Overview
- The Freedom Plane National Tour opened at The Henry Ford on July 9 and will run through July 26, showing nine rare National Archives items that are not normally on public display.
- Highlights on view include an 1823 William J. Stone engraving of the Declaration of Independence, the Treaty of Paris of 1783, a secret draft printing of the Constitution, the tally of convention votes, and the Senate markup of the Bill of Rights.
- Visiting the exhibition is free and does not require museum admission, though online reservations for the Detroit stop are currently sold out and The Henry Ford says cancellations could free additional slots.
- National Archives and museum staff say the items travel in double-sealed, light- and temperature-controlled cases, are escorted by staff, and were flown to stops on the Freedom Plane to limit handling and protect fragile materials.
- The Detroit stop is the second-to-last city on the eight-stop America250 tour and is expected to draw up to about 20,000 visitors as federal and local commemorations expand public access to archival holdings.