceless, why do we go out of our way to save them . Why did president roosevelt feel such a strong connection to these documents, he felt he was a steward to the documents . I feel the same way. Why did the secret service, led by harry neale, the lead agent in charge of helping to relocate these documents, why did they feel so strongly about it . I had to go back and talk about the creation of these documents, the ideas contained in them, and the many steps that were taken throughout history to protect these documents and preserve them. In this book, i take you back to 1776 to the creation of the declaration of independence, that late spring, early summer time, including probably the foremost remarkable days in all of American History, july 1 through fourth. Independence is debated, voted on on july 2, not july 4 but july 2. John adams said july 2 would be remembered as an epic day. Brilliant bonfires, illuminations, bands and celebrations. He was two days off. That was july 2. July 3, the declaration is debated. July 4, it is adopted. We will bring you back to the Second World War. I take you back to 1787 in philadelphia. That real steamy, hot summer, when the constitution is debated and ratified. Debated and ratified a little later. The principles of the declaration of independence are codified into law, laws still used today. A document that is so meaningful today. Ill take you back to 1814 when the british literally invaded and burned washington. It burned the president s house, the capitol building, other buildings. A clerk by the name of stephen clements, state department pleasanton, state department clerk, had the presence of mind to take the the original declaration and constitution and stuff them in linen sacks, throw them in the back of the wagon, have them taken out to virginia for safekeeping. He does it in defiance of the secretary of war. He says some of the british are not coming to washington. They have no interest in washington. They are only going to baltimore. He says, no, i dont think so. Realizing the impact on the nations psyche, very young nation at the time, he moves those documents out. At almost the same time, Dolly Madison, at the white house until the last second, possibly james is in the field with his troops, dolly is at the white house until the last second, and she saves many, many critical documents, including her husbands notes of the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which no american even knew existed at the time. For me, doing the research, i really felt that connection as i was going from madisons papers and notes from the convention, saying i would not be able to do this if it were not for dollys heroics. I take you back to 1823, when a washington, d. C. Engraver by the name of William Stone creates the first exact replica of the declaration of independence, an exact facsimile. Lots of patriotic fervor around this time after the war of 1812. Secretary of state John Quincy Adams says, i want you to make something that is precisely a replica of the engrossed declaration. What do we mean by engrossed . It is a document you will see in the rotunda if you have not already, the calligraphy document with flourishes and curlicues and slashes and underlines. And the signatures underneath of the delegates. Lots of debate going in to 1823 about who had created the replica. There were other kinds of copies made. None exactly like the original engrossed document. William stone does that. Takes him three years, unveils it on the fourth of july. It is that replica that essentially becomes a starting point for the millions and millions of copies of the declaration of independence that you might have in government holdings, that you might have in schools, that you can pick up in the archives store, if you like, or you might have hanging in your home like my parents. We sold my parents home a few years ago. One of the last things i took off the wall down in our little basement was a replica of the copy of the declaration of independence my folks had purchased during the american bicentennial in 1976. That gets unveiled in 19 [indiscernible] i take you back to july 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing the adoption of the declaration of independence. Americas golden jubilee, and again, this great rebirth of patriotism to celebrate the 50th anniversary. July 4, 1826 gets elevated to a whole new level. Two of our greatest people, Thomas Jefferson and john adams, die on the exact same day. It raises the gravitas to an almost religious kind of holiday, the level we celebrate with july 4 today, almost a direct result of adams and jeffersons death on july 4, 1826. That wasnt the only july 4. July 4, 1831, five years later, james monroe dies. It further kind of elevates fourth of july. You learn a little bit about that. We take you back to 1863 when president Abraham Lincoln is dedicating a cemetery at a small crossroads town in central pennsylvania and delivers his masterful 2. 