MANHATTAN (PIX11)\u2013 A new exhibition in Lower Manhattan is offering visitors a chance to stand face-to-face with the documents that shaped the United States.<\/p>\n
At\u00a0South Street Seaport Museum, the exhibition\u00a0\u201cThe Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation\u201d\u00a0brings together rare printings of the Declaration of Independence, early editions of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and artifacts connected to generations of Americans fighting to expand the meaning of liberty.<\/p>\n
Discover more local reporting on our homepage <\/a><\/p>\n Housed inside the museum\u2019s historic 19th-century A.A. Thomson building, the exhibition also reopens a floor that has not been accessible to the public in years.<\/p>\n The exhibition includes a first-run printed version of the Declaration. It\u2019s known as a broadside intended for public display shortly after independence was declared.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people are familiar with the Declaration that was signed and is in Washington, D.C.,\u201d said Martina Caruso, the museum\u2019s director of collections and exhibitions. \u201cThere were many versions that were printed on July 14, 1776.\u201d<\/p>\n Caruso said the exhibit was designed to let visitors experience history not as abstract ideas in textbooks, but as physical objects that traveled through time.<\/p>\n \u201cThis Declaration of Independence would have been printed for a poster for the public to read 250 years ago,\u201d she explained. \u201cYou can see the paper is really thick, the lettering coming out of it, and you can read the grievances against the King of England, and they\u2019re still powerful in today\u2019s mindset.\u201d<\/p>\n Make PIX11 your preferred news source on Google: Here\u2019s how <\/a><\/p>\n Beyond the nation\u2019s founding documents, the exhibition traces the continuing struggle over who fully shares in the promise of liberty.<\/p>\n Among the featured artifacts are an advance copy of\u00a0Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech and congressional documents tied to the abolition of slavery.<\/p>\n Curators say the goal is not simply a patriotic celebration, but a reflection.<\/p>\n \u201cThe idea is to talk about the documents as promissory notes,\u201d Caruso said. \u201cThe country is a work in progress. Decades and centuries later, there are things we need to do to keep up and get better.\u201d<\/p>\n For museum president and CEO Captain Jonathan Boulware, the experience of standing beside the documents has proven unexpectedly emotional.<\/p>\n \u201cI was unprepared for how emotional and moving it is to be in the presence of the documents,\u201d Boulware said. \u201cTears, standing next to the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n Boulware said the exhibition also tells a New York story that is rooted in the city\u2019s maritime and printing history.<\/p>\n Stay connected with community stories that matter: Visit our homepage <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe are an experiential museum,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Promise of Liberty is one floor in a building from 1868. We are doing the work where the work was.\u201d<\/p>\n The museum\u2019s broader campus highlights New York\u2019s maritime past and the role the waterfront played in commerce, immigration, communication, and the spread of revolutionary ideas.<\/p>\n