thumb|Entrance to the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

thumb|right|The Rotunda of the National Archives Building, where the [[Charters of Freedom documents are publicly exhibited]]

thumb|National Archives Building at night

The National Archives Building, known informally as Archives I, is the headquarters of the United States National Archives and Records Administration. It is located north of the National Mall at 700 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. in Washington, D.C. The rotunda entrance is on Constitution Avenue, and the research entrance is on Pennsylvania Avenue. A second larger facility, Archives II, also known as A2, is located in College Park, Maryland.

Built in the 1930s, the National Archives Building was designated a contributing property to the Pennsylvania Avenue National Historic Site in 1966 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. It was designated a National Historic Landmark in December 2023.

Exhibits

The National Archives building holds original copies of the three main formative documents of the United States and its government: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. These are on display for the public in the main chamber's rotunda, known as Charters of Freedom, at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. The Emancipation Proclamation and 19th Amendment were added to the display in 2026.

The building hosts additional important American historical items, including the Continental Association, the Articles of Confederation, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty, and collections of photography and other historically and culturally significant American and international artifacts, including an original version of the 1297 Magna Carta confirmed by Edward I.

Between 2003 and 2004 the National Archives also held special exhibits to the public for the Gettysburg Address and Emancipation Proclamation.

Inside the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom, there are no lines to see the individual documents and visitors are allowed to walk from document to document as they wish. Photography with natural light is permitted in research rooms.

History

Before the National Archives Building

From its founding, the U.S. federal government has documented its policies and decisions, but for almost 150 years it had virtually no method or place to safeguard historically important records. During those years, officials occasionally decried federal neglect, or too often, fires destroyed important documents, reinforcing the need for an archives. By the end of the 19th century, a few architects had even submitted plans to the government for an archives or a hall of records. By the early 20th century an organized effort aimed at creating the National Archives began, but not until 1926 did Congress finally approve the National Archives Building.

Planning stages

That year, Congress authorized construction of the National Archives Building as part of a massive public buildings program designed to beautify the center of Washington, DC, and provide office space for the growing federal bureaucracy. This program led to the design and construction of buildings within the Federal Triangle. Secretary of the Treasury Andrew W. Mellon gave the responsibility for designing the Triangle grouping to a Board of Architectural Consultants. Louis A. Simon, an architect of the Office of the Supervising Architect for the U.S. Treasury, drafted a preliminary design for the Archives, placing it along Pennsylvania Avenue between 9th and 10th Streets, NW. (This was prior to Simon's appointment as Supervising Architect in 1933.)

In late 1927, preliminary drawings of the individual Triangle buildings were incorporated into a formal presentation of the entire project. The drawings became the basis for a three-dimensional scale model that was publicly unveiled in April 1929. The next month, after examining the model, the Commission of Fine Arts was highly critical of Simon's design for an archives. Commissioners suggested that the noted architect John Russell Pope be added to the Board of Architectural Consultants and that he design the National Archives. Pope was asked to join when the death of a board member created a vacancy.

Pope's architectural vision transformed both the location and design of the National Archives Building. He successfully proposed relocating the Archives to the block between Seventh and Eighth Streets, a site he believed demanded a monumental building such as the National Archives. In place of Simon's design, Pope's National Archives was to be a neoclassical temple befitting an institution dedicated to American history.

Breaking ground

Ground was broken for the National Archives on September 5, 1931, by the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Ferry K. Heath. By the time President Herbert Hoover laid the cornerstone of the building in February 1933, significant problems had arisen. Because the massive structure was to be constructed above an underground stream, the Tiber Creek, 8,575 piles had been driven into the unstable soil, before pouring a huge concrete bowl as a foundation. Another difficulty arose over the choice of building materials. Both limestone and granite were authorized as acceptable, but construction began during the darkest days of the Great Depression, and suppliers of each material lobbied fiercely to have the government use their stone. Ultimately, as in the other Federal Triangle buildings, limestone was used for the exterior superstructure and granite for the base. The limestone was provided by Ingalls Stone Company of Bedford, Indiana.

  • Public display space expanded from 12,000 to more than 19,000 square feet in 2013.

Statues

thumb|left|239x239px|Study The Past by Robert Aiken

thumb|Heritage by James Earle Fraser

thumb|left|239x239px|Future by Robert Aiken

thumb|Guardianship by James Earle Fraser

Outside of the National Archives building stands four statues, carved from 1934–1935. The sculptors were most likely chosen by the designer of the National Archives building, Pope and the Commission on Fine Arts. They were carved from large slabs of limestone, shipped to DC from Indiana on specifically designed flatcars. Two are on the south side of the building and two are on the north at the two main entrances of the building. These statues weigh 65-tons each and measure tall, with the pedestals. At the base of the woman's feet are symbols representing "arts and sciences" and at the man's feet, "symbols of strength and unity," according to a historian who works for the National Archives.

Warren Commission

Investigating the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the Warren Commission met formally for the first time on December 5, 1963 in a hearing room on the second floor of the National Archives Building.

Images

  • A section of the 2004 film National Treasure takes place in the National Archives Building, where the Declaration of Independence is featured being stolen from.
  • The building appears in the 2008 videogame Fallout 3. Inside it, a powdered wig-wearing robot, believing itself to be the Founding Father Button Gwinnett, can be found guarding the Declaration of Independence.

See also

  • Architecture of Washington, D.C.
  • National Register of Historic Places listings in central Washington, D.C.
  • List of National Historic Landmarks in Washington, D.C.

References

  • The National Archives Building: Temple to our History at Google Arts & Culture
  • National Archives Museum
  • National Archives Building at Google Earth Web