DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE EXHIBIT OPENS AT GEORGIA ARCHIVES

The Georgia Archives, a division of the Office of Secretary of State, will be displaying our state’s official copy of the Declaration of Independence in their Morrow building beginning on Tuesday, February 20.

Greg Jarrell, a research archivist with the Georgia Archives, found Georgia’s official copy of the Declaration of Independence while conducting routine research for a customer. Jarrell realized the document was special when he saw these words at the document’s conclusion: “In Congress, Jan. 1777 Ordered:  That an authenticated copy of the Declaration of Independence with the names of the members of Congress subscribing the same, be sent to each of the United States and that they be desired to have the same put on record.  By Order of Congress, John Hancock, President  Recorded 2^nd March 1777.”

David Carmichael, director of the Georgia Archives, speculates archivists lost track of the document over the years after it was bound in a mislabeled book with other documents from the period.

The Declaration will be displayed along with the Royal Charter, which established Georgia as an official royal colony, and the pages of the log from the Georgia’s state legislature convention documenting the ratification of the US Constitution. These documents, along with the Declaration, are considered Georgia’s birth documents as a royal colony, an independent state, and a member of the United States. The exhibit also contains a volume of colonial Memorials and Quit Rents showing the signature of Button Gwinnet, a former Georgia governor and signer of the Declaration, whose signature is considered the rarest of all Declaration signatories.

The exhibit is available for public viewing Tuesday-Saturday 8:30 am- 5:00 pm through May 18 at the Georgia Archives, 5800 Jonesboro Rd., Morrow, GA.

Karen Handel was sworn in as Secretary of State in January 2007. The Secretary of State's office offers important services to our business community, our government, and our citizens. These services include an efficient and secure election process, and the regulation of corporations, securities, and professional license holders. The Office also controls the state archives and the Capitol museum.