The Declaration’s Journey

In celebration of the Declaration of Independence’s 250th anniversary, an exhibition examines the document’s considerable impact and influence on other declarations of rights. The museum highlights 15 declarations from Haiti, Chile, Poland, Korea, and other countries and from rights movements around the world. A canopy made from facsimiles of several hundred others emphasizes how a wide range of political and social movements have invoked America’s founding document. Additional artifacts survey the Declaration’s history, including a chair owned by Thomas Jefferson in 1776, a manuscript draft of The Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen annotated by the Marquis de Lafayette, Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s desk, a spinning wheel presented by Mahatma Gandhi during India’s independence movement, and a printed copy of Frederick Douglass’ 1852 speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” A video installation examines the document’s legacy and international influence, with an emphasis on contributions to rights movements  from women, people of color, and people from other countries.    

The total grant amount represents project funding plus an additional 20% in unrestricted general operating support.