FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
January 30, 2003
Contacts:
Union Station Sarah Biles (816) 460-2252
Truman Museum Holly Milledge, 816-268-8245
or Edeen Martin,
816-268-8218
Truman
Presidential Museum and Union Station Kansas City Celebrate American Heritage
Turner White, Union
Station chief executive officer, and Dr. Michael Devine, director of the
Truman Presidential Museum & Library, today announce a special partnership,
"Kansas City Celebrates American Heritage." Through May 4, Kansas
City area residents and visitors will be able to view original milestone
documents and artifacts from our nation's history through ongoing exhibitions
and limited opportunity viewings.
"Kansas City
Celebrates American Heritage" features exhibitions organized by the
National Archives and Records Administration,
Smithsonian Institutions, and the Ronald Reagan and Harry S. Truman Presidential
Libraries. Such key documents in our nation's history as the Declaration
of Independence, the Emancipation Proclamation and the Louisiana Purchase
Treaty and an original Broadside invitation to the Boston Tea Party will
appear as a component of the partnership.
"This is truly
a unique opportunity for all of us to view and better understand our nation's
history," said Dr. Devine. "Even in Washington, DC, it would
be a rare occurrence for this rich array of material to appear in such
a short time frame."
"The partnership
of Truman Presidential Library and Union Station represents what we hope
is a real template for the future," said Turner White. "Two
institutions to provide great programming for this area is something we
all can look forward to."
Museum goers who visit
one institution participating in "Kansas City's Celebration of the
American Heritage" will receive a $1.00 coupon for reduced admission
at the other. Members of the two museums' support organizations will be
recognized for free admission to all exhibits. As a special bonus, appearances
by the Declaration of Independence Road Trip at the Truman Presidential
Museum & Library and at Union Station will be free to the public.
Highlights of "Kansas
City Celebrates American Heritage" follow:
American Originals
Treasures from the National Archives
Jan. 31 through May 4, 2003 at Union Station
This exhibit presents a selection of the most significant and compelling
documents in U.S. history. Items on display include the original Louisiana
Purchase Treaty, an order to arrest Susan B. Anthony, Thomas Edison's
patent application for the electric lamp, John F. Kennedy's handwritten
notes for his 1961 inaugural address and a draft of President Richard
Nixon's undelivered speech announcing he would not resign the presidency.
"American Originals" was created by the National Archives and
Records Administration.
The American Presidency:
A Glorious Burden
Through May 11, 2003 at the Truman Presidential Museum & Library
Through video, audio and more than 350 objects, this exhibition takes
the viewer on a journey to explore, and remember, the roles of the Presidency
over the past 200 years. "The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden"
draws from the vast Smithsonian collection of American history to tell
the story of the 42 men who have sat in this nation's highest office.
Exhibition highlights are: a dispatch case used by George Washington in
the revolutionary war, the brass inkwell used by Abraham Lincoln while
writing the first draft of the Emancipation Proclamation and a CBS microphone
used by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his "fireside chats."
Freedom's Journey:
The Declaration of Independence and Beyond
January 31 - May 4, 2003 at Union Station
"Freedom's Journey," an exhibit designed and staged by the Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library, provides a dynamic look at the fight for
liberty that became known as the American Revolution. History literally
comes alive through the presentation of dramatic events as preserved in
some of the most extraordinary and influential documents ever written,
such as: a 1749 entry from Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack, the
last remaining original announcement of the Boston Tea Party, a 1776 edition
of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and the sash worn by John Hancock in the
Revolutionary War. The exhibit takes visitors beyond the Boston Massacre
and Boston Tea Party to the grim days of Valley Forge and after through
displays of documents, period weapons engravings, paintings and replica
uniforms and flags.
Harry S. Truman:
The Presidential Years
On permanent exhibition at the Truman Presidential Museum & Library
The Truman Museum's centerpiece exhibition features multiple audio, video
and interactive elements, allowing visitors to explore the major issues
of the Truman administration and their relevancy to current events. Truman's
pre-Presidential career is narrated by Jason Robards in a film by Academy
Award winning director, Charles Guggenheim. Presidential decision making,
emphasized in two interactive decision theaters, and the constant reinterpretation
of history are repeated themes in this groundbreaking exhibit. Featured
documents include Truman diary entries, the President's de facto recognition
of the new nation of Israel and the famous "Dewey Defeats Truman"
issue of the Chicago Tribune.
The Emancipation
Proclamation in "American Originals"
Feb. 14 - 17, 2003 at Union Station
Visitors have the rare opportunity to view the original Emancipation Proclamation
in the American Originals exhibit. Following through with the warning
issued in the preliminary emancipation proclamation 3 months earlier,
the Emancipation proclamation proclaimed all persons held as slaves within
the rebellious areas to be free. While it did not end slavery in the nation,
it marks a major milestone along the road to slavery's final destruction,
the Emancipation Proclamation has assumed a place among the great documents
of human freedom. Slavery in the United States ended with the ratification
of the 13th Amendment.
An original copy
of the 13th Amendment
Feb. 14-17 at Union Station
As an additional feature during the Emancipation Proclamation's rare appearance
at Union Station, Saint Mary College in Leavenworth, Kan., which has an
extensive Lincoln Collection, has agreed to loan Union Station one of
only 13 original copies of the 13th Amendment which abolished slavery
in the United States forever. Saint Mary does not typically allow the
original document to leave its archive vault, but the College has agreed
to provide this one-time opportunity to coincide with the display of the
Emancipation Proclamation.
Declaration of
Independence Road Trip
March 3 - 6 at the Truman Presidential Museum & Library
March 8 - 16, 2003 at Union Station
A rare original Dunlap Broadside copy of the Declaration of Independence
will be on display and free to the public in two separate multi-media
exhibitions as part of the "Declaration of Independence Road Trip",
a non-profit, nonpartisan project founded by producer Norman Lear. On
the night of July 4, 1776, John Dunlap of Philadelphia printed approximately
200 copies of the newly drafted and approved Declaration of Independence,
only 25 remain. A month later, a handwritten copy was created and signed
by most of the Continental Congress delegates. That calligraphy copy permanently
resides in the National Archives in Washington, DC. The Dunlap copy on
display was discovered behind a framed painting bought at a flea market
for $4 and eventually purchased
at auction for $8.14 million by Lyn and Norman Lear.
The Truman Presidential
Museum & Library is located at U.S. Highway 24 and Delaware in Independence,
Mo. Hours are 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon - 5 p.m. on
Sunday. The Museum is also open until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. Admission to
the "American Presidency," including the museum's permanent
exhibits and attractions, is $7 for adults, $5 for seniors, $3 for children
ages 6 to 18, and free for children 5 years and under. For more information
on the Museum and programs, call 1-800-833-1225
or visit www.trumanlibrary.org.
Union Station is located
at the corner Pershing Road and Main Street near downtown Kansas City,
Mo. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m.
on Sunday, with extended hours for the Emancipation Proclamation and 13th
Amendment Feb. 14-17 and the Declaration of Independence Road Trip exhibit
March 8-16. General admission tickets are $9 for adults, $8 for seniors
and $7 for children ages 4-12. Children 3 and under are free. Special
Price Sundays are $6.25 for adults, $5.50 for seniors and $4.50 for kids.
Your general admission ticket gets you into American Originals, Freedom's
Journey and
Science City. For more information call 816-460-2020 or visit www.unionstation.org.
The Truman
Presidential Museum & Library is one of ten Presidential Libraries
administered by the National Archives and
Records Administration. It is located at U.S. Highway 24 and Delaware
in Independence, Missouri. For more information on the Museum and programs,
call 816-268-8200
or visit www.trumanlibrary.org.
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