For Immediate Release: June 22, 2010
Further information: Rachel Day (617) 514-1662, rachel.day@jfklfoundation.org
Boston, MA—In celebration of Independence Day, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum today announced that a rare 1823 print of the Declaration of Independence is on display for the first time in the White House Corridor exhibit of the Museum. One of 200 made in 1823, the print on display was given to President Kennedy as a gift in 1961. Fewer than three dozen from the 1823 printing are known to exist.
As early as 1817, the original Declaration showed visible signs of aging and fading. In 1820, John Quincy Adams, Secretary of State and son of signer John Adams, commissioned William J. Stone, a Washington, DC, printer and engraver, to make a facsimile of the document. Three years later Stone completed an engraved copperplate of the Declaration and sold it to the Department of State, which had 200 copies printed on parchment. The copies were distributed to federal and state officials, to various colleges and universities, and to the surviving signers of the document, including its main author, Thomas Jefferson.
White House records indicate that this print was given to President Kennedy, an avid student of history and collector of historical documents, during his first year in office. It is now part of the Kennedy Library’s museum collection. There is no record of the person who gave the gift.
The original Declaration of Independence is on permanent display in the Rotunda of the National Archives Building in Washington, DC, along with the original Constitution and Bill of Rights. One of fourteen authentic copies of the Declaration of Independence is on permanent display in the Commonwealth Museum located across from the Kennedy Presidential Library.
Additional July 4th activities at the Kennedy Presidential Library include:
Make Your Own Sundae Bar
The Café at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum will offer a Make-Your-Own Sundae Bar outside on the Harborside Plaza from Noon - 2pm, Saturday, July 3 through Monday, July 5. Take advantage of the Library’s stunning waterfront location while enjoying chocolate and vanilla ice cream with hot fudge, butterscotch sauce, whipped cream and a variety of toppings. In the event of rain, the Sundae Bar will be moved to the Museum’s Pavilion.
Museum Programs
Throughout the holiday weekend (July 3-5), the Kennedy Library will offer family-friendly Highlights Tours and special presentations of the Library’s newest program for walk-in visitors, “Stranded at Sea: The PT-109 Story.” The program tells the story of John F. Kennedy’s patrol torpedo boat collision with a Japanese destroyer during World War II, and the crew’s six-day struggle for survival. Read Kennedy’s letters home describing Navy life, follow the path of the collision and rescue, and hold a battle lantern like the one JFK used to signal passing ships for help. Highlights Tours and “The PT-109 Story” program are free with museum admission and open to visitors of all ages.
JFK Museum Store Special
The Museum Store will be celebrating July 4th weekend with a large selection of patriotic products for sale, including reproduction copies of the Declaration of Independence. Be one of the first 100 Museum Store customers to make a purchase and receive a free CD of a 1957 recording of then-Senator John F. Kennedy reading the Declaration of Independence! Limited to 100 CDs, one per customer.
JFK eStore Special
Receive a free gift with every on-line order! Every order placed through our eStore between June 24 and July 10 will receive a parchment reproduction of the Declaration of Independence. No promotion code is required. Your free gift will be added to your shipment automatically. http://store.jfklibrary.org/jfk/
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum features 25 multimedia exhibits and period settings from the White House, offering an exciting “you are there” experience and creating a stirring account of President Kennedy’s thousand days in office.
General admission to the Museum at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library is $12.00. Admission for seniors over the age of 62 and college students with appropriate identification is $10.00, and for children ages 13-17, $9.00. Children ages 12 and under are admitted for free.
The Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with the exceptions of Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day. The Library is located in the Dorchester section of Boston, off Morrissey Boulevard, next to the campus of the University of Massachusetts/Boston. Parking is free. There is free shuttle-service from the JFK/UMass T Stop on the Red Line. The Museum is fully handicapped accessible. For more information, call (866) JFK-1960 or access www.jfklibrary.org on the Internet.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is a presidential library administered by the National Archives and Records Administration and supported, in part, by the Kennedy Library Foundation, a non-profit organization.