A Boeing 737 will play an important part in the United States’ 250th anniversary celebrations later this year.
The National Archives this week announced the “Freedom Plane National Tour,” a traveling exhibition that will bring Founding-Era documents to eight U.S. cities between March and August. A 737 in a special patriotic livery will transport the documents from city to city, officials said.
“Americans across the country can bear witness to the people and principles that shaped our nation through the Freedom Plane National Tour,” Jim Byron, senior adviser to the archivist of the U.S., said in a statement. “There is no more noteworthy an occasion than America’s 250th birthday to share this history, to inspire our fellow Americans to champion our nation’s founding ideals into the future.”
Boeing is providing the aircraft, as well as operational support.
The tour will make stops in Atlanta, Kansas City, Missouri, Los Angeles, Houston, Denver, Miami, Dearborn, Michigan, and Seattle. According to the National Archives’ schedule, the exhibition will spend about two and a half weeks in each location.
Documents selected for display include a copy of the Declaration of Independence, the 1783 Treaty of Paris, and Revolutionary War-era oaths of allegiance signed by George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and Aaron Burr.
