Georgia copy of the Declaration of Independence will be on display at the Georgia Archives.  February 12 – 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Morrow, GA, February 5, 2016– The Georgia Archives will display Georgia’s recorded copy of the Declaration of Independence at the Archives building in Morrow on Friday, February 12, 2016, in honor of Georgia Day.  The document will be available for viewing from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.  The Royal Charter that made Georgia a colony in 1733 will also be on display.  The annual Georgia Day celebration commemorates Georgia’s founding on February 12, 1733.

On January 18, 1777, the Continental Congress met in Baltimore, Maryland and ordered that copies of the Declaration of Independence be printed and sent to each of the 13 states.  The States were directed to make the Declaration a part of their official records. Georgia’s copy was officially entered into the records on March 2, 1777.

Today, the Declaration is protected with Georgia’s other “birth documents”: the Royal Charter that created the colony in 1733, and Georgia’s 1788 ratification of the U.S. Constitution, the document that made Georgia a state.  All are kept in a high security vault where a constant temperature and humidity are maintained to ensure their long-term survival.

The Georgia Archives has limited public viewing of its copy of the Declaration in order to mitigate the fading, deterioration and other damage caused by frequent exhibits.

The Georgia Archives is a unit of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and identifies, collects, manages, preserves, and publicizes records and information of Georgia and its people and assists state and local government agencies with their records management. This work is done within the framework of the USG’s mission to create a more highly educated Georgia.

For more information, please contact Jill Sweetapple at 678.364.3731 or email at Jill.Sweetapple@usg.edu.

Georgia Archives – 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow, Georgia 30260 – 678-364-3710