The National Constitution Center in Philadelphia previewed the new George H.W. Bush Gallery last week and displayed its hallmark exhibition, “Constituting Liberty: From the Declaration to the Bill of Rights.”
The gallery features a first-edition copy of the Declaration of Independence and a copy of the U.S. Constitution from its first public printing.
But its star attraction—thanks to an historic agreement between the state of Pennsylvania and the New York Public Library—is an exhibition of one of the 12 remaining original copies of the Bill of Rights. This exhibition marks the first public display of the document in Pennsylvania.
The preview of the gallery opening later this year brought rare public remarks from Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. He spoke of how fitting it was for the cities of New York and Philadelphia to work in tandem to display the document, as both are former capitals of the United States.
The “Bill of Rights codifies the rights in the Declaration of Independence,” Alito said. “The Bill of Rights is needed to keep the federal government and the state governments in check, that they do not violate precious individual rights. … The precious freedoms protected by the Bill of Rights are always fragile, are always under threat.”
Alito said he hopes the display of the document will foster education about the freedoms enshrined within it.
Others were moved by the occasion as well. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett spoke of the significance of the Bill of Rights. He called the rights recognized by the Founders “every child’s inheritance to exercise and every government’s obligation to honor.”
Anthony W. Marx, president and CEO of the New York Public Library, spoke of why he was so moved when he first viewed the document: “George Washington looked at this piece of paper, approved the copy and said ‘send it out,’” said Marx.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who spoke at the event on behalf of the former president, joked that his father was 90 years old and no longer able to walk, “but he can still jump out of airplanes, as he did on his birthday.”
Susan Hamilton, a spokesperson for the National Constitution Center, said that the museum choose to honor the former president by naming the gallery after him “in recognition of his public service and role as chairman of the National Constitution Center.”
George H.W. Bush served as the museum’s chairman from 2007 to 2008, and Jeb Bush is its current chairman.
According to its website, “The National Constitution Center is the Museum of We the People, America’s Town Hall, and a civic education headquarters dedicated to non-partisan constitutional education and debate.”
