اتصال: كاريس إروين، المتحف والنصب التذكاري الوطني للحرب العالمية الأولى، 816.888.8122، kerwin@theworldwar.org
مدينة كانساس ، ميزوري. - The National Archives and Records Administration announced the Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation traveling exhibition, with the nation’s first stop at the National WWI Museum and Memorial in Kansas City, MO. The جولة طائرة الحرية الوطنية brings original founding-era documents to eight American cities throughout 2026 in honor of the nation’s 250th anniversary. It will be on display at the Museum and Memorial from Friday, March 6 through Sunday, March 22.
The original National Archives records featured in the Freedom Plane: Documents That Forged a Nation traveling exhibition —most of which are leaving Washington, D.C. for the first time in many decades— include:
- Original Engraving of the Declaration of Independence, 1823: One of only about 50 known engraved copies of the Declaration of Independence, printed from a copperplate of the original. Commissioned by John Quincy Adams and made by engraver William J. Stone, the engraving captured the size, text, lettering, and signatures of the original document (on loan from David M. Rubenstein).
- النظام الأساسي، 1774: The most important agreement at the time, adopted by the First Continental Congress and signed by all 53 delegates, urged colonists to boycott British goods.
- قسم الولاء لجورج واشنطن، وألكسندر هاميلتون، وآرون بور، 1778: Oaths of Allegiance all officers of the Continental Army signed during the Revolutionary War.
- معاهدة باريس، 1783: Signed by John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay, the Treaty with Great Britain formally recognized the United States as an independent nation.
- الطباعة السرية للدستور في شكل مسودة، 1787: A rare copy of the U.S. Constitution in draft form, with a delegate’s handwritten notes made during the Constitutional Convention.
- Tally of Votes Approving the Constitution, 1787: The voting records of the Constitutional Convention reflecting the debates, resolutions, and eventual vote on the final text that would become the Constitution.
Traveling together for the first time in history, the tour will make these historic and consequential documents, fundamental to America’s founding, accessible to Americans across the nation.
“That the first stop on this tour is the National WWI Museum and Memorial is particularly meaningful, especially in our centennial year,” said Matthew Naylor, President and CEO, National WWI Museum and Memorial. “For the past 100 years, the Museum and Memorial has honored the courage and sacrifice of those who left our shores during WWI in defense of liberty and democracy, ideals forged in the very documents that founded our nation and that will be on display here.”
Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation will depart Kansas City for Atlanta, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Miami, Dearborn and Seattle, where the tour will conclude on Aug. 16. They will journey from Washington, DC to all eight cities via a Boeing plane. The Freedom Plane National Tour مستوحاة من Bicentennial Freedom Train that stopped in Kansas City, KS on March 27-30, 1976 at the GM plant in Fairfax.
“Americans across the country can bear witness to the people and principles that shaped our nation through the Freedom Plane National Tour,” said Senior Advisor to the Archivist of the United States Jim Byron. “There is no more noteworthy an occasion than America’s 250th birthday to share this history, to inspire our fellow Americans to champion our nation’s founding ideals into the future.”
The Freedom Plane National Tour is made possible in part by the National Archives Foundation, through the generous support of The Boeing Company, Comcast Corporation, Microsoft, and P&G. The exhibition at the Museum and Memorial is supported by Presenting Sponsor America 250 Missouri Commission and Premier Sponsor E&K.
Freedom Plane National Tour: Documents That Forged a Nation will be on display in Memory Hall from Friday, March 6 to Sunday, March 22, 2026. The exhibition is free to the public. Details about free tickets will be made available on Friday, Feb. 6.