5 minute speech. My presentation today will be 20 times longer than the gettysburg address. I am sorry to say, nowhere near as memorable. Hope you enjoy it, but nowhere near as memorable. He forever broadened the meaning of all men are created equal in that speech. I will come back to that. 1876, the centennial celebration in philadelphia with the original engrossed declaration of independence, trotted out for display, reclamation. It is a real concern about the physical deterioration of that document, maybe for the first time. There had been some mutterings about it throughout the years, but on the 100th anniversary, some real concern about the faded signatures. We will talk a little about that. Into the 20th century, there is the move of the documents from the state department to the library of congress, and in world war ii years we will talk about. And then the date david alluded to in 1952 when the original declaration and the original constitution get transferred from the library of congress to the National Archives, one of the most i would say the most important date of this building to be sure. So we go back and forth like that. When you think about it folks, the history of these documents really is the history of our country. The documents themselves, yes it is the ideas contained in them. I had a very perceptive editor say, america has no crown jewels, but if she did, it would be these documents. I dont think there is any question about it. Ours was the first Constitutional Republic that can trace its very founding back to a single document. That is the declaration of independence. I would argue this. I would argue that the principles that our country and our government rest on, the aspirations of our country, because we dont always get it right, but i think we aspire to, should really be traced back to really a single paragraph. We hold these truths to be selfevident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are what are they . Yeah. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, which we all know. It may be a lesserknown part of that paragraph, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving wait for it deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That is jeffersons iconic second paragraph of the declaration of independence. As i said, our concept of freedom, of liberty, of equality rests on that second paragraph. Think about when he does this in 1776. This is an era of warlords, dictators, and monarchs. That is what we are talking to. Monarchs ruled by fiat, and everyone did as they were told. This notion of equality, of governments deriving their power from the people, it completely was forward, a daring, revolutionary concept in 1776. 11 years later in 1787, Gouverneur Morris writes his preamble to the constitution. That is an unusual it is Gouverneur Morris. Abigail adams wrote it that way, that is the best we have to pronounce his name. He writes, we the people of the United States, again, he is representing the codification of all of those principles in the declaration. When he says we can secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity, he is talking about the current generation and for future generations. And later on during the discussion of the presidency, during the Constitutional Convention, 1787, lots of talk about how much power the president is going to have. It was morris who said during this discussion this chief executive, this chief executive is not going to be king in this new government. He will be more like the prime minister. The people are the king. Again, unheard of in 1787. And later on, when Abraham Lincoln stands before that gathering at gettysburg and says, these men have died so that the nation can live, when he implores the audience to make sure these dead shall not have died in vain, that they shall have a new birth of freedom, and the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth what is he saying . Abraham lincoln, great admirer of the founders, and a great admirer of the declaration and the constitution, is saying this he knows the issue of slavery, the scourge of slavery was a big omission from these documents. And yet, what he says is, those documents hold the key for this nation to bind its wounds. We dont need to scrap the declaration of independence, we just need to broaden the interpretation that all men are created equal. We dont need to tear up the cost edition, because the onstitutionthe c because the framers have given us the power to amend the constitution. So that is a very very important point. Lincoln, who said back in 1861, early as 1861, the favored principle in the constitution is that everyone had an equal chance. In a very eerie, kind of prophetic statement, rather than surrender that principle, i would rather be assassinated on the spot, he said in 1851 chilling when you read it. That is how much he believed in these documents. Very, very important. And these documents are important for other reasons, too. When you think about the steps that were taken in the Second World War to protect them, one of the big reasons is this these documents were not predestined. They were not forgone conclusions. They were extremely hard to come by. In 1776, remember, what do we have at that time . Your classic 1 3, 1 3, 1 3. One third of the people of the crowd were tories, one third wanted revolution, splitting, and one third were undecided. So undecideds, they were not really pulls, but they were undecided. The delegates by the way certainly were not all integrated. John dickinson of pennsylvania said, to separate right