One of the 200 original copies of the Declaration of Independence will make a visit to its author's home, Monticello, Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. as part of its tour across the nation.
"We're probably the most appropriate place for a copy of the Declaration of Independence to be on display," because Monticello is home to the document's author, Thomas Jefferson, Monticello's Director of Communications Wayne Mogielnicki said.
The event will provide "a great opportunity for people to see one of the few remaining copies [of the Declaration of Independence]," he said.
TV producer Norman Lear purchased the copy that will be on display at Monticello in 2000 for $8.1 million, said Erika Johansson, the program coordinator of Declare Yourself, the organization conducting the document's tour. The paper was first discovered in 1989 after a Pennsylvania man found it hidden within the frame of a painting he purchased at a flea market for $4, Johansson said.
Lear purchased the document because he wanted others to have the opportunity to see it, she noted.
"He wanted to stage this nationwide tour and remind people what patriotism is," Johansson said. "He believes everyone should see it, regardless of geographic location, economic background or ability to travel to Washington, D.C."
The visiting document, known as a Dunlap broadside, is one of the original 200 Declarations printed on July 4, 1776, Johansson said. Unlike the declaration located in the National Archives in Washington D.C., these 200 copies do not contain the signatures of the colonies' representatives or the Founding Fathers'. Rather, they were printed so that citizens of the original 13 colonies could inform themselves about the burgeoning country's need for independence, she said. Only 26 copies are known to exist today. Two of those copies are available for viewing in the University's Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library.
The copy that will be on display Wednesday in Monticello already has been to 40 different states and has been seen by 800,000 people since Lear purchased it, Johansson said. Declare Yourself's goal is to have the document tour all 50 states by next year, she added. The event is free and open to the public.
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