The safekeeping of the United States’ formative and most historic documents falls to the National Archives Building and the Museum of National Archives. Located on the north side of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Ave., this neoclassical architectural marvel was built as a temple to history; in so keeping, itis home to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, among many other important historical documents.
Freedom Reigns
The National Archives Museum boasts more than 19,000 square feet of display space, the centerpiece of which is the breathtaking Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. Here, inside the columned entrance to the Archives, are the very documents that gave birth to the ideas that formed our young nation in the late 18th century. Behind thick panes of hermetically sealed glass, in reinforced cases filled with inert helium gas, rest the original copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. Other prominent documents include the Louisiana Purchase which added the western territories to the U.S.’ borders in 1804, the Articles of Confederation, the Emancipation Proclamation, and an original version of the Magna Carta of 1297, whose ideals were influential on the Founding Fathers’ vision of their new Republic. There are no lines or cordoning off of the display spaces, and guests are free to wander and view these pieces of history at their leisure. Additional exhibit spaces focus on important moments in U.S. history, from Amendments to Prohibition to the Vietnam War.
The National Archives Museum
The Archives are also home to working scholars and librarians who tend to the 900,000 cubic feet of storage space, separate from the public display areas. These archivists are constantly working to document and catalog the never-ending flow of records and documents of national import and significance. In fact, even after doubling the Archives’ initial capacity in the original blueprints when it was constructed from 1933-1937 (the construction was a massive undertaking given the special requirements for safekeeping the documents to be preserved inside), a second Archives building had to be constructed in 1993 (adding another 1.8 million cubic feet of storage) just to keep up.
The Museum of National Archives are part of the Smithsonian Institute and are free to the public. They are open 10am to 5:30pm 7 days a week, 363 days a year (closed only on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day).