now from britain would be like tearing down our house without having another place to live and asking our neighbor to take us in. It would be like setting sail in a skiff made of paper. Terrible idea. But wait, he says. Lets wait until europe recognizes us. Finally, when the delegates approve independence on july 2, when the declaration is adopted in july 4, there would be no more waiting. They wait for it to be engrossed. The delegates step up and sign this document. Most of them on august 2, of 1776. They realize as they are doing so, the solemnity of the moment. They are doing so under great risk. All of them are at war. If they lose, it is likely these fighters will be killed, some guilty of treason for sure. Even during the war, they had concerns their families would be harmed, their farms would be harmed, they would be harmed once the fighters names got out signers names got out into the public. My favorite quote is, as the signing is taking place on august 2, 69yearold rhode island delegate [indiscernible] had a little bit of parkinsons disease, a little palsy. When he signed, he had a shaky signature. You can see it on the declaration. Hard to see now, but look at one of your replicas. As he stepped up, as he steps up, he says my hand trembled, but my heart does not. Very kind of big moment. And during the constitution, are you kidding me . The Constitution Convention almost falls apart. There is a huge battle between the large state delegates, massachusetts, pennsylvania, virginia, and new york, and the small state delegates, defined then new jersey, delaware, connecticut. What was the issue . The issue was how do these states be represented in congress . Large state guys madison, hamilton said all of the representation should be done according to population, proportional representation. Small state said, uhhuh, that is not going to work for us. The power of the states will be unequal. William paterson of new jersey says with a large state folks put up their plan for representation, new jersey will never agree. She will be swallowed up. The man of delaware says, to the large state folks, madison and the rest, i do not, gentlemen, trust you. He did call them gentlemen. I do not trust you. Sherman of connecticut says, before july of 1787, we are now at a full stop. We are not going to get this thing done. Delegates break for the fourth of july. The 11th fourth of july, if you will, 1787. In philadelphia, there is celebration here they take stock of what they are doing, what they are here to do. They come back with this resolve to get something done. To make some sort of a compromise to get a new constitution, and they do on july 16 of 1787, the most important day, i would say, during the whole Constitutional Convention. And they come back with a grand compromise, and you know it well. What is it . In the lower house, that representation we determine by population. And in the upper house, we are going to call that the senate, folks, each state would be equally represented. Each get two. Neither side was happy with this deal. Large state folks say we are close to apoplectic, but they put it together. They name the constitution. Not a foregone conclusion by any script, and even the gettysburg address in november 1863. First of all, lincoln almost doesnt go to gettysburg. It is an afterthought. He is invited to say a few remarks. He is not a guest speaker, but governor edwards of massachusetts, who delivers a twohour oratory. They say, lincoln, will you, say a few words . Sounds like a good idea . Stanton says, i dont know. What is the big deal . All right, we are going. They go, he delivers his speech. It lives forever and will live forever. But it almost doesnt happen. And by the way, the union still has to win the war. Now, by november 1863, the tide has changed in their favor. Victories at gettysburg, vicksburg, etc. , but there is 17 months of really hard fighting ahead. Nobody knows that in 1863. Think about that when you think about these documents. On the one hand, you have the declaration and the gettysburg address where the wars have to be one for the documents to be key be won for the documents to be key whatsoever. And in the middle, you have the constitution or a massive compromise where a massive compromise that almost nobody likes has happened for the constitution to be put in its place. That is one of the reasons roosevelt and mcleish and harry neale of the secret Service Wanted to preserve the secret documents. They feel there is another important one. When you think about these documents, view them in the rotunda, think about this. These documents are artifacts to be sure. They are artifacts, no question about it. They are in protective cases, protected from humidity, dust, bites, you name it. Computerized systems can tell you inch by inch where these documents are deteriorating. Great conservators work here to keep those documents in the best shape possible, so there is certainly artifacts, but what else are they . They are symbols, very, very important symbols. Again, go to the rotunda. It is a shrine. There is no question about it. The lights are kind of low. There is guards there. It tends to be quiet. Even when there is kids in there, it is quiet. I am the husband of the principal of the prek to