LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) — The South Street Seaport Museum is stepping back in time with some of the most important words in American history.
Starting Wednesday, an exhibition called “The Promise of Liberty” sails into the museum to offer a rare look at historical items tied closely to the founding of the nations.
“We’re opening ‘The Promise of Liberty: Words That Shaped a Nation’ with centerpiece documents like an original Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and Emancipation Proclamation,” museum President and CEO Jonathan Boulware said.
The exhibit is giving a rare look at original documents—some dating back nearly 250 years—just ahead of the country’s historic anniversary.
The exhibit is rooted in Lower Manhattan, a place organizers say helped shape the nation itself.
“Lower Manhattan was, in many respects, the birthplace of the nation,” Boulware said. “And although the Constitution that we have was printed elsewhere, this is the place where many of these documents were printed.”
Inside the 1868 warehouse space, visitors will find artifacts spanning centuries–from the Founding Era through the Civil Rights Movement. But curators said this isn’t just about the past.
“Why do the words from 250 years ago still affect our lives today,” said museum curator Seth Kaller.
The exhibit takes a deeper look at both the promise and the contradictions of those founding ideals. Kaller points out that they weren’t delusional, but they were aspirational.
“These documents give us an understanding of what was intended, what was left out in the beginning, and how these documents have worked together, and in contradiction to one another to form what we hope is a more perfect union,” Boulware said.
And in a year when New York will take center stage for America’s 250th birthday, organizers said the exhibit is meant to connect history to today.
“No matter where you stand politically, if you read the whole text of the Declaration of Independence with a little checkmark and say this is in the news again, this is in the news again, this is in the news again, more than half of the grievances in the Declaration, are actually affecting our lives today, the same issues,” Kaller said.
The exhibit opens Wednesday at the South Street Seaport Museum—inviting New Yorkers to see the nation’s founding words up close—and reconsider what they mean now.
