How One Copy Of The Declaration Of Independence Endured 200 Years

[TexasTowelie]

A rare copy of the Declaration of Independence has survived a wild ride, nearly 200 years in the making — from the hands of James Madison to being concealed from the Union army behind wallpaper, to being stuffed in a box for 40 years until it was rescued by a billionaire in 2016 who plans to lend it out to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

Historian Nancy Koehn joined Jim Braude and Margery Eagan on "Boston Public Radio" to talk about the document's journey. She’s an historian at Harvard Business School where she holds the James E. Robison chair of Business Administration. Her latest book is “Forged in Crisis: The Power of Courageous Leadership in Turbulent Times.”

The following is an excerpt from the interview and has been edited for clarity. To hear the full segment, click on the audio player above.

Margery Eagan: Tell us about the original document.

Nancy Koehn: So the original document was a beautiful document on calfskin, a great scribe wrote it out. It fades really quickly, it turns out. So by the turn of the century, well into the early 19th century — this is from the 1700’s to the 1800’s — in about 1824, John Quincy Adams, who is then secretary of state from our great Commonwealth, says, ‘I’m worried! The original document is fading, [and] we need to get some fresh copies made and distributed.’

Jim Braude: There was one copy at that point?

NK: I’m sure there were more, but there was a limited number, and the one that was cast into national gravitas and care was fading.

Read more and hear audio: https://news.wgbh.org/2018/02/20/boston-public-radio-podcast/how-one-copy-declaration-independence-endured-200-years