eight school. Take prekindergartners here every year. You are a chaperone, by the way. You will be a chaperone. And i will. But we take our kids down there. It is quiet, the kids are quiet. They are looking at it, looking at these documents. They quite dont maybe understand the significance. I tried my best not to be insufferable and tell them about it while i am there. The keyword is try. Last year we were here, i was telling them a little bit about the declaration, and i heard another group of kids say, that guy knows what he is talking about. It was pretty interesting. They are symbols, right . They were displayed at the centennial of 1876. The declaration is a symbol. They are artifacts and symbols, and they are one other thing, right . They are our daily blueprint for how we govern. How we determine our laws. Almost how our culture operates, so this notion of all men are created equal, this broadened to all people are created equal notion, life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, it is the underlying thing we think about as we are creating laws, as we are creating instituting rules, as we are doing things in our daily culture. And again, trust me, it is not perfect, but that is part of the discussion. And the constitution is a part of our daily lives. Every time a newscaster says, does congress have enough votes to override a president ial veto . Will the Supreme Court find this law constitutional . Everything alltime here that, its that constitution. Part of our daily lives. And our daily governance. Think about that. These documents, they are artifacts, they are symbols, they are daytoday blueprints by which we operate. They are all of those gathered into one. I was thinking about that during my research and guess what . Roosevelt and mcleish and harry neale were thinking about that during the Second World War. This. You to think about arler proharb peral harbor is attacked on december 7, 1942, washington goes into lockdown. Roof,placements on the war department. The white house goes dark on december 9. There is debate on whether to paint the white house black. They do not but they do paint the windows black. Bulletproof glass is installed at the oval office. Secret Service Gives gas mask to the white house staff. Fdr, it is on his wheelchair arm. Secret service builds the 750 foot zigzag tunnel that links the white house to the Treasury Department. Food, clothing, office space down there. Fdr said to the treasury not going, henry, im down there unless i can play poker with all the gold in your vaults. Never does go down there but that tunnel, photos of that tunnel still classified. You cannot get them from the secret service. I believe believe me, i tried. Cant do tit. But washington is in lockdown. Of germaneal fear bombers. Real fear of sabotage. During this period. Did not even talk about re routing the flow of the potomac and anacostia rivers. Because at the confluence of those rivers, pilots could get a fix on the white house, about a mile behind them. But right in line. There is even talk of that. Fdr says during a press conference in february of 1942, the germans can probably come in and bomb new york city or washington, d. C. Tonight. Under certain circumstances, they might even be able to reach detroit and and bomb it tonight. What fdr and some other americans knew, german uboats were sinking american merchant ships up and down the east coast with impunity. They sink about 600 of them from january to august of 1942. 600. Cape cod, near me. Killing grounds. Virginia beach, the outer banks, killing grounds for uboats. There is palpable fear, palpable fear. And one of the great fears, and fdr feels himself a tremendous steward of these documents. The fear that these documents would be destroyed by bombs or by sabotage. And the hit to the National Psyche would be devastating, devastating. We need to get those documents out of washington. Now, plans at the gun about a begun a year earlier, even more than a year earlier, in the fall of 1940. Roosevelt and macleish talked about what was happening in england. The british lost thousands of documents from their library during the battle of britain during the blitz. Bombs incinerated documents. The germans are destroying millions of documents. Books, manuscripts, mostly by jewish writers, but others, too. That is when the planning begins. The library of congress put together what they had that was utterly irreplaceable and unique. And we will triage them, level one all the way down to level six. That is how we are going to do it. His staff does do that. In the spring of 1941, 7 months or so before pearl harbor, about 700 library of Congress Volunteers spend about 10,000 hours assessing, cataloging, and packing critical, critical documents. 5000 boxes. The president s papers, washingtons diaries, notes from the Continental Congress, Constitutional Convention notes that i mentioned that Dolly Madison rescued, samuel morses first message, what hath god wrought . Letter from a the condolence letter to lincolns widow, mary lincoln. From queen victoria. Says how she had barely gotten over the death of Prince Albert earlier. This incredible collection of americana gets packed up in the spring. When america finally goes to war after pearl harbor, the ball starts to roll. On december 26, 1941, the day after americas pearl harbor christmas, i very eerie christmas for americans. Many have uncles, brothers, daughters, who have a volunteered. Many americans are wondering, whether their family members would be there the next christmas. It was a very eerie christmas. The day after, on december 26, library of congress and the secret service, backup the declaration of independence, the constitution, the gettysburg address, and a few other first tier documents. The articles of confederation, the gutenberg bible, lincolns second inaugural address, and one other nonamerican document, the magna carta, which is in the United States because it was an display at the 1939 new york citys worlds fair. And when war breaks out in europe the british asked us to hold onto it for safekeeping. That is the other document that gets packed up. Archibald macleish made a joke that it was interesting and ironic that the magna carta was right next to the declaration of independence. And the secret service transports it from the library of congress to union station, puts it on a train, under heavy guard, incomplete complete secrecy, and then the train rumbled out to louisville, kentucky. And the documents are put into the gold bullion repository at fort knox. He wanted space to put a lot more. There is tons of gold here, already. About 60 cubic feet. About the size of a freezer, folks. Do your math, 60 cubic feet is not much. So macleish have to make do with fort knox. Then the question becomes, what do we do with the rest of these incredibly Important Documents . Library staffers go on a road trip because here is what they are looking for. Looking for places that are far inland, 50 to 100 miles inland. Areas of mountains around the bombers cannot get to. Theyre looking for places that are waterproof, fireproof to the best possible ability, humidity proof. So they go on these sojourns looking around where to put the documents. They end up with college repositories. University of virginia, washington and lee, virginia military. Then they realize they still do not have enough space. So they pick grandville, ohio. Later on they realize that vmi has a some humidity and they have to get them out of there. The university of virginia and washington became the repository for these documents. They looked at many places, over 60 places. Kentucky had termites, could not put them there. Roanoke college had a fireproof basement, but it was near a swimming pool, too much humidity, could not put them there. That is the kind of thing that went into the decision of where to put them. This is all done in complete secrecy. This massive relocation the library of congress does this, but they are not the only ones. The National Gallery of arts art relocates some of its most valuable paintings, rembrandts, goya, rembrandt botticelli. To bilmore house in north carolina. Libraries around the country are doing these kinds of moves. The New York Public Library looks for caves. That is one of the things macleish looked at. But caves have that leakage and back entrances, sometimes. Some of the New York Public Library documents get moved to bank vaults in the city and to saratoga. All of that happens during this period of time. These critical documents, the declaration, the constitution, the gettysburg address, they remain in fort knox, along with these 5000 other boxes, until september of 1944. Three months or so after dday, allies are moving to berlin from the west. Russia is coming from the east. Not too much concern about an attack on the u. S. Mainland. Military intelligence says, it is time to move these documents and bring them east over the alleghenies and the blue ridge and bring them home. And that is what happened. By the way, there was one exception prior to this that is so important. That took place on april 13, 1943. The 200th anniversary of Thomas Jeffersons birth, during the celebration. During the dedication of the Jefferson Memorial on the title basin. Tidal basin. In 1943, fdr is concerned about american morale. At war for 16, 17 months. He thinks the dedication of the Jefferson Memorial and the display of the original declaration of independence will really help boost american spirits. So the document is taken over fort knox, no one knew where it came from, and put on display at the Jefferson Memorial for one week under 24 hour marine guard. Thousands of americans come to see it. It is that symbol, again. Then it goes back to fort knox. One other point. Another part of the story i need to get to before your questions, and that is in 1952. December 13, 1952, a huge day. A huge parade down pennsylvania avenue, an avenue that sees many parades. Military bands, military vehicles, military personnel, a company, the original declaration and constitution from the library of congress to here. Here, the National Archives. After many years of wrangling and infighting and turf battles between the library of congress and the National Archives, the decision finally gets made. President truman driving it, luther evans and wayne grover getting together to make it happen. These documents need to be put on display for all americans to see. And then on bill of rights day in 1952, president harry truman presides over the ceremony, the enshrinement. Great word, enshrinement ceremony here at the National Archives. One of trumans last official acts as president. Ike had just been elected. Truman is in his lameduck phase, but this was an important moment for him. Because he loved these documents, too, he knew the value of these documents. And he says to the assembled crowd, if these documents are simply enshrined in these cases, the ideas contained in them will die. That, in order for them to live on, the ideas embodied in them to live on, they must be enshrined in our hearts and minds. I think in transit, inherently, most americans know this. I think the one Million People that file through that rotunda every year know it. They may not express it in those words, but i think they know it, just like adams and jefferson and Dolly Madison knew it. Just like Stephen Pleasanton knew it, just like Abraham Lincoln knew it, just like fdr. For 240 years, this is the 240th anniversary, folks, the ideas have been protected and preserved by others. Harry truman said to this crowd, that needs to continue to happen with this generation and future generations. That would be us. Let us hope we get it right. Thank you very much. [applause] mr. Puleo i would love to take questions, but i have to tell you, hold on. You ok . Yeah. He is good. This gentleman was excited to ask a question. [applause] you for a wonderful presentation. My question is very practical. The jefferson declaration on the second and fourth, was there a vote on each . On july 2. Mr. Puleo there was a resolution three weeks earlier, the delegates say, lets go home and see what our folks in the home colonies want to do. They come back and that vote is taken on july 2. On july 1 there is a little concerned because only nine in the colonies have said yes. They go on the night of july 1 into the morning of july 2 and there is a vote. And the adoption of the declaration of independence does happen on july 4. Is there a vote on the fourth . Mr. Puleo yes. So it is a completely separate thing. I know there was one abstention. Do you know what the vote was . Mr. Puleo the Continental Congress does not get the ok from new york until july 9 the legislation says yes. They find out around july 14, 15, and that is why it says the unanimous declaration, because new york decided. I am a volunteer and work in the rotunda some of the time. I swear sometimes people are having what i call a mystical experience as they stand there. It is unbelievable. Mr. Puleo i think that is absolutely right. I have been there several times and i totally agree with you. What was the deciding factor that truman used to decide the documents would be here rather than the library of congress . Number two, i was struck by the idea that fdr had a tunnel built between the white house and the Treasury Department. As a last bastion. That is exactly what lincoln did in that spring of 1861, when there were no federal troops, he determined they would hide out in that Treasury Department as a last citadel. Were they aware of that precedent . Mr. Puleo to answer your first question, the decision to move the documents was one that was happening for close to maybe 20 years. When the archive was first built, that was the reason why. Hoover says, lets move those. The most prestigious documents, ever are there. There is a lot of foot dragging and fighting, that happens in washington, i do not know if you knew that. [laughter] mr. Puleo then world war ii intercedes and they moved to fort knox. But then, in 1946 and 1947, about 1947 to 1949, the freedom train makes its way around the United States. It has with it about 125 precious documents, not the declaration and constitution. But the bill of rights and many other documents. The freedom train goes to 48 states, the only train that has gone to 48 states. Millions of people view these documents that are under marine guard. There is a resurgence of interest in documents and our history through that way. The librarian of congress and the National Archivist have a series of meetings where they talk about, we need to move these, is it time to move these. Congress said we should move it, there has been that kind of thing. And they finally have lunch not far from here and reach that agreement. There are people at the library of congress that are furious who say we will never again obtain the prestige that we had. They were wrong about that. Can i say that . There was really concerned about that. Your question about lincoln and the tunnel, there is nothing i see that alludes to the civil war. Would roosevelt have been aware of it . Was henry morgan aware of it, and the secret service . Probably, but nothing i can definitively say to your question. Great question, though. You mention the bill of rights twice. The charters of freedom, the three documents permanently on display, the bill of rights, did the bill of rights change hands as often as the declaration around 1942. Mr. Puleo i would argue the gettysburg address is not enshrined because it is not engrossed. It is a manuscript copy. The bill of rights is here at the archives. It comes, i want to say around 1938. Around 1838, i may be off on the year. During the Stephen Pleasanton time, even though it was not mentioned in the hiding place in virginia. The suspicion is that that is part of what was taken out. There is not much note about the bill of rights during that time when it comes to the archives. The archives during the Second World War was also known as fort archives, one of the buildings that could resist. So it stays here, it is not part of that movement to fort knox. Great question. I included, even though it is a separate document but i included as part of the 10 amendments to the constitution, even though they almost do not happen. Madison, the father of the bill of rights, was one of the great objectors to the bill of rights during the Constitutional Convention. So why does he change his mind when the First Congress is elected . He changes his mind because there is lots of concern from people like george mason, monroe. His concern that they are not going to go along with this and call for a Second Convention unless the bill of rights gets included, they had to call for a Second Convention and maybe block the whole constitution. Madison, the credit goes to him, he promises when he is elected to the First Congress he will face the bill of rights, and he fight for the bill of rights, and he does. The material that left washington left it under very heavy guard. When the second tier documents or deposited, what sort of safeguard measures . Tractortrailer trucks. They go out in trucks, so there is lots of safeguards as they are being hacked. Procession. Huge it is done almost anonymously, if you will. Trucks would go fact and in fact, some of the boxes say library of congress on the side one of the things mcleish makes a big deal of afterwards is how many different groups of people kept this a secret. Once the things were stored in these repositories, what sort of measures were made to safeguard . Mr. Puleo they were guarded 24 7. The Library Personnel visited those repositories several times to make sure things were ok with leaks and humidity and mice and vermin. When those materials were returned to washington, where nventoried to make sure everything was still there . Mr. Puleo yes, and one of the great mysteries to this day, they touch on it in the book but probably more should be done. Among the things missing were two walt whitman notebooks. One of the turned up a little bit later, there is still one missing. Amazingly, everything comes back intact. The whole thing is done in secret. Stunning, isnt it . Yes, sir. My condolences about the sox. [laughter] i did notr. Puleo have a good feeling going in. Neither did i. I want to underscore one thing you said by way of an anecdote. I am one of those tour guides who takes eighthgraders. There was an eighth grader from new jersey, a young lady who came up to me again in the hushed rotunda and said, there is a man over there taking pictures which of course is not permitted. I said, really, where . Sure enough there was a person surreptitiously around waist level. I said, you are right, you have to tell the guards. She said, but he is wearing a suit. I explained that the biggest crooks in the world where suits. She went over and she did. The guard went over, took the mans camera, resume ugly deleted things and chatted. Afterward we were getting on the bus on 9th street and she said with obvious pride and appropriate meaning, she realized they had just defended the constitution. What a way to end it. If you come up and buy a book, great. Please, if you have not been in the rotunda today, go. Thank you very much. [applause] interested in American History tv . Visit our website six land. Org. History cspan. Org history. Road to the white house rewind, lectures, history, and more on cspan. Org history. This week on cspan in primetime, monday night at 8 00 eastern hear from some of the democrats vying to lead the party including ray buckley, chair of the New Hampshire democratic party, Jamie Harrison , and representative Steve Allison from minnesota. A seven yearhit low in voter turnout, 36 . The Democratic Caucus is smaller since any time since grown german. Truman. We have a lot of rebuilding to do. Tuesday night at 8 00, president obama and japanese shinzont jens o of a abe visit the site of the pearl harbor attack. Wednesday night at 8 00, a review of house and Senate Hearings from 2016 on topics including the flint, michigan what are and the wells fargo unauthorized account scandal. He found one of your divisions have created to millions 2 million fake accounts, fired thousands of youremployees, and cheated customers, and you did not once think of firing her before her retirement . We remember some of the political figures that passed away in 2016, including nancy reagan and antonin scalia. On friday at 8 00, our in Memoriam Program continues with shimon peres, mohammed ali, and john glenn. Author William Blair talks about how the 14th amendment was used after the civil war to punish former rebels for secession. He describes how different parts applied to voting laws, and representation in congress, and exclusion from public office. All of which he argues. This was presented by pamplin historical park. It is just under an hour. Speaking of our speakers, we are very privileged to have bill blair with us today. He is a professor of middle American History at penn state university, whicha
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