National Archives
North side of the Mall at Seventh St and Constitution Ave NW;
closest Metro stop is Archives-Navy Memorial. April to Labor Day
daily 10am-9pm; rest of year daily 10am-5.30pm. Admission free. tel
202/501-5000, . The Archives' exhibit halls are closed for
renovation until 2003 .
On display at the National Archives are the three short
texts upon which the United States is founded: the Declaration
of Independence , the Constitution and the Bill of
Rights . These three original sheets of parchment (three
additional pages of the Constitution are not on display), drafted
respectively in 1776, 1787 and 1789, are now contained in
helium-filled glass cases, which drop underground in case of fire
or other threat. You can usually look at them as long as you like,
but if there's a crowd you have to shuffle on past. The impressive
Neoclassical Greek temple - designed by John Russell Pope - also
displays a 1297 revised copy of the Magna Carta , which
established in Britain such basic concepts as trial by jury and
equality before the law. The National Archives presents exhibitions
and serves as the official repository of all US national records -
census data, treaties (including the surrender of Japan in World
War II), passport applications and genealogical records - most of
which are kept in storage.
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