Ahead of America's 250th, a cache of historic documents is on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Center at SMU. The display is part of the National Archives' "Opening the Vault" exhibit which is touring presidential libraries.
"When the National Archives thought about celebrating America's 250th anniversary, one of the thoughts we had was wouldn't it be great if Americans across the nation could see some documents they normally wouldn't?" says Dr. Pearl Ponce, the director of the George W. Bush Presidential Library and also works with the National Archives Record Association.
Ponce says the display came to SMU from the George HW Bush Presidential Library and will then go to the LBJ Presidential Library in Austin.
Among items people can see is the Deed of Gift from France for the Statue of Liberty.
"It's a gift, so essentially what it's doing is honoring that friendship we had with France," Ponce says. "It's a beautiful document, and if you don't speak French, we provide a translation. Back in the Revolution, the truth is we needed help, and France was one of the countries that did extend a hand of friendship."
The display shows the official name of the statue is "Liberty Enlightening the World."
"We just call it the Statue of Liberty, but it has a more expansive name that helps us understand what it's actually doing, the attention it's trying to bring to democracy," Ponce says.
The joint resolution proposing the 15th Amendment, which forbade the federal and state governments from restricting the right to vote based on race or previous status as a slave, is also on display. Ponce says the document can show a snapshot of history.
"I've a couple people mention, why just men?" she says. "I had to explain if they included women, which was under discussion, but they didn't include women because it would never have passed. They decided addressing the disenfranchisement of African American men was more important than including all women in the vote, and that's why women weren't included in 1869."
Other items on display are the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War and the Treasury Warrant for America's purchase of Alaska from the Russian Empire.
"You learn so much, some people, for instance, learned a little about math. We have the treasury warrant that purchased Alaska for $7.2 million. Everybody's been asking, 'Well, how much is that really?' We ran the numbers through a historical currency converter, and it's $165 million in today's dollars. It's a great opportunity to talk to people. Was 7.2 million a lot? Of course it was, but just how much was it?" Ponce says.
Outside of politics, people can see Thomas Edison's patent application for the electric light bulb in 1880.
"First of all, the drawing's beautiful, but this represents this transition to a different technological age in the United States," Ponce says. "And it turns out, this only one out of a thousand patents Edison had. What's interesting is this wasn't necessarily his idea, but he built upon it."
The National Archives and Records Association's exhibit can be seen for free at the George W. Bush Presidential Center. Inside the museum where admission is required are pictures and artifacts detailing the creation and growth of the National Park Service.
People can see the act creating the park service in 1916, the act establishing Yellowstone National Park in 1872 and the cover for the Yellowstone Park Master Plan from 1932.
"It is wonderful to have these pieces related to national park history here because President and Mrs. Bush both have a long history, both before they were in the White House and after, of visiting, promoting, protecting and supporting national parks," says Lindsey Richardson, curator of exhibitions and collections at the center. "Not just national parks, national recreation centers, state parks, any kind of outdoor space where they could encourage especially children to go out and enjoy what America has to offer."
Visitors can also see a book of pictures of George and Laura Bush at national parks.
"They're giving speeches, participating, helping with trail maintenance, planting," Richardson says.
Outside the Bush Center is the 15 acre Laura W. Bush Native Texas Park. Richardson says the park gives visitors a chance to see native Texas landscapes.
"Mrs. Bush has done a lot of work with First Bloom, which was a partnership with the Lady Bird Johnson wildflower center to get kids involved," she says. "There are lots of pictures of her working with kids in different locations to help plant things and learn more about native species. That's definitely one of the things that's near and dear to Mrs. Bush' heart."
"Opening the Vault" remains on display at the George W. Bush Presidential Library through May 21. Details are available here.
