The Freedom Shrine® is an exclusive program of the National Exchange Club, established in hundreds of communities throughout the nation who work to­gether to make their communities better places to live. Exchange Clubs are non-profit, non-sectarian, and non-political. They are known as “America’s Service Club” because they confine their activities within the boundaries of the United States and Puerto Rico.

The Freedom Shrine originated from the Freedom Train, which toured the nation in 1947 carrying an exhibit of historic documents. Thousands of Freedom Shrines have been dedicated across the United States and Puerto Rico, serving as educational tools for teachers, students, and study groups to further explore American history.

The Freedom Shrine® is only one of the several programs sponsored by Exchange to promote good citizenship and encourage a greater appreciation of our American heritage across all generations.  Exchange Clubs sponsor a variety of other programs, including a nationwide network of Exchange Club Prevention of Child Abuse Centers, which aim to aid and assist those in need. Hence, the organization’s motto–“Unity for Service.” The National Exchange Club’s headquarters is located in Toledo, Ohio.

FORWARD

This is a great book-great because it was shaped and written by those whose courage, determination, wisdom and action-like indomitable seeds-took root in the minds of the people and developed into ideas that have transcended the generations. Some of the 33 documents that are printed on the following pages contain, even to this day, some of the most moving and readable passages ever written. Others are archaic in language, imperfect in style, even burdensome in terms of pure weight of words, but that is not why they have survived the fluctuating tides of time.

They have survived and are rightfully preserved because they indelibly mark what were irreversible beginnings and often-turbulent turning points of en­during consequence. They also reveal the character of those who, in the face of staggering odds, succeeded in doing what few have done-transform a dream into reality by creating and perfecting a bastion of freedom. That is the significance of these documents.

In 1949, the National Exchange Club decided to display these documents so that the beneficiaries of these historic realities–you–could see them in their original form, as they were first written, and experience that sense of awe which we feel in the presence of the past. They were carefully selected and their authenticity established beyond all reasonable doubt. Precise photographic reproductions were made from the original documents preserved in the National Ar­chives Library of Congress and White House.

Again in 1986, on the threshold of the Bicenten­nial of the United States Constitution, an Exchange committee was assigned the task of reevaluating the shrine documents in light of historic happenings since the shrine’s inception. After a thorough review, the committee replaced three original shrine documents with three “new” ones.

Appropriately, the entire U.S. Constitution was added, replacing George Washington’s first page copy of the rough draft of the Constitution. In ad­dition, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms Speech and President John F. Kennedy’s memorable Inaugural Address replaced Andrew Jackson’s letter describing the battle of New Orleans and Thomas Jefferson’s rough draft of the Declaration of Independence (the final version remains a part of the shrine).

Again in 1996 the Freedom Shrine was updated to reflect the growth and change of this nation. An account of the proceedings of Susan B. Anthony’s trial and Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech were added to the Freedom Shrine. Both the original documents and the additions are included in this book. In 2006, we replaced the Nicolay copy of the Gettysburg Address was replaced with the Bliss Copy, which is signed by Abraham Lincoln.

Many of the documents, because they are faithful reproductions of the originals, are partially obliterated or virtually illegible, some because of early mishandling and atmospheric deterioration, others because the penmanship of our forefathers, like many of us today, is almost undecipherable. Old-world spell­ings and rules of capitalization as well as the style of 18th century script make direct reading of the original documents somewhat difficult.

By authentically reproducing the documents includ­ing the original spelling and grammar, it is hoped that their historic significance is made even more meaningful. Note also that although several of the plaques displayed on the Freedom Shrine represent only a portion of an original manuscript, this volume provides the full texts of those documents.

In a sense, this publication can be considered a guidebook-a guidebook to the past, as well as to the present and future. For the documents of the Free­dom Shrine, although culled from the past, represent foundation stones which permit the present, as we know it, to exist and the future, as we dream it, to be attainable.