To mark the United States’ Semiquincentennial (250th) anniversary, the National Archives’ Freedom Plane National Tour is traveling the country with a trove of historical documents that mark some of the most important moments in America’s founding. From now until April 12 those documents will be displayed in the Atlanta History Center in Buckhead.
The nine rare documents include an 1823 engraving of the Declaration of Independence; the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War in 1783, and a copy of the Bill of Rights, among others. Normally held in Washington D.C., the papers give a snapshot of the country’s founding and give visitors a rare and valuable chance to catch a look for themselves.
Near the bottom of the engraving of the Declaration of Independence three familiar Georgia names can be found – Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall and George Walton. All three men have counties named after them today.
The Freedom Plane (a literal Boeing 737) is following in the footsteps (train tracks?) of the Freedom Train that shared the country’s most prized historical documents for the Bicentennial in the mid-70s. It’s heading to Los Angeles after it departs Atlanta next